Of all the main English translations of the Bible available–and there are more than a few dozen–I still prefer the older Revised Standard Version (RSV) published in 1952–with a 2nd edition in 1971. I realize most of my academic colleagues recommend the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), released in 1989…
This is an informal post sent to me by e-mail from Wendy Pond one of my readers. I asked her for her permission to pass it on. This matter of sorting out the Marys in the three anointing scenes in our gospels (Mark/Matt; Luke, and John) is a complex one.…
Okay…here it comes…This is the 7th in my ongoing series on ideas of “Death and Afterlife” in the ancient Western world.” BUT NOTE: In this one hour in-depth study I question many of the most common assumptions regarding what our earliest textual evidence in fact says about the idea of…
In this fourth of my series on “Death and Afterlife in the Ancient Western World,” I offer a very brief overview of ancient Egyptian views of death and the underworld. These views go back 5000 years and set the stage for later developments in moving religious concepts from “this world”…
I am often asked about the best programs out there for learning Greek or Hebrew without a college course or tutor. Over the years I have explored a number of language software programs, and in my view the one with the very best method for the general student is Biblingo. I…
When people want to talk to me about what I believe about Jesus and early “Christianity,” I often tell them–read Those Incredible Christians first and then we can talk. The late Hugh Schonfield was a brilliant scholar who came to international fame in 1965 with the publication of his controversial and best-selling…
There is absolutely clear evidence running through the New Testament documents that the early followers of Jesus (Nazarenes) were convinced that they were living very close to the end of the Age. They expected the “Parousia” (arrival) of the Messiah within the span of their generation. This apocalyptic hope was…
In this segment in my series “Death and Afterlife in the Ancient Western World,” I explore the ancient Greek ideas from Homer to Plato. What we find a great REVOLUTION–a literal “Overturning of the World,” in which death becomes life, and life death! I pinpoint the earliest archaeological tomb evidence…
In this second of the series “Death and Afterlife in the Ancient Western World” I turn to the Sumerian traditions, and particularly the Gilgamesh Epic, going back 4500 years–and comparing it to what we see in the Hebrew Bible traditions we have previously covered. https://youtu.be/wm0ys2wvh1c
Peter Schäfer, Jesus in the Talmud (Princeton University Press, 2009) (Kindle and Hardcover links). There is no end of confusion regarding texts about the figure of Jesus of Nazareth and whether he is or is not referenced in the Talmuds and Rabbinic literature, and if so whether such references offer anything…
