I highly recommend to all of my readers, and followers, David Wray’s 756 page book, The Secret Roots of Christianity (2012), dealing with astrology, magic, astral immortality and Greco-Roman art of the period, including astral symbols on coins. A question I get quite often goes something like this: “Dr. Tabor,…
Does the 1980 Talpiot “Jesus Family Tomb” have any likely connection to the historical Jesus of Nazareth and his family? In January of 2008 a group of internationally renowned scholars from a broad range of disciplines met in Jerusalem to discuss that very question. Covering the archaeological facts about the…
Geza Vermes, The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English 7th Edition (Penguin, 2012). I bought my first copy of this fine little paperback volume in 1973 in graduate school at the university of Chicago–it was the 1st edition and I still have it–and I have bought every edition since then.…
Some Oral Remarks by Prof. James Tabor reflection on Qumran down to WacoPlenary Session: When Prophecy Fails Delivered at the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, 1997 English translations of the Dead Sea Scroll quotation here are from Geza Vermes, The Dead Sea Scrolls in English. Note: As an Amazon…
The treatise attributed to Jesus’ brother James in the New Testament was not even considered “Christian” by many Protestant theologians such as Martin Luther. And yet this James was the leader of the followers of Jesus after the crucifixion–and held that position until his own brutal death in 63 CE…
I am convinced that the historical figure of Jesus began to pore over key prophetic passages in the Hebrew Bible, especially in the Isaiah and the Pslams, where he became convinced that both his identity and his destiny was laid out. After the death of his cousin John the Baptist,…
This unedited video, was sent out on March 12, 1993 as a VHS tape by David Koresh during the FBI 51 day siege of the Branch Davidian Center, outside Waco, TX. The tape was intended to show that those inside the compound were not being held against their will, allowing…
In this wide-ranging interview with Neal Sendlack host of YouTube channel @GnosticInformant, we delve into all sorts of questions regarding the the history and mythology of Masada–the last stand of Jewish patriots against the Romans during the first revolt (73 CE). One of the core mysteries of the entire story…
The on-line magazine, Popular Archaeology, which I highly recommend, recently circulated its “Top Ten” feature stories of the past decade. I was honored and pleased that one of the ten stories that my research on the historical Jesus, as related to material and textual evidence, was chosen as one of…
April 19, 2023 marks the 30th Anniversary of the tragic ending of the Branch Davidian siege by Federal authorities outside Waco, Texas. A press conference and Memorial is being held today as I update this blog post. There is much to say about “What Happened at Waco” and its aftermath,…
