I think the main problem in discussions between theists and atheists is the assumption that static categories like “the Divine,” the “supernatural,” the “natural,” and the “material” exist other than as our dualistic semantic projections upon the whole of reality as we can perceive it. Our experiences are never reductionistically…
My favorite Blog dealing with biblical matters, other than my own (!), is “Scribes of the Kingdom” run by Alex Finkelstein, whom I have met only on line through email letting him know how much I appreciate his work. He is one of the most thoughtful students of early Christianity…
My book, The Jesus Dynasty was published in April 2006 (Simon & Schuster). It was a New York Times Best Seller for several weeks, featured on ABC’s Nightline and 20/20, and made the covers of USNews & World Report in the US and Profil magazine in Europe. It has been translated into 22…
Dale Allison, of Princeton University, is the New Testament scholar from whom I have learned the most on the methods, process, and results of the “Quest for the Historical Jesus.” Here is his interview with Paul Williams, who hosts the program “Blogging Theology,” with whom I interviewed a couple weeks…
Many of my readers are aware of the publication of Ross Nichols’s new book, The Moses Scroll that chronicles the whole Moses Shapira Saga and the question of whether or not the 19th century “Dead Sea Scroll” was most likely ancient or a modern forgery. I just received word from Nichols…
I just finished a Biblical Archaeology Seminar in which I gave a lecture titled “Was John the Baptizer Greater than Jesus? The Fading of a Prophet” based on our New Testament gospel materials and the book of Acts. I build my case substantially on the ways in which John is…
From bitter searchings of the heart…this has to be the most profound piece of poetry for hope of the Millennium ever written since the Prophet Isaiah. This poem by Canadian poet Frank Scott ((Scott, was a constitutional lawyer, former Dean of McGill University, but also an influential poet and Canadian social thinker))…
I often get asked some version of this question by students, readers of my books, at seminars and lectures, media interviews–or just email inquiries. After all, I teach in a Department of Religious Studies at UNC Charlotte (1989 to present), and previously was on the faculties in the Religion Department…
Yesterday I recorded a two-hour conversation with Paul Williams of the UK whose Youtube Channel, “Blogging Theology,” has over 40,000 subscribers. We mainly drew our discussion from my books Paul and Jesus and The Jesus Dynasty, but towards the last segment we began to deal as well with James the brother of Jesus,…
Do you recognize any of the faces below? Are you “free” to Zoom in and join us October 16-17, 2021 for an intense round of lectures and interchanges? As we continue to recover globally from the Covid-19 disruptions to our lives the Biblical Archaeology Society 24th Annual Bible and Archaeology…
