Don’t miss this one! I recently did an update interview on some of the latest research on the James ossuary that has not been picked up by either the media or academics in the field of 2nd Temple Judaism/Jesus Movement historical studies…Much more to come, especially further, more sophisticated DNA…
As many of you know I officially retired yesterday, June 30th, from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte after thirty-three yeas of teaching, but forty-five total including my previous years at Notre Dame and the College of William and Mary. I might also mention that UNC Charlotte was founded in 1946–the year…
On this last day of our Spring semester, after 45 years of full-time teaching at Notre Dame (7 years), William & Mary (5 years), and UNC Charlotte (33 years!) I am stepping down to devote myself more fully to research, writing, leading educational tours, and various film and archaeological projects–which…
Once again “Holy Week” has arrived. Today is Palm Sunday, with Easter one week away. So one might say this week is “doubly holy,” in that it binds together what Jesus as a Jew would have been intimately familiar with his entire life–Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread–and the…
This lecture lays out what I believe is the earliest archaeological evidence related to the followers of Jesus. The standard view of many historians–though not all–is that we have nothing from the early Christians until the late 2nd or early 3rd centuries. Here I deal only with materials that are…
I have written quite a bit about the mysterious Mary Magdalene on this blog over the years, with an extensive new treatment on “How I changed my mind and why” in my book, The Jesus Discovery. I hope you will read the book if you have not. It has been…
I began this blog in April 2006 shortly after my book The Jesus Dynasty had come out and immediately hit the New York Times best seller list with interview on GMA, Nightline, 20/20 and several major magazine features. I was completely new to the world of blogging. Since that time I…
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…
Once again “Holy Week” has arrived. Today is Palm Sunday, with Easter one week away. It is also the first day of Passover–or more properly speaking, the “days of unleavened bread” that also last seven days (see Exodus 12:14-20). So one might say this week is “doubly holy,” in that…
Some of you perhaps know the richly informative web site Bible and Interpretation with the by-line: “News and Interpretations on the Bible and Ancient Near East History.” If you don’t know it I encourage you to take a look–and be sure to notice the two books featured on the web page–upper…