Reposted from my former Jesus Dynasty blog archives: May 14, 2014 I am in Germany this week carrying out some further research on 1st century CE Roman cemetery sites, remains, and fortifications on the northern German frontier area of the Rhine and Nahe Rivers around Mainz, Bad Kreuznach and Bingerbrück.…
When I was growing up in the Cambellite/Stone “Churches of Christ” one of the ongoing discussions among my college age missionary minded friends at Abilene Christian College (now University) was whether or not those who had “never heard” the gospel of Christ, and thus had had no chance to respond and…
Yesterday morning in Jerusalem I heard the bells of the Dormition Abbey on Mt Zion and wept thinking of Bob Dylan’s song. Here are some thoughts on the profound lyrics. There are many “Gospels,” many Gods, many Lords, and many Christs. The challenge is sorting them out. Paul refers to…
Birger Pearson’s piece at the BAS Web site addressing the questions of whether Mary Magdalene was Jesus’ wife? and Was Mary Magdalene a Prostitute? is really well done in my view. It is short but to the point. I see it as an advance over the article he did some…
Fundamentalism relies on two pillars. First one needs an inspired and Holy Book, and second one must forget that that book has a history… Joseph Hoffmann (paraphrased)
In the meantime, it is indeed interesting to note that this very practice of patronymy/paponymy/metronymy, by its repetitive nature, leaves the sample of names quite narrow and refutes in essence the argument of “very common names” put forward by a number scholars that the Talpiot tomb was not that of…
Since I began writing about the “Jesus Family tomb” discovered in East Talpiot, Jerusalem around Easter 1981, by far the most common response by colleagues and media reports alike has been the inaccurate generalization that the names found in the tomb were “extremely common.” The obvious intention of this assertion…
I wanted to share with my readers the translation of an ancient text, known in various Greek manuscripts as well as Aramaic fragments found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, with which many might not be familiar. It seems to capture in a few lines the core of ideas of the…
The festival of Shavuot falls this Wednesday on the Jewish calendar, observed Tuesday sundown through Wednesday sundown. Shavuot in Hebrew literally means “weeks” or “sevens,” which refers to the seven weeks between Passover and what was originally a harvest celebration on the 50th day–also called the “feast of firstfruits” (Exodus 34:22).…
