It’s Pretty Much Definite: Jesus was Descended from David

August 22, 2012 By 14 Comments

I am grateful to Gavin of the blog Otagosh for pointing out the genealogical gem that BBC News recently shared. Jesus almost certainly was descended from David – because it is likely that everyone among the Jews in his time was descended from David. Read the article for the genealogical logic behind this statement. Of course, [...]

Filed Under: genealogy, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Matthew, historical Jesus Tagged With: , , , , , , , 14 Comments

Sooner or Later, You Have to Choose between the Bible and Inerrancy

August 17, 2012 By 105 Comments

A discussion I’ve been part of on Facebook illustrates something that I have said before on numerous occasions: ultimately, for those approaching the Bible as a sacred text, one has to choose between showing respect for the Bible above all, or giving ultimate authority to a doctrine of Biblical inerrancy. This was illustrated in a [...]

Filed Under: Bible, Christianity, fundamentalism, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Matthew, inerrancy Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 105 Comments

Anush-Uthra vs. Jesus: Smackdown in Jerusalem

July 9, 2012 By 1 Comment

I just posted another draft of a chapter from the Mandaean Book of John. In this chapter, chapter 76, there are a few places where the meaning of the text is not entirely clear (do I need to mention this when it is true of pretty much every section of every Mandaic text?). But the [...]

Filed Under: Christology, Gospel of John, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Matthew, Mandaeans, Mandaic Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

The Real Solution to the Synoptic Problem?

June 22, 2012 By 1 Comment

By Jordan Scharf, but shared on Joel Watts’ blog: The Gospel of Mark was the first draft of a doctoral candidate’s dissertation. He submitted it to his advisor who suggested the need for more background information about Jesus’ birth, maybe some more teaching material, and a stronger ending. The student rewrote his dissertation and submitted [...]

Filed Under: Bible, Gospel of John, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Matthew, humor, New Testament Tagged With: , , , , , , 1 Comment

Translating (Away) The Son of God

March 9, 2012 By 4 Comments

I’ve been meaning for some time to come back to a topic that has been garnering attention, the news that some Bible translations aimed at predominantly Islamic contexts were not using the phrase “son of God”, ever since I circulated an online article mentioning the news and was met with expressions of concern because that [...]

Filed Under: Aramaic, Bible, Christianity, Christology, Gospel of John, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Matthew, Greek, Hebrew, Islam, Judaism, monotheism, New Testament, theology Tagged With: , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

The Earliest Bit of Jesus’ Teaching to Get Omitted from the Gospels?

February 27, 2012 By 8 Comments

Shared at Scotteriology and Near Emmaus

Filed Under: Gospel of John, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Matthew, historical Jesus, humor Tagged With: , , 8 Comments

The Burial of Jesus – Even Cheaper in the UK?

February 18, 2012 By 3 Comments

If you’re in the UK, you can get The Burial of Jesus from Amazon.co.uk – no need to go to the American store. And if my calculation is correct, it is slightly cheaper via Amazon in the UK for some reason! The book has now reached the Top 10 in the Kindle bestsellers in the [...]

Filed Under: afterlife, Bible, eschatology, Gospel of John, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Matthew, historical Jesus, inerrancy, New Testament, Progressive Christianity, theology Tagged With: , , , , 3 Comments