The Magi Story: Brent Landau Responds

In a recent post I sketched and then briefly responded to Brent Landau’s new translation of The Revelation of the Magi. Brent Landau has responded here to my piece, and he’s a great example of civility in disagreement. I have clipped the first two paragraphs and I encourage you to wander over to Patheos’ site and you can come back here (or stay there) for the conversation that we can have about his response.

I was delighted to read Scot McKnight’s review of my book on the Revelation of the Magi; it is one of the first genuinely scholarly responses to this project, and I am very grateful for the feedback of such a respected scholar in the field of New Testament and early Christian studies. I would like to use this opportunity to reply to McKnight’s main criticisms of my arguments concerning the text. Before proceeding to that, however, I want to say how pleased I was that McKnight found the text itself to be a “fascinating and fun read.” For, regardless of whether or not one agrees with my interpretation of theRevelation of the Magi, it is truly a text that deserves the attention of layperson and scholar alike.

As I see it, McKnight’s main objections are composed of: a relatively straightforward criticism of the date I have proposed for the text; a more multifaceted rejection of my thesis about the view of other religions in this text; and finally, a brief criticism of my failure to discuss the misogynistic elements of the text.