I shared a version of the quote above on Facebook and the response and discussion was fascinating. I realize it is Father’s Day, but I will say that I am perfectly comfortable as a male and as a father to talk about how I and how North American white Christianity might be like Disney princesses. It will be no stranger than the fact that, unplanned as far as the coincidence with the holiday is concerned, my Sunday school class will... Read more
Above is the short version of a longer paper I wrote for the Enoch Seminar being held soon on the theme “Concepts of Evil in Second Temple Judaism and Christian Origins.” My paper proposes what I believe is a genuinely new theory regarding the origin of Gnosticism, informed in particular by my work on Mandaean sources but also the extensive work others have done on the texts from Nag Hammadi. The thesis, in a nutshell, is that there is... Read more
This is the next to last in my Apostle Paul APB series. The acronym was too great a punny double entendre to not use and highlight. APB in popular parlance is an “all points bulletin” notifying the police and others to be on the lookout for someone, which connects nicely with Paul’s arrest as well as the quest for the historical figure of Paul. APB also stands for A Polite Bribe, the title of Rob Orlando’s movie about Paul (as... Read more
I have two related questions for friends with relevant academic expertise (and anyone else who may be interested). I posted them on Facebook yesterday but feel as though they are likely worth posting here as well. The first is for those who work on Hebrew Bible, ancient Israel, and/or ancient Egypt. According to 2 Kings 23:34, the Egyptian Pharaoh installed Eliakim Josiah’s son as king and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Why might a Pharaoh have made that name change,... Read more
Paul Davidson wrote an exploration of source critical work on the flood story (or better stories) in Genesis a while back, which I’ve been meaning to share. In it he writes: The flood story provides an ideal text for identifying the compositional history of Genesis because of how obvious many of its editorial seams are. Carr’s model — that the Priestly text, written to replace an earlier version, was instead combined with that earlier version — explains very well the text... Read more
For nearly two millennia, Christian views of Jews and Judaism were almost exclusively critical and even hostile. In the first four centuries of the Common Era, Christians increasingly defined themselves in opposition to Jews. This antipathy was manifest in an extensive range of polemical literature whose main arguments became entwined with formative Christian self-understanding. Beginning with the Christianization of the Roman Empire after the fourth century, Jews faced not only polemics but also legal discrimination. While sometimes tolerated in medieval... Read more
I love my Sunday school class. Not only did they enthusiastically opt for a study of women in the Gospels in conjunction with me working to put the finishing touches on my book, What Jesus Learned From Women, and not only have some of them volunteered to read a draft of the manuscript and provide feedback, but they continue to help me learn as well. We began by tackling the preliminary topic of Jesus learning, regardless of whether it was from... Read more
Another composer that YouTube kindly introduced me to is Enjott Schneider . As soon as it offers me something that I really profoundly enjoy, I go looking for more, and usually look specifically to see if they’ve done anything with the Bible. Enjott Schneider most certainly has, including but not limited to Sieben letzte Worte Jesu (Seven Last Words of Jesus) shared above. I’ve looked for some of the others but did not find recordings of them, never mind recordings... Read more
I was profoundly disturbed to see someone I know share a post on social media comparing those who tear down statues of confederate generals and monuments of slave traders in the present day to the Nazis in WWII Germany. There is a lot that is being said on social media at the moment that is deeply troubling and deserving of a direct response. That’s what I try to offer here. I want to jump right in to the topic with... Read more
Bob MacDonald is launching a project to turn the melodies that emerge from the text of the Hebrew Bible when one uses Haïk-Vantoura’s approach to interpreting the cantillation marks, into English language settings appropriate for liturgical use in churches. He isn’t considering this a formal composition contest, but he does have plans for selected compositions to be performed, published, and/or recorded. The compositions will not simply be arrangements of existing text and melody: there is room both for melodic adaptation and... Read more
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