Mark Goodacre, from The Fourth Synoptic Gospel: "I am treating the gospel as a whole and do not share the common view that John 21 was a later addition."
Dale Allison on Jesus’ self-conception
Source: Dale Allison, "Life and Aims of Jesus" in The New Cambridge Companion to Jesus, pp. 20โ24.
Are our many New Testament manuscripts all too late?
No: "Therefore, it is important to recognize that a significant body of Christian manuscripts is as early as any of these other types of artifacts, and a small number may be somewhat earlier still. Some 400 papyri from prior to the official recognition of Christianity by the emperor Constantine have been logged as either from… Continue reading Are our many New Testament manuscripts all too late?
The agreement between Paul and James in Galatians: Michael Kruger on Galatians 2:6-10
Kruger: "In Galatians 2:6-10 Paul recounts an incident where he and Barnabas presented their gospel to James and the other leaders in Jerusalem. Wholesale approval came from this meeting. James and the others gave Paul and Barnabas "the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to [Paul]" (Gal. 2:9 NIV). So, as… Continue reading The agreement between Paul and James in Galatians: Michael Kruger on Galatians 2:6-10
How the Trinity is comparable to Sunni views of the divine attributes (sifฤt) of God
It goes without saying that the most vocal criticisms made of Christian theology by Muslims concerns the Trinity, a subset of these criticisms themselves focusing on Jesus' status as the Son of God and the second person of the Trinity. The Trinity maintains that there is some sort of ontologically real multiplicity within the one… Continue reading How the Trinity is comparable to Sunni views of the divine attributes (sifฤt) of God
David George on whether early Christians believed in Tawhid?
I've recently revisited a thought-provoking and well-researched thread on whether early Christianity believed in Tawhid (the Islamic doctrine of God's oneness) by David George (an Orthodox Christian). It's the most detailed attempt to answer this question I've come across and I think that both Christians and Muslims alike can learn much from it. Just thought… Continue reading David George on whether early Christians believed in Tawhid?
Jesus and Greek-speaking
I recently encountered a Twitter thread (link to last tweet in it) about the prevalence and function of Greek speaking in Jesus-era Israel, particularly in Galilee (where Jesus grew up). I learned that there's a volume by Michael O. Wise, Language and Literacy in Roman Judaea (De Gruyter 2015) which came to the estimate that… Continue reading Jesus and Greek-speaking
High Arian Christology?
Ive learned recently that the Arian heresy has a surprisingly higher Christology than I thought it did. Take for example the following comments by Ulfilas (Wulfila), which I originally saw in this Twitter thread and tracked down to Uta Heil's book Arianism: Roman Heresy and Barbarian Creed, pp. 106-107 (freely accessible here): "โฆ I believe… Continue reading High Arian Christology?
That moment when you criticize Dan McClellan
While I love r/AcademicBiblical, I have noticed some occasional group behavior there that I'm not the biggest fan of. Dan McClellan is an academic in the field of biblical studies, and his work is about as good as that of any other academic. But what distinguishes McClellan from most, and why he's so popular online… Continue reading That moment when you criticize Dan McClellan
Luke’s view of Mark according to Luke’s prologue
It's widely accepted that the Gospel of Luke used the Gospel of Mark as one of his sources. Luke tells us a little about his sources in the intro to his work, to which we call the 'prologue'. Luke 1:1โ4: Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been… Continue reading Luke’s view of Mark according to Luke’s prologue
Faithful Philosophy 