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An Intriguing New Documentary: The Search – Manufacturing Belief

One of the most interesting interviews I've done in recent years was for a feature-length documentary that has now appeared and available for viewing (e.g., Amazon Prime) called "The Search - Manufacturing Belief."  It was the brainchild of Patrick Payne, who also produced and directed it. This is how it is described on the Documentary Channel: Juxtaposing reason with mythology, philosophy with religion, and science with mysticism, filmmaker Patrick Payne interviews thought leaders from across this spectrum to build a penetrating, provocative and personal inquiry into the question of awe, objective truth and trust in the 21st Century. I thought it might be worthwhile to have a kind of personal introduction to the film, and so I asked Patrick to provide us with some insight into how it came into being and what it's about. Patrick is on the blog and he will be able to respond to any questions or comments you have.  Here is what he has to say: ************************************************************************* The Search - Manufacturing Belief An exploration of the spiritual experience and the [...]

2020-07-06T08:14:38-04:00July 6th, 2020|Public Forum|

Are You Willing to Donate a Free Membership (or more) To Someone Who Needs It?

Over the past three months we have offered free temporary memberships to people who would like to belong to the blog but cannot afford a membership during this time of crisis.  We have had nearly three thousand people take us up on that offer, and many have expressed real, heartfelt gratitude. I would like to implement a similar program now but, with a different approach.  This may involve you.  From the beginning, none of the money from blog membership fees or direct donations has gone into any of our pockets; it doesn't even pay for operating expenses.  And it never will.  Everything that comes in goes directly out to charities dealing with those in serious need. I would like to be able to continue providing free memberships but do so without affecting the blog’s revenue – or even better, to increase it.  As many of you know, for a long time now, twice a year I have asked for donations for free one-year memberships for those who cannot afford one themselves.  That has been terrifically [...]

2020-07-05T12:47:10-04:00July 5th, 2020|Public Forum|

Do Matthew and Paul Agree on the Matter Most Important to them Both?

I was going through posts from many years ago and came across this one, on an issue I've always thought was unusually interesting: if the writer of the Gospel of Matthew (whoever that was) and the apostle Paul had been locked in a room and not allowed to emerge until they had hammered out a consensus statement on how one attains eternal life, would they still be in there, possibly with their skeletons locked in a mutual death grip?  I didn't put it that way when I posted this so long ago, but I was younger and milder then I suppose. Here's how I expressed it then.  What do you think? ***************************************************************** One of my major goals as a professor of New Testament is to get my students to understand that the NT is not a single entity with a solid and consistent message.  There are numerous authors who were writing at different times, in different parts of the world, to different audiences, and with different – sometimes strikingly different – understandings about important issues.  [...]

2020-07-03T13:07:42-04:00July 3rd, 2020|Canonical Gospels, Early Judaism, Paul and His Letters|

How Accurate are our Copies of the Hebrew Bible?

After my recent posts on the Dead Sea Scrolls a number of readers have asked me about the surviving copies of the Hebrew Bible.  Is it true that Jewish scribes didn’t make copying errors and intentional alterations in the copies of the Hebrew Bible they produced, unlike the Christian scribes who made thousands?  How many manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible do we have?  How have the Dead Sea Scrolls affected our understanding of Jewish copying practices? All terrific questions – both interesting and important.  I give an explanation of the situation in the second edition of my book The Bible: A Historical and Literary Introduction.  Here it is:   ************************************************************************* THE TEXT OF THE HEBREW BIBLE We have seen that the earliest writings of the Hebrew Bible were probably produced during the eighth century B.C.E. This is the date of the oldest prophets such as Amos and Isaiah of Jerusalem. When an ancient author produced a book, he obviously wrote it out by hand. And if anyone wanted a copy, he had to copy it [...]

2020-07-01T19:21:25-04:00July 1st, 2020|Early Judaism, Hebrew Bible/Old Testament|
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