A post for Platinum members only from Rizwan Ahmed ****************************** “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened” (Matthew 24:34, Luke 21:32) A little over a century ago, Albert Schweitzer, through his famous book “The Quest of the Historical Jesus”, revolutionized and reshaped our understanding of the historical figure of Jesus. He convincingly argued that Jesus should be best understood as an apocalyptic Jewish prophet. That is, a prophet who heralded the coming end of the world, in which God would intervene in history and finally bring about absolute justice and righteousness to the world. A tremendous event in which all who ever lived would be raised from the dead and judged. The good would be rewarded with eternal life while the wicked would suffer eternal punishment. This was a popular concept within Jewish thought even prior to Jesus and continued to be so during his days. While the Synoptic Gospels make it clear that Jesus espoused such views, the question arises as to when this [...]

For Platinum members, from Platinum member Omar Abur-Robb: ****************************** Was Jesus literate or Illiterate omr-mhmd.yolasite.com   Scholars are in difference regarding whether Jesus was literate or not, and I would like to explore this subject. Most of the people who lives in Galilee at the time of Jesus were peasants, and most of the peasants were poor, and most of the poor peasants were illiterate. Therefore, we can conclude that Jesus was illiterate. But the above conclusion was based on a “null hypothesis”. “Null hypotheses” are statements of probability. So ... Let Sam be one of the people who lived in Galilee at that time. We know nothing about Sam except that he lived in Galilee. Therefore, the probability of Sam being a poor illiterate peasant is very high, and the probability otherwise is very low. Therefore, the “null hypothesis” (that is the “initial assumption”) about anyone living in Galilee is that they were poor illiterate peasants. However, there is no evidence that every single peasant in Galilee was poor illiterate. In the contrary, you [...]

  ****************************** Was Levi of Alphaeus the "the Beloved Disciple"? A Redaction Critical Approach   Since the discovery of the Gospel of Peter, scholars have speculated about the missing words after the mention of "Levi of Alphaeus" in the final sentence, which breaks off. The sentence reads, "But I, Simon Peter, and my brother Andrew, having taken our nets, went off to the sea. And there was with us Levi of Alphaeus whom the Lord [blank]," (Tr. Raymond Brown). How should we fill in the blank? Could it be "whom the Lord [loved],"? Many scholars have wondered whether this mention of Levi of Alphaeus in the Gospel of Peter might solve the mystery of the identity of "the other disciple" in the Gospel of John, "the one whom Jesus loved".   I have discovered literary clues to support this suspicion. "Levi son of Alphaeus", a major character in Mark's gospel, becomes utterly obscure in Matthew's redaction of Mark's story. My hypothesis is that the identity of John's "other disciple" borrows from Matthew's peculiar literary penchant [...]

A Platinum post for fellow Platinum members from Omar Abur-Robb:   ****************************** The Father and the Son omr-mhmd.yolasite.com   When and how the people of the Christian faith started to refer to God as “The Father”? Jews today refer to God as Adonai, Hashem, or Elohim. Karaite Jews do refer to God as Yahweh, but the Rabbinic Jews don’t use this name as they regard it sacred. But (to my understanding) there are no Jews (Karaite or Rabbinic) who refer to God as “The Father”. Also (to my understanding) there are no Jews in history who have referred to God as “The Father”. Therefore, I can establish the following null-hypothesis that Jews at the time of Jesus didn’t refer to God as “The Father”. Now ... if someone managed to extract a paragraph from an ancient Jewish manuscript (for example: one of the books of Philo, Josephus, or the dead sea scrolls, etc.) that demonstrate that Jews at the time of Jesus did refer to God as “The Father” then the previous hypothesis will fall [...]

Here is a Platinum guest post by Robert Droney where he objects (rather vigorously) to my self-identification as a "Christian atheist."   As always, he has a reasoned set of arguments!  I won't be replying here, but, well, what to *you* think? And remember, you too can write a Platinum guest post for other Platinum members, with the possibility of it being posted to the entire blog.   If you have one, or just an idea of one, let us know; zap an email to [email protected] *********************************   I think that most people and are familiar with Saul’s conversion story. Saul was a “Jew’s, Jew.”[1] A well-educated and zealous Pharisee who persecuted early Christians for their heretical belief that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah.[2] However, on the road to Damascus, Jesus appears to Saul to reprimand him for his persecution of Christians.[3] Because of this experience, resulting blindness, and receipt of the Holy Spirit, Saul mends his ways, ceases persecuting Christians and becomes a fervent advocate for the belief in Jesus as the Jewish Messiah.[4] Personally, I find [...]

I am happy to post this guest post to Platinum members by fellow Platinum member Omar Abdur-Robb.  The trinity is a complicated issue in early Christianity, closely related to Greek philosophical thought (it's not just some idea someone came up with once....).   Here Omar explores a key aspect of how it may have happened. Remember: you too can post a platinum guest post!  Simply send your submission to [email protected] ****************************** The road from the "Duo of Philo" to the "Trinity of Nicaea" Omar Abur-Robb omr-mhmd.yolasite.com   There is a clear relationship between the early Greek Christianity and the Greek metaphysical philosophy, and we will explore this here. But let us first show the genius of the Greek thinking process: Let us take an object. This object can be divided into two objects. Then each one can be divided into two objects, and so forth. But this process of division cannot continue forever; otherwise all objects are just a combination of zeros. Therefore, there need to be an elementary object that cannot be divided. The Greek [...]

Early Christianity had many stories about the adventures of the Twelve Apostles after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Thomas is tricked into becoming a missionary to India.1 John travels about evangelizing while demonstrating control of bedbugs!2 Andrew was said to travel to the area now known as Ukraine to evangelize there – I’ve been there several times and a statue of Andrew is seen outside their parliament building and elsewhere.3 The vast majority of these stories are so fanciful and written so late that scholars do not take them as factual, but they have worked their way into Christian traditions. What did the Apostles do after Jesus? Did they even remain faithful, let alone evangelize?   All four Gospels hint at doubts among the Apostles, even after Jesus’ reported resurrection appearances. Mark, our earliest gospel, portrays the Twelve as mostly clueless throughout Jesus’ ministry. At Jesus’ arrest “His disciples all left Him and fled” (Mark 14:50). In the original ending, at 16:8, the women flee the tomb and do NOT tell the other [...]

Dear Platinum Members, It is time to vote on your favorite Platinum guest posts to go on to the blog at large.  We've had some dandy submissions over the past two months.  Here are the four options. To vote, send the name of your choice to Diane, at [email protected].  Your DEADLINE:  Saturday midnight (your time), March 4.   She will tally the results and I will inform the lucky winner. Remember: you too can submit a Platinum post.  Have any ideas/thoughts you'd like to bounce off a group of very generous and interested readers?  It doesn't have to be brilliant or scholarly: just whatever you feel like addressing connected to the blog.  If you're interested, zap one to me!  If you have questions, let me know.     January 13, 2023 Paul and the Gospels Ryan Fleming January 30, 2023 Recreational Drugs in the New Testament? Doug Wadeson February 3, 2023 Was the Roman Soldier Pantera Jesus’ Father? His Cousin? Omar Robb February 10, 2023 Why Do Muslims Deny that Jesus Was Crucified? Imran M. Usmani [...]

And now *here* is an interesting way to think about whether someone was raised from the dead!  This is a Platinum Guest Post by Ryan Fleming.  It is begging for responses.  What do you think? ****************************** A short story: Suppose you are a French-resistance fighter in Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II. One of your countrymen, Jacques, is unbeknownst to you, a Nazi spy. He openly supports passivism towards Nazi authority, keeps the peace, and even promotes paying taxes to the Nazis. Periodically you see Jacques in the company of a Nazi officer. You and your fellow countrymen become suspicious, even fearful. Is he subverting the mental drive to undermine resistance, or at worst, is he giving away secrets, risking the lives of resistance fighters? You and your countrymen conspire to present a charge to Nazi authority that Jacques has raped a woman to see what they will do. You demand Jacques is guilty, present the woman as a witness who emphatically exclaims Jacques raped her, and demands Jacques must be executed. Eventually, Nazi authority, [...]