“[T]hey went after the high priests. It was against them that the main rush was made, and they were soon caught and killed. The murderers, standing on their dead bodies, ridiculed Ananus..they threw out the dead bodies without burial.” (Josephus, “The Jewish War”) When the question arises whether early Jewish Christians participated in the First Jewish Revolt against Rome (66–73 CE), the standard answer is typically negative. The tradition, preserved by early Christian sources such as Eusebius, holds that the Jerusalem church fled to Pella in the Transjordan region before the siege began, an act often interpreted as a sign of the community’s political neutrality and prophetic foresight. Yet a closer examination of the historical context complicates this picture. The Jesus movement emerged in a volatile environment: Roman-occupied Judea and Galilee, where messianic expectations, social unrest, and anti-imperial sentiment were pervasive. In this setting, it is difficult to imagine that all Jewish followers of Jesus, particularly those outside Jerusalem or aligned with more nationalist currents, remained uninvolved in the conflict. There is also a striking [...]

Dear Platinum Members, Let’s call this a humble moment of accountability: we’ve fallen behind on something important. As many of you know, one of the special privileges of Platinum membership is the opportunity to submit guest posts to the blog — and then, every four submissions, we open it up for a Platinum vote. The post that gets the most votes is published to the entire blog for all members to enjoy and comment on. In theory, this happens every time we get four new Platinum posts. In reality... we now have a backlog of over a dozen. That means we’re multiple rounds behind on voting. But never fear — we’re setting things right starting now. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be rolling out a new vote every couple of weeks until we’re all caught up. After that, we’ll return to our regular rhythm. Today, we begin with the first group of four. These posts were published in chronological order, and we’re asking you to choose one to be featured on the main blog. Please [...]

Here now is Platinum blog member Mark Reichert's second part of his two-part reflections in which he offers his own reconstruction of what might have happened after the crucifixion. So what do I think really happened? There is no way to know for sure but I can put together a story that seems plausible and makes sense to me. I believe Jesus and his following traveled to Jerusalem for Passover during the governorship of Pontius Pilate. How large a following I do not know though enough for it to be considered a “following.” Once there, he came to the attention of Roman and/or Jewish authorities in a negative way. Either he said, or someone accused him of saying, that he was “King of the Jews.” I highly doubt the account in Mark that states Jesus was bound by Jewish priests and elders and brought before Pilate. This would be like Palestinian authorities turning a Palestinian man over to the Israeli army for execution, unlikely to happen. If Jewish authorities had a problem with Jesus, they [...]

Today, Platinum blog member Mark Reichert offers the first part of a compelling two-part reflection on one of the most well-known—and debated—stories in history. It’s part historical reconstruction, part personal inquiry, and entirely worth the read. According to the Gospel of Mark, the Jewish preacher Jesus was crucified by Roman Governor Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem the day before the Sabbath (Friday) during the holiday period of Passover. After about 9 hours on the cross Jesus “gave up the ghost.” The Roman centurion in charge of the crucifixion said “truly this man was the son of God.” A supporter and onlooker, Joseph of Arimathaea, asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. After consulting with the centurion, Pilate relented and Jesus was removed from the cross. Joseph then took the body, wrapped it in linen and laid it in a tomb carved out of rock and blocked with a stone. Early in the morning following the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene and two other women came to anoint his body. They found the stone removed and the body of [...]

  Scholars debate whether the apostle Paul invented the Lord’s Supper (aka the Eucharist or Communion) or merely inherited it from earlier disciples.  Here is what he says: For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”  In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Our earliest gospel Mark has Jesus saying, “Take it; this is My body…This is My blood of the covenant…” Mark 14:22, 24 Now, whether Paul was saying that he received this directly from Jesus or merely that it was [...]

There have been books written and at least one movie I know of that are based on the idea of near-death experiences.  An NDE is an episode in which a person suffers some significant medical problem, like a heart attack or a drowning, and almost dies and has some sort of out-of-body experience or vision before being resuscitated. Let me put my cards on the table right at the start: there is really no such thing as a “near-death” experience; it is like saying a woman is “near-pregnant.”  Either you are dead or you are not; pregnant or not.  As a doctor I never told a woman, “Congratulations!  You’re almost pregnant!”  I think part of the problem is the term “dead,” or “death.”  You might hear someone say, “I died on the operating table, but they brought me back.”  What that person probably means is that his heart stopped for some period of time before being started back up again.  Heart stoppage is not death.  Stopping breathing, as in drowning, is not death.  Cardiac surgeons [...]