In my previous post I began to deal with the first of two arguments that Craig Evans provides from Josephus.  Craig wants to argue that Josephus, a first-century Jewish authority, explicitly indicates that Romans allowed Jews to provide decent burials for their dead.   In this first argument Craig provides a concatenation of passages from Josephus that together, Craig argues, indicate that Jews would not leave a corpse (such as that of Jesus) on the cross, but would provide a burial for it.  Here is the argument again. “Josephus asserts the same thing.  The Romans, he says, do not require “their subjects to violate their national laws” (Against Apion 2.73). The Jewish historian and adds that the Roman procurators who succeeded Agrippa I “by abstaining from all interference with the customs of the country kept the nation at peace...” (Jewish War 2.220) "... customs that included never leaving a “corpse unburied” (Against Apion 2.211). I dealt with the first quotation in yesterday’s post, where I pointed out that in Against Apion Josephus is not referring to [...]

There's been a lot of interest on the blog in the question of whether Romans left bodies on crosses or allowed same-day burials.  No need to take my word for it.  Just look up the references I give, e.g., in How Jesus Became God.  Even better, I'll give one of them here from the first century Roman world, a fictional tale told within the gloriously funny novel, The Satyricon, by the Roman author Petronius, an advisor to the emperor Nero.  The account is predicated on the widespread understanding of  historical custom, as you'll see (and makes no sense unless it was the widespread understanding). The tale told by one of the characters in the Satyricon -- which I recommend you read in full!  I've taken this translation from the online Gutenberg Project.  You can find the entire text here: THE SATYRICON, Complete (gutenberg.org) I would not say that a story like this *proves* how things were everywhere at every time in Roman antiquity, but all the other references I know of from Greek and Roman [...]

Why did the Romans kill Jesus?  Was it really because he was calling himself "King of the Jews"?  Was that really what he was calling himself?  How would we know?  I've been asked these questions several times in connection with my posts about Jesus' (death and) burial.  Here is what I've said about the matter before, in reference to whether Jesus considered himself the "messiah" (i.e., the future king): ****************************** One of the main reasons I think Jesus called himself the future messiah is that this best explains the best attested event of his entire life: his crucifixion by the Romans. There are a few things we can say with virtual certainty about Jesus.  For example: he was a Jewish preacher from rural Galilee who made a fateful trip to Jerusalem and was crucified by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate.  There are, of course, lots of other things that we can say, without quite so much certainty (see my book Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium).  But that much is certain.  So why did [...]

I'm pleased to announce that it is now possible to purchase a hardback copy of my recent book Armaggedon: What the Bible Really Says about the End at half price from Barnes & Noble, either in a store or online, as part of their annual Book Haul promotion.  The sale goes till Sept. 4.  Interested?  Know anyone else who might be?  Go here and check it out: Armageddon | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)    

Here now is the third and final post on the Qur'an by scholar of Early Islam and Ancient Christianity Stephen Shoemaker, Professor at the University of Oregon.  Stephen is an internationally-known scholar and his first two posts are highly informed and have been controversial among some of our blog members--as one would expect for someone whose research leads to conclusions different from what everyone has always said and assumed to be true! In this post he addresses the question many of us have long had: when was the Qur'an actually produced and could the traditions it contains have been changed over the years before it was written?   ******************************   Creating the Qur’an: The Formation of the Last Ancient Scripture   Hi again. Welcome to my final post, and I’d like to thank Bart for the opportunity to engage this lively forum and also all of its members for reading and considering my thoughts. In my two previous posts, you will recall, I noted some significant problems with prevailing understandings of how the Qur’an as [...]

A while ago we had an unusually intriguing Movie Club event on the blog as a fundraiser.  The movie Tár with an absolutely stellar performance by Cate Blanchett was nominated for six academy awards; as you probably know, it was about the downfall of a brilliant woman who is an orchestra conductor.  As it turns out, an active member of the blog is an internationally known orchestra conductor, Gisele Ben-Dor (see: Gisele Ben-Dor Conductor – A champion of Latin American music ), and we asked her if she would lead a discussion on the movie from her vast experience. It was terrifically interesting!  We recorded it and are now offering it for those who make a donation to the blog.   What about it?   The donations are tax deductible and you'll find it a great experience! To give it a shot: First, go to the Blog Home page and scroll to the bottom to find the donation buttons. Then, grab your invoice number from the email the blog just sent you, and head to the Tár [...]

I am very pleased to announce an upcoming event that surely *anyone* connected to the blog will be deeply interested in: a two-day remote Bible conference for non-scholars, called "New Insights into the New Testament," consisting of ten lectures, on the canonical Gospels, delivered by some of the most highly recognized New Testament scholars in the country, in terms accessible to layfolk. There's never been anything like this. (But there will be again, since we're planning on making it an annual event!) The conference is not connected with the Blog per se, apart from the facts that the issues are all directly related to what we do here and that I'm the one organizing and moderating the event. Check out this video description (and look at the site: New Insights into the New Testament: A Biblical Conference for Non-Scholars (bartehrman.com)   *****