Loading...Every now and then I learn of someone on the blog who has a PhD or is ABD in one of the related fields, such as New Testament, Early Christian Studies, Hebrew Bible, Early Judaism, Rabbinics, Roman Religion, Greek Religion, Ancient (Greek or Roman) History, Semitic Philology, etc. etc., and/or is teaching in one of those fields in a college or university.
Are you one of them? If so, please send me an email, at [email protected]. I’m interested in knowing what your research is and/or has been, and I don’t know how else to contact you, other than this!
Hi Bart – off topic q on James the brother of Jesus. Some of the quotes from the gospel of hebrews have him as a follower of Jesus at the time of the resurrection. The canonical gospels to varying degrees are disparaging towards the brothers/family of Jesus. Do you think the canonical gospels are writing him out of the picture and he was a follower during Jesus’s lifetime?
I think he was not a follower (otherwise the Gospels would not have stressed the rather unfortunate situation that Jesus wasn’t convincing even to his own family); but that he did convert soon after his death, because he believe he had been raised, as others were saying.
Or, based on my understanding of human nature, did James see an opportunity to capitalize on his brother’s following?
Seems like leading a tiny group of outcasts who followed a man crucified for crimes against the state would not be a particularly smart career move….
Excellent point. However, if my only other career option was to go back to fishing in the middle of nowhere for a living…
I recently noticed that, in the Valentinian Apocalypse of James, Jesus says to James: “For not without reason have I called you my brother, although you are not my brother materially.” Wouldn’t this mean that for Valentinians Jesus and James were not brothers biologically, but spiritually, as members of the same religious community? As Valentinians also called The Holy Spirit as The Mother, could the John’s Gospel’s sentence “After this, He went down to Capernaum with His mother and brothers and His disciples” be alternatively understood as “After this, His Holy Spirit, religious community and disables went down to Capernaum” if you were a Valentinian in second century?
Probably so, yes.