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The Transformation of Paul’s Teaching: The Apocalypse of Paul
In my previous post I began to discuss the non-canonical Apocalypse of Paul, a legendary tale that describes what Paul saw when he had his vision after being taken up to the “third heaven” (see 2 Corinthians 12:1-6). He was actually taken to see what was experienced by the dead in the afterlife. For some lucky souls, it was fantastic. For others, well … read on. He first sees two souls being taken to their eternal destiny, one is happy, and the other miserable. The one is carried by angels before the throne of God to be given an eternal reward; the other is dragged off by some very angry angels to face eternal damnation. Paul then is shown the actual places of bliss and torment. The bliss is amazing—a glorious utopian place of goodness, where Paul meets with the saints of the Jewish tradition and converses with them in paradise. The torment, on the other hand, is horrific. Here are all sorts of punishments arranged for all kinds of sinners, Christian and non-Christian alike. […]
July 15, 2025
Paul’s Letter to the Romans “At a Glance,” and Questions for Reflection
Now that I have finished this subthread on the letters of Paul in a nutshell, I’d like to provide brief summaries of the various Pauline writings (both “undisputed” and deutero-Pauline). These posts will be quick and to the point. In them I reproduce my overviews called “At a Glance” for each letter that I give in my textbook as the final bit of each discussion for each book, along with a couple of questions to reflect on. If the summaries don’t make immediate sense and/or the questions don’t seem to have an obvious question, I’d recommend rereading the relevant posts from a while back. In this post I deal the the letter to the Romans. Here are the previous posts, in case you need a reminder:
July 16, 2025
Some Readers’ Questions and Responses
Here are some of the intriguing questions I have recently received from blog members. The first one includes a reply to my response and my response to that reply. Enjoy! QUESTION: Have you considered the angle that Jesus may have been a revolutionary Essene? This would explain his outward orientation instead of inward. I mean he fits right in with being a disciple of John the Baptist and has a very Essene worldview. A good amount of his followers were also followers of John the Baptist. Most of the points he makes, eating with tax collectors and sinners, doing things on the Sabbath, not obsessing over ritual purity == all of these seems strangely specifically targeted towards the Essenes, which means he is very familiar and actively critiquing them.
July 17, 2025
The Death of Paul
I sometimes get asked (once just a few days ago) about what we can say about Paul’s death. We don’t have any historical records (i.e., historically reliable accounts), but there is one relatively early reference to it and an intriguing legend from about a century after the event, whenever and however it happened.
July 19, 2025
The Death of Peter
In my previous post I discussed the legendary account (the earliest we have) of the martyrdom of Paul. In it I mentioned as well the martyrdom of Peter (also legendary, though better known) (many people have heard he was crucified “upside-down”), and realized I may as well post on that as well, since I’ll certainly be getting some questions on it. Here is what I say about it in my book Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene (Oxford University Press). ****************************** By the end of the first and into the second century it was widely known among Christians that
July 20, 2025
The Letter to the Hebrews: For Further Reading
Here is a list of readings of relevance to the book of Hebrews. Some of the books, as you will see, are just on Hebrews itself; more are on the broader topic that Hebrews addresses, the relationship of Jews and Christians in early Christianity. This is a fraught topic: the first two on the list more or less argue that it’s not right to consider Judaism and Christianity as separate religions (!); the others address the question of how they became separate and how that led to the history of anti-Judaism and then, eventually, anti-Semitism. I include a a couple of important commentaries specifically on Hebrews. One benefit of serious commentaries is that they always begin by discussing major critical issues in understanding a book: authorship, date, historical context, major themes, disputed issues, and so on.
July 24, 2025
The Letter to the Hebrews: In a Nutshell
I now return to my long “Nutshell” thread, explaining each book of the New Testament in brief terms, with one post laying out its major themes and emphases; another discussing what we can know about who wrote it, when, and why; another that provides suggestions for further reading; and at least one (and sometimes more) on other aspects of the book that are very much worth bearing in mind. Eventually we will collect all these and issue them together (in some format or other – to be decided). For now, if you want to check out earlier posts in the series, simply do a word search on the blog for “Nutshell.” We have finished the Gospels, Acts, and the Pauline epistles, and now move on to the “Catholic” or “General” epistles. In this context “catholic” does not refer to the Roman Catholic church (or any other “Catholic” church), but means simply “universal.” The idea, rightly or wrongly, is that rather than being addressed to a specific congregation, these books were written to be read by […]
July 22, 2025
The Book of Hebrews: Who Wrote It, When, and Why?
Now that I have discussed the overarching themes and emphases of the letter to the Hebrews, I can turn to the historical question of who actually wrote it, when, and why. ****************************** The authorship of the book has been debated for nearly as long as the book has been in circulation; and part of that question involves the issue of what kind of writing it actually is. Although Hebrews is normally labeled an epistle, this designation is not particularly apt. The book has an epistolary closing – where the author gives a final exhortation, gives some personal greetings, and signs off by wishing his readers the best (Heb 13:20–25). That is, it ends the way letters tend to end. But there is no epistolary prescript. That is,
July 23, 2025
Does the Book of Hebrews Indicate Jesus Ever Came To Earth? A Response to Richard Carrier.
In an earlier post I indicated that I have difficulty responding to writings of mythicists, largely because they often say things that I think are dead wrong, but it would take so much time and effort to explain why. This morning I did think I should at least give one example of the sort of thing I mean, and I have chosen (just) one of the claims made several times by one of the mythicists’ leading spokespersons, Richard Carrier. Carrier argues that the earliest Christians did not believe Jesus ever came to earth but was a god who ministered and crucified in the heavenly realms. He also claims this view is supported by a close reading of the early New Testament writings themselves. He lists a number of them and discusses them all. I am here simply picking one example, the book of Hebrews. I could do the same thing with others (he equally surprisingly includes the letters of Paul and the non-canonical book of 1 Clement, for example) but my idea is not to […]
July 26, 2025
Can You “Lose Your Salvation”?
Does the New Testament teach that a person can lose their salvation? It depends whom you ask. And possibly which New Testament books you read. I have been discussing the letter to the Hebrews, and a couple of passages there are some of the key texts for discussing the issue. First, some background: Since the 16th century, many protestants have believed that that once a person has become a committed follower of Jesus and is therefore bound for heaven it is literally impossible for her/him to lose their salvation. In modern lingo, this is often expressed by the phrase “once saved/always saved.” The idea stems from the teachings of John Calvin (1509-1564), who, among other things, believed that people were “predestined” for salvation by God. Being saved was not based on a person’s choice/decision. It was determined by God, from the beginning. There was a clear logic to this view.
July 27, 2025
Will Everyone be Saved? (Everyone??)
There has been an extraordinary range of views in Christianity about who will be “saved,” whether people have any say in the matter, what it requires, whether salvation can be lost, and … most everything else connected with this central teaching of the religion. It may seem odd that disagreements among Christian thinkers would involve the very core message, rather than other issues of less significance and centrality, but, well, there it is. In my previous post I pointed to passages in the letter to the Hebrews that seem pretty clearly to indicate that a person could well lose their salvation. At the extreme other end of the theological spectrum was/is the view that in fact everyone will be saved. That’s a view more commonly thought to reside on the margins of Christendom, but it’s always been around – and is getting stronger now than ever – and can easily be traced, again, back to the New Testament, all the way back to its most revered author, the apostle Paul. It can be debated if […]
July 29, 2025
1 and 2 Corinthians “At a Glance,” and Questions for Reflection
In earlier posts I provided discussions of both 1 and 2 Corinthians: their major emphases and themes, what we know about their context, when they were written, and why. Check them out here: 1 Corinthians in a Nutshell 1 Corinthians: Who, When, and Why? 2 Corinthians in a Nutshell 2 Corinthians: Who Wrote It, When, and Why? Below is a concise summary of both discussions (each book “At a Glance”), taken from my book The New Testament: A Historical Introduction (Oxford University Press) and some questions for reflection to help you think through some of the issues that the books (and scholarship on them) raise.
July 31, 2025
Some Readers’ Questions and Some Responses
I continue to get excellent questions from readers of the blog. I can’t devote a post to all of them (I do answer all the ones I get in the comments section), but I do like to address a few of them publicly for everyone to see, every week or so. Here’s a current outstanding batch. QUESTION: Re 2nd Thessalonians: If it was written a few years after First Thessalonians couldn’t Paul have changed his mind on how imminent the end times were? Also, if he asked Timothy to write to the Thessalonians and use 1st Thess as a template so they know its from Paul, and Paul would sign it at the end – wouldn’t that explain things just as well as a later forger? RESPONSE:
July 30, 2025
James: Who, When, and Why? Does It Claim to be by THAT James (the brother of Jesus)?
In my previous post I summarized the major themes and emphases of the five-chapter letter of James, one of the Catholic Epistles. I now want to get into the questions of Who Wrote It, When, and Why. This will take a couple of posts, and I’ve decided to give a fuller scoop in this case than usual, by citing how I discussed the matter in my book Forgery and Counterforgery. I think the discussion is accessible to the non-expert. I have edited it a bit here, in paret to make it more more user-friendly). This issue is rather important for anyone interested in the history of early Christianity. Do we have a writing from Jesus’ own brother? Now *that* would be interesting! ****************************** The letter of James begins simply enough:
August 3, 2025
The Book of James in a Nutshell
In this “New Testament in a Nutshell” thread I come now to the intriguing book of James, long one of my favorites among the Catholic epistles. At one point in my earlier existence, I liked the book so well that I memorized it. Don’t ask me to recite it now; that was 50 years ago. Even so, I still think it is a terrific book. And now I realize it is intriguing for all sorts of reasons I never would have imagined back when I was able to recite it at a drop of the hat. I start here with a one-sentence, fifty-word summary. The Book of James consists of ethical instruction for followers of Jesus who are to live in ways pleasing to God as a way of demonstrating their faith, since anyone who thinks they can be saved only through what they believe does not understand that “faith without works is dead.” For the rest of this post, I will summarize the major themes and emphases of this short, five-chapter book, which, hey, […]
August 2, 2025
Could James, the Brother of Jesus, Even Write?
In my previous post I tried to show what the author of James is almost certainly claiming to be “that” James, the actual brother of Jesus. In this post and the next will be explaining why it probably (well, almost certainly was not, in my view) written by him. I’ve decided, as is my occasional wont, to get down into the weeds a bit here; sometimes that’s important because it’s oh so very easy to give broad and general reasons for a view that are so general and broad they’re not convincing to anyone who wants to get the real low down. So here we go, down low. (This taken from my book Forgery and Counterforgery, but I’ve edited it a bit to make it more user friendly, including by removing the academic footnotes). ****************************** There are solid reasons for thinking that whoever wrote this letter, it was not James, the brother of Jesus. The first, as already mentioned, is that James of Nazareth could almost certainly not write. That of course, needs to be […]
August 5, 2025
Why James Did Not Write James
Here I conclude my string of posts dealing with whether James the brother of Jesus wrote the book of James as the book itself implicitly claims. Again this is taken from my more academic study Forgery and Counterforgery, but I’ve edited it a bit for an audience of regular folk instead of irregular scholars. In my previous post I talked about how our ancient sources everywhere talk about the major concerns and interests of the the historical James and his focus on the Torah and keeping the law. Does this book reflect any of his widely known interests? ****************************** The book of James hints toward a James-like audience, as it is addressed to “the twelve tribes” (that is, faithful Jews scattered throughout the world). What is striking is that none of the cultural or cultic concerns of James of Jerusalem is in evidence in the book. Just the opposite. The book is thoroughly concerned about the “Law,” but not about the aspects of the Law that James himself is reported to have been interested in. Here, […]
August 6, 2025
Why Would Someone Forge the Letter of James?
In my previous three posts I’ve argued that the author of the book of James really does want his audience to think he is “James, the brother of Jesus,” but that in fact he was someone else. In modern parlance, that means the book is a “forgery.” Ancient Greek did not use the English word forgery, of course, but the terms they used for this kind of book were just as judgmental and, even, ugly. But why would someone forge this book, claiming to be James knowing he wasn’t? The first thing to notice is to reaffirm the one of the first things that we noticed (!): the book appears to appears to attack a form of Pauline Christianity that stresses the importance of “faith alone” for salvation. For this author, “faith without works is dead,” and if someone doesn’t live in ways that are beneficial to others and pleasing to God, they cannot be saved, however much faith they claim to have. This is especially seen in what is arguably the most famous passage […]
August 7, 2025
Am I? AI? What do you think?
I have been thinking a lot lately about the relationship of AI to human consciousness. I’m obviously not an an expert, but hey, at least I can think. Can AI think? That, of course, is a major question constantly being raised. And one on which almost everyone seems to have an opinion. (In contrast to, say, religion….) Is AI really that different from I? Am I a different mode of existence? The people I talk with usually argue that real thinking cannot happen without consciousness, and machines cannot be conscious the way humans are. OK, fair enough. I agree.
August 9, 2025