Serene has been an active member of the Platinum Corp, and here has written her first Guest Post; it's informative and, I bet, controversial!   Let Serene and the rest of us know what you think (and why)!   ****************************** Hi fellow Platies! Today, I present the case for Jesus as the son of a handmaiden and an Abrahamic divine king.     https://www.britannica.com/topic/sacred-kingship/The-divine-or-semidivine-king This would be under the right codified in the Babylonian Talmud that gives foreign officials access to engaged Jewish virgins: https://www.sefaria.org/Ketubot.3b.1?lang=bi&with=all "Rabba said: The baraita is referring to a period where the government said that a virgin who is married on Wednesday will submit to intercourse with the prefect [hegmon] first." And also in accordance with an Arab tradition attested to in the 7th C, and likely existing earlier, of royalty freeing a handmaid after first birth to marry.   The Why To reboot Jewish lineage. Lineage Nabataean-Edomite King Herod the Great had eliminated all of his lineage-Jewish children heirs by 4 BCE. Civil unrest ensued because as the saying goes, “representation matters”. [...]

How different is John from the Synoptics?  You may you think you know the answer, but this thoughtful post by platinum blog member Ryan Fleming should surely make you think.  And it all leads to a rather startling question at the end.  So what do you think?   ****************************** The partial narrative in the Gospel of John has a few important differences compared to the three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). The Synoptic Gospels are not identical, but in general they have reasonable agreement regarding the chronology of events in Jesus’ ministries. If one carefully tracks the chronology in the first three gospels, and then attempts to compare them with the Gospel of John, one quickly notices the differences. However, there are several other important differences worth noting. With each difference, a list of possible explanations follow: As discussed above, a different chronology – a timeline of too many events to list here. A long period of time from the writing of the other three (several decades?) with the word-of-mouth sequence of stories naturally [...]

I'm pleased to post this discussion of the miracles attributed to the emperor Vespasian, by Platinum blog member Ryan Fleming.  These miracles are not widely known outside the realm of antiquity nerds, and rarely are they much analyzed even there.   But they are significant and interesting, and here Ryan provides an intriguing assessment of them.  Enjoy!   **************************** Roman historians Tacitus (56 CE to 120 CE) in The Histories, Book IV, Section 81, and Suetonius (69 CE to 122 CE) in The Lives of the Twelve Caesars wrote of miracles Vespasian performed in the temple of Serapis in Alexandria Egypt. In one case he healed a blind man by anointing his eyes with his spit, and in another he healed a paralyzed man (withered hand or leg) by touching the hand or leg. It is tempting practice to compare these miracles with nearly identical acts attributed to Jesus in the Canonical Gospels and debate which came first, the Jesus stories or Vespasian stories: Curing blindness with spit: Mark 8:23-25, John 9:6-7 Curing blindness: Matthew 9:29-30, [...]

Hello, Gold & Platinum friends! Here's a video of me recording the June Gold Q&A in ancient Rome--or, maybe...?  

Dear Goldies & Plats, Our monthly Gold Q&A is coming upon us.  DEADLINE for your question(s):  Friday, June 23, midnight your time.  Interested in anything I can deal with?  Now's your chance: Ask away! I'm more likely to answer questions that are relatively short and to the point than those that go on for a long paragraph.  So be concise. I'll answer as the spirit leads. To enter your question on to the list: send it to Diane at [email protected] My plan is to record the session sometime over the few days after that.  I may send out a note indicating when that'll be a day or so ahead of time in case any of you want to listen in live. So, let me hear what you're curious about and I'll do my best to respond! BDE

Folks, our May Gold Q&A ended up in two parts. Make sure you scroll down to see Part 2:  

Dear Goldies, Our monthly Gold Q&A is coming upon us.  DEADLINE for your question(s):  this coming Friday, May 19, midnight your time.    Interested in anything I can deal with?   Now's your chance: Ask away! I'm more likely to answer questions that are relatively short and to the point than those that go on for a long paragraph.  So be concise. I'll answer as the spirit leads. To enter your question on to the list: send it to Diane at [email protected] My plan is to record the session sometime over the few days after that.  I will probably send out a note indicating when that'll be a day or so ahead of time in case any of you want to listen in live. So, let me hear what you're curious about and I'll do my best to respond! BDE  

Here you go, Gold & Platinum members! https://vimeo.com/817695164/77e10c1b7f?ts=585000&share=copy

Dear Goldies, Time to crank up another monthly Gold Q&A.  Have a question?  ASK IT!  DEADLINE for your question(s):  this coming Friday, April 7, midnight your time. I'm more likely to answer questions that are relatively short and to the point than those that go on for a long paragraph.  So be concise. I'll answer as the spirit leads. To enter your question on to the list: send it to Diane at [email protected] My plan is to record the session soon after that, probably on the weekend.  I will probably send out a note indicating when that'll be a day or so ahead of time in case any of you want to listen in live. So, let me hear what you're curious about and I'll do my best to respond! BDE  

Here's the video of yesterday's quarterly Platinum webinar. This webinar was a little different--Bart talked about the ideas he's working through for his next book proposal:

For your (Gold & Platinum) viewing pleasure, here is the video of the March Gold Q&A:   https://vimeo.com/807991701    

Dear Gold Members, I will be   my Gold Q&A tomorrow evening, March 13, 7:30 pm -- and anyone who wants to watch is welcome to come!  I've got a great set of questions to deal with and am looking forward to it.  No charge for admission, just show up.  We'll meet and greet, I'll do my thing, and then we can chat for a few minutes after. Here's the link: Topic: Gold Q&A https://unc.zoom.us/j/92207490998?pwd=MXRhQW9GTlRaMmE1WXdvRHVEVlNRQT09 Meeting ID: 922 0749 0998 Passcode: 339508 One tap mobile +16469313860,,92207490998# US +19294362866,,92207490998# US (New York) Dial by your location +1 646 931 3860 US +1 929 436 2866 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 305 224 1968 US +1 309 205 3325 US +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 386 347 5053 US +1 507 473 4847 US +1 564 217 2000 US +1 669 444 9171 US +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 689 278 1000 US +1 719 359 4580 US +1 253 205 0468 US +1 253 215 8782 [...]

Okay, you Golds & Plats: here is the video of my answering the February Gold Q&A questions. I had to break it into two parts, so be sure to scroll down for Part 2.   https://vimeo.com/807069029/e23041166c https://vimeo.com/807069653/d2c96fd17a  

Dear Platinum members, It is time (finally!) for our quarterly Platinum webinar, for you Plats only.  We have scheduled it for Wednesday March 15, 7:30 pm EST.  I have decided to delve into a topic that you (or at least I) almost NEVER hear about: the difference between forgiveness and atonement.  This difference plays a significant role in early Christianity, even though, so far as I know, no early Christian talks about it or even seems to recognize it.  And it marks a very big difference between the teachings of Jesus and the preaching of his followers after his death.  It matters a lot for understanding how "salvation" works AND for understanding interpersonal relations. All this will be part of the next book I'm working on, and I've never made a presentation on it!  I'd like to try my ideas out on you.  Wanna come?  Come! Here's the Zoom link.  I'm looking forward to it! https://unc.zoom.us/j/99912549124?pwd=NnNsSDRGbVlBWDA4MFFNUXJBS0taZz09 Bart

Dear Goldies, Our monthly Gold Q&A is coming upon us.  DEADLINE for your question(s):  this coming Friday, March 10, midnight your time.    Interested in anything I can deal with?   Now's your chance: Ask away! I'm more likely to answer questions that are relatively short and to the point than those that go on for a long paragraph.  So be concise. I'll answer as the spirit leads. To enter your question on to the list: send it to Diane at [email protected] My plan is to record the session sometime over the few days after that.  I will probably send out a note indicating when that'll be a day or so ahead of time in case any of you want to listen in live. So, let me hear what you're curious about and I'll do my best to respond! BDE  

Dear Gold and Platinum members, I've decided to record this month's Gold Q&A live in front of whoever wants to come.  I may do this regularly.  BUT, here's the deal: I rarely know well in advance when I can squeeze it in, so if I do this on a regular basis I won't be able to announce it, well, well in advance.  But anyone who wants to come, can come.  I'm doing it on Zoom anyway, so why not? I'm doing this month's tomorrow morning,  Wed. Feb 15, at 11:00 am EST.  There's no real reason to come unless you want to see it live (since we'll be sending out the recording).   BUT: I thought it might be fun to take some live questions as well as the ones submitted in advance (for the proviso, see below).  AND: I thought I could do that as a mini-fundraiser. We are trying to raise funds for the earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria (hence the Movie Club on the film Tár with guest Gisele Ben-Dor, esteemed conductor [...]

It is time to schedule the Gold Q&A for February.   For me to provide the A's you need to provide the Q's.  What are you interested in?  It can be about most anything related to the blog in one way or another. I'm more likely to answer questions that are relatively short and to the point than those that go on for a long paragraph.  So be concise. I'll try to be informative.  And happiness will reign. To enter your question on to the list: send it to Diane at [email protected] The DEADLINE for your question is Friday February 10 , at midnight (whenever midnight is where you live).   I will record my answers that weekend (but not, uh, during the Superbowl) (go Chiefs!), and we will release the recording in both video and audio form --  for Gold and Platinum members only -- the following week. Ask some tough ones!  Or, even better, ask ones you're most interested in, even if you think they're softballs.  I'm looking forward to it! Bart