Are the Nativity Stories of Jesus based on those of John the Baptist?

Scholar Hugh J. Schonfield thought so. In his monograph published in 1929, Schonfield suggested that the scattered remains of a lost “Book of the Nativity of John” show that the Gospels of Matthew and Luke borrowed thematic elements from this hypothetical text for their compositions of the birth stories of Jesus. Schonfield found references to, …

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Is the Apostle Peter Buried Beneath St. Peter’s Basilica on the Vatican?

This question has recently come up again as Pope Francis announced in November, 2013, that the relics believed to be the very bones of St. Peter were to be put on public display. Are there any facts to substantiate either Peter’s stay in Rome or his death there? Surprisingly, there is a great deal of …

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The Barabbas Event Revisited: A Review

“The Release of Barabbas Revisited” by Roger David Aus. Pages 135-170 in “Caught in the Act,” Walking on the Sea, and the Release of Barabbas Revisited. South Florida Studies in the History of Judaism No. 157. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1998. In chapter three of his book “Caught in the Act,” Roger David Aus revisits the …

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