This week, I found myself musing about the composition of the New Testament Gospels. Not so much about the content or theological propositions therein, but about the actual methodology involved in writing such texts. My focus shifted primarily to Luke-Acts, the first and second volumes of a second-century survey of Christian origins. I think that …
Continue reading A Historically Plausible (If Imaginary) Origin Story for Luke-Acts
Did Jesus eliminate the Jewish food laws, known as kashrut? Did he announce that they no longer mattered and that what did matter was an ethical lifestyle? This is the belief of many Christians who take as their evidence the words of Jesus (or rather an editorial aside written by the author of the Gospel …
Unfortunately, there are too many interpreters who read the New Testament as supporting the notion that Christianity (never mentioned in the NT) was intended to replace Judaism as God’s saving religion and Christians were intended to displace Jews as God’s favored people. After all, as some still claim, “the Jews killed Christ.” Doesn’t that warrant …
Continue reading How did Paul Understand the Fate of His Unbelieving Fellow Jews?
In this series of posts, we will explore the history of Jesus’s closest followers as recorded across numerous ancient Christian traditions. Along the way, we will find that these traditions are often confused, contradictory, or seriously lacking in details. Nevertheless, we will attempt to distill all the historical data possible and, at times, risk delving …
