The Bible Geek
By The Bible Geek
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Podcast Description
The religious podcast of webulite.com This Podcast was created using www.talkshoe.com
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Clean9/4/09 TheBibleGeek.org MP3 announcement | I will be making the MP3 of the entire prior month worth of Bible Geek shows available via TheBibleGeek.org. This will allow Bob to make his shows available immediately and for free to the community via the new TV feature, but will allow folks that prefer MP3 files to download and move to their portable player to have access to them, with... Ricco doing a "reasonable" amount of work each month, instead of having to watch for and process every file before it is made available. | 9/4/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanSeptember 2, 2009 - TheBibleGeek.org announcement | Hey Folks. We are going to adding TheBibleGeek.org TV. Use the URL; http://TheBibleGeek.org to link to the new Live show. You will be able to watch Bob live, as well as prior shows as they accumulate. Cheers! Ricco | 9/2/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanAugust 24th TheBibleGeek.org podcast | Bob Seems to have accidentally stopped and started the recording at about the 56 minute mark. I don't know how long it was off. I inserted a short 60Hz tone at that point so that you understand where the gap is with no doubt. | 8/24/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanAugust 19, 2009 TheBibleGeek.org podcast | Koran Old Testament prophecy and wisdom. Isaiah 7:14--a prediction of JEsus? Did Job anticipate resurrection? Does the Bible hate the sin but love the sinner? Whence the "personal savior" theology?Do self-serving texts in the Koran go back to an historical Muhammad? Is there a genuine OT chronology? | 8/19/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanAugust 13th TheBibleGeek.org podcast | If Jesus was a myth what about the Baptist and the Pillars? If both were analogous prophets why did Elijah not found a religion like Jeus did? 1 2 and 3 Isaiah? How to avoid family strife over critical opinions? | 8/14/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanThe August 9, 2009, Bible Geek | Only Eljah in heaven? Did Papias read our Mattthew? Is the Bible Geek a Gnostic? What is the "Second Death"? Quaker theologian Nixon. Did Morton Smith forge the Secret Gospel? | 8/9/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanAugust 1st, 2009 thebiblegeek.org podcast (part 1) | Bible Questions. Early Church. The naame Jirus. James's death and Jesus' tansfiguration. Simon Magus. Exorcisms. 911 Conspiracy Theory; Christian apologetics. Dual fulfilmment of prophecy? Aquila & Priscilla.Is the study of the NT in chaos? Does 2 Esdras/4Ezra 14 imply the OT was written, de novo, after the Exile? Was the LXX the original? Does the Bike teach a spherical earth? The Flood. Simon Magus & Paul. Is Jesus's temptation on the temple pinnacle based on the death of James the Just there? When did they start using "Catholic"? Pre-Christian messianic typology? Origin of Passover if no exodus? Subcutaneous ID chips & the mark of the Beast. Dating gospels & Acts. What does "Jairus" mean? Why no epistles ascribed to Jesus? Was Israel more advanced than other ancient peoples? Was Marx right on religion as an opiate? Jesus & demons. Faith & history. Earl Doherty: does he explain aay damaging evidence? | 8/1/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanAugust 1th 2009, thebiblegeek.org podcast, (part 2) | This show is broken into two parts. Bible Questions. Early Church. The naame Jirus. James's death and Jesus' tansfiguration. Simon Magus. Exorcisms. 911 Conspiracy Theory; Christian apologetics. Dual fulfilmment of prophecy? Aquila & Priscilla.Is the study of the NT in chaos? Does 2 Esdras/4Ezra 14 imply the OT was written, de novo, after the Exile? Was the LXX the original? Does the Bike teach a spherical earth? The Flood. Simon Magus & Paul. Is Jesus's temptation on the temple pinnacle based on the death of James the Just there? When did they start using "Catholic"? Pre-Christian messianic typology? Origin of Passover if no exodus? Subcutaneous ID chips & the mark of the Beast. Dating gospels & Acts. What does "Jairus" mean? Why no epistles ascribed to Jesus? Was Israel more advanced than other ancient peoples? Was Marx right on religion as an opiate? Jesus & demons. Faith & history. Earl Doherty: does he explain aay damaging evidence? | 8/1/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanJuly 19th TheBibleGeek.org podcast | messianic prophecy; Paul and James; Job Resurrection. Exodus and fiction.; Mt. Sinai. Paul and Jewish Christianity. Job and Resurrection. Messianic concepts & prophecies. | 7/19/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanJuly 15th TheBibleGeek.org podcast | Prophecy Irenaeus Schweitzer Gnosticism Freke and Gandy Earl Doherty Gerd Ludemann Exodus.; Ludemann on Philemon & Galatians. Apocryphal vs canonical Acts: why give one benefit of the doubt? Evangelical "Open Theism." Is the ICC still worth using? Earl Doherty of Jesus in Hebrews. Can a personal God be omniscient? Exodus on the "History" Channel. Did Irenaeus invent the Incarnation? Is resurrection present or future in Pauline epistles? Is Biblical "prophecy" real prediction? A variorum edition of Schweitzer's Quest? | 7/15/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanJuly 5th 2009 Bible Geek Show | martyrdom eschatology John's gospel. The Ecclesiastical Redactor of John. What is the evidence for apostolic martyrdoms? Did Christ save us from death or from hell? | 7/6/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanJuly 2, 2009 Bible Geek Show | Preterism Marcionism Bibkical Feminism; James vs. Paul. James vs. Matthew. Women in the Bible. Full vs. partial preterism. Mark, Luke, and Marcion's Gospel. | 7/2/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanJune 28th Bible Geek Podcast | Earl Doherty; omniscience of God; higher criticism; Easter stories. ----- Omniscience of God. Did Genesis mankind fill or refill the earth? Earl Doherty. Why do people in gospel resurrection stories initially fail to recognize Jesus? The Copper Scroll. Does Jesus' human nature still exist? Bible Geek's education. The influence of higher crit on history. Bayesian probility. Did o one make note of Matthew's mass resurrection or Acts postmortem ministry of Jesus? | 6/27/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanJune 21, 2009 podcast | "Free will: in the Bible and philosophy. Ben Witherington III. John's gospel: who wrote it? | 6/21/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanJune 16, 2009 podcast | Pharisees; apocalyptic belief; original sin; Historicity of other gospel characters; Neil D. Klotz and Jesus' Aramaic; whence the "original sin" doctrine? Does Jesus mean to predicy the slaughter of unbelievers in Luke 19:27? Were there really Christian Pharisees, as in Acts 14-15? | 6/16/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanBible Geek June 8, 2009 | The John the Baptist passion/resurrection in Mark. Harmonizing Galatians 1 with 1 Cor. 15. Does Jesus'desert temptation contradict Trinitarianism? | 6/8/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanBible Geek May 27 podcast | Ricco asks for help from the Bible Geek listening audience... I want a mp3 recorder for Bob that he can run locally, and is simple. Cheers! A variety of questions. Bob gave me this text; "Virgin-born" priests? Why is Pilate in the Creed? SUperstar exegesis. Which Herod? Did Jesus descend into the Netherworld? Does Firmicus Maternus refer to Attis or Osiris? Bayesian Probability. Two Days of Atonement in Ezekiel and the gospel? The need for German. Would Jesus' death from old age have atoned? Can we harmonize 1 Cor. 15:3-11 with Gal. 1?A Polish atheist martyr. | 5/27/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanWhy Does Peter Become More Pious | Hi Dr Price Mark 8:29, Luke 9:20 and Mathew 16:16 read respectively; â??You are the Christâ?? â??You are the Christ of Godâ?? â??You are the Christ, the Son of the Living Godâ?? I know you point this out in your book ''The Incredible Shrinking Son Of Man'' to show how texts become embellished in time and it stands to reason that the simpler text is with all probability more historical or more likely to be true. I was however wondering what purpose this embellishment might serve. [you may have covered this in your book but it contains such a wealth of information i need to read it a couple of times and let it sink in lol :)]. Matthew inherently becomes more pious, do scholars understand what motivated the Gospel writer to do this? Thanks for the excellent show! Keep up the good work! Nicholas Bruzzese firefly | 5/15/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanSimos Magus at the Jerusalem Conference of Acts 15? | Greetings Dr. Price, As far as I know, you think that the â??historical Paulâ?? was Simon Magus. If thatâ??s so, how does a character like Simon Magus fits in the Jerusalem Conference of Acts 15? Was it possible for someone like him to talk to Peter and the 12 in a completely strange â??theological dialectâ??? And by the wayâ?¦was there such a conference?! Finally: are the F.C. Baur conclusions about the two versions of Christianity harmonized at that Conference(a Pauline Gentile Christianity and a Petrine Jewish Christianity) correct? My congratulations for your show: you are the Fulton Sheen of the blasphemers! Tutmosis III from Portugal | 5/12/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanIs Matthew sloppy? | Hello Dr Price, Matthew (or whoever wrote that gospel) seems a bit sloppy at times. I noticed that he is intent on creating 3 blocks of 14 names in his genealogy, but he is short one name on the 3rd block. Did he miscount, or did he feel 13 was close enough to 14? I don't want to beat him up over this, but I'm wondering if he has any sort of reputation among scholars. He also seems sloppy forcing prophecies into his text. In Matthew 21 he seems to misunderstand the scripture he is citing and has Jesus somehow riding into town on two animals - a donkey and a colt. Also, in Matthew 12 he claims that the Son of Man will be in the earth "three days and three nights." Three nights is just plain wrong. Isn't Matthew also the one who has all the dead saints coming out of their graves? What is he doing? Thanks, Milk | 5/4/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanEntering Jerusalem to Bring Peace or War? | Dr. Price, In "The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man," you state: "Zech. 9:9 is in all likelihood a piece of the same royal liturgy, this time an "entrance liturgy" (cf. Psalms 24, 46, 48, 118) as the prince rides to the palace to be inaugurated. He rides a donkey, a peacetime mount, rather than a war stallion, so as to anticipate the glorious peace that should mark his reign. There is no future reference, though later scribes will interpret it that way" (p. 271). Jesus is depicted entering Jerusalem on a donkey (Mat 21:1-9) or a colt (Mar 11:1-10, Luk 19:28-38), which if interpreted as you have on p. 271 would indicate that this is a peacetime mount. When juxtaposed against the next scene in Mat 21:10-17 and Luk 19:45-46, this appears as a direct act of war against the Roman occupation. Mark 11:11, who I understand as the earliest of the synoptic gospels, does not seem to show Jesus cleansing the Temple ("Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the Temple"). Why would Matthew and Luke show Jesus as entering Jerusalem to bring peace and immediately proclaim an act of war? Could this be seen as an act of deception by Jesus and the disciples, a kind of bait and switch? That is, assuming Jesus was a radical and there were individuals in Jerusalem who were "out to get" Jesus, coming into the city by way of donkey or colt would symbolize that Jesus was not coming to make trouble. I know the historicity of the act is in question, but I thought it could be an interesting parallel to your comments on Zech. 9:9. Thanks so much for the podcast! -Jay Tarnoff | 5/4/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanFreud's Moses | I recently read a book by Sigmund Freud entitled Moses and Monotheism. A fascinating read, it suggests that the figure of Moses was a former priestly follower of Egyptian Monotheist Akhenaten, and that the traditions of the Levites and their seperation from the rest of the Jews are because they were his Egyptian family and followers in exile. Digging further, I came across some histories of Josephus, which describe and counter Manetho's claims of a figure of Osarseph - which he stated was the origin of the character Moses, who led a monotheistic uprising and was driven away. So my question is roughly, what is your understanding of the origins of Moses, and indeed the origins of Judaic Monotheism? Is there a significant Egyptian connection? Is the beginnings of Judaism found in the Solar Disk Aten? Was Moses a historic figure? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter. | 5/4/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Cleanwhat does bob price believe? | hello Dr. bob, new bible geek member and long time listener, I've followed your podcast for some time and look forward to each episode. one question I've had in my mind for some time is this. whats your spiritual and educational background in christianity and what do you personally believe? your deconstruction of biblical issues and construction of ideas is excellent, id be interested to know of your personal beliefs and how your study has shaped your personal belief structure and epistemology. An example of the dilemma in critical bible study is this. can one hold true to the values as dictated by the majority of common beliefs held by christians such as the inherent divinity of the christ or does the scholastic and scientific method dictate that you view biblical history impartially and treat whom christians call the christ as Yeshua ben Yusuf? | 5/4/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanScribal Quote Mining | Hi Dr Price What evidence there is, if any, for scribes working on the Christian/Greek scriptures to mine quotes from various sources including the Hebrew Bible (or Septuagint). Often i read in the NT someone saying something along the lines of 'the scriptures say this' or 'it is written' but i have no idea what text they are talking about. I am aware of this story in Mark 7 where Jesus is quoting the Septuagint to Palestinian rabbi's and i think, yeah not likely! Can that be attributed to quote mining? And what exactly was the point of quote mining? Simply to enhance the literary style of the writer? Great show! Nicholas Bruzzese firefly | 5/4/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanA Historical Jesus?, Evolution of Christology, and Simon Magus is Paul? | Dr. Price, I have become a big fan of yours recently, and I really enjoy studying your biblical scholarship. I have a few questions that you might enjoy answering. I understand that you currently hold the view that a historical Jesus probably never existed. I am wondering about the progession of myth and Christology that occurs throughout the gospels. Assuming Mark to be the first gospel, it seems that the Christology of Christ gradually evolves from him being a man/healer/teacher in Mark,to a higher Christoogy in Matthew and Luke, to the Son of God, the way, the truth, the light, etc. in the gospel of John, and to finally being declared fully man/fully god at the council of Nicea. I am wondering that if the Christ myth hypothesis is true, why did Mark create such a human Jesus and the later gospel writers a more divine Jesus? If Jesus was never a historical figure, wouldn't the Jesus of Mark have more myhological qualities and a higher Christology? Even the earlier Pauline letters seem to have a higher Christology than Mark. Did Mark have a reason for creating Jesus as he did if the Christ myth theory is correct. I very much like the Christ myth theory, but I also don't see how Christianity would be any less of a myth without a historical Jesus. Wheter there was a historical Jesus or not, can't we just declare all a myth anyway? I am also curious about your theory on Simon Magus and his relationship of possibly being a code name for Paul. In Paul's letters, he seems to be affectionate to the people he is writing to, have a signifcant amount of details about his life, etc. How do you consider Paul himself to be a mythological creation and have a relation to Simon Magus? Would Marcion be able to construct the entire personality of Paul and his epistles, if Paul never existed? Anything you could say about Paul and/or Simon Magus would be great. Thank you your geekiness! | 5/4/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanLeviticus 12:1-5 | Hello Dr. Price, Is there any reason other than sexism that would explain why a woman is unclean for twice as long if she gives birth to a baby girl? Thanks, Milk | 4/25/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanThe Day of Crucifiction | Hi Bob, This is Icthus here. I am back "like a thief in the night." I have been following the good old Bible Geek over the past year but I haven't asked a question in sometime now. I defected to a great audio series on various subjects by Bart Ehrman. You and he by the way, are my favourite bible scholars. Your show helps me to stretch the boundaries of my critical thinking but Bart helps to reign me back in a little. Anyway I am continually amazed to find more and more very problematic bible contradictions, ones that I never saw back in my days as an evangelical. Bart Ehrman brought to my attention that the synoptic Gospels portray Jesus as being crucified at on the actual day of the Passover, having eaten the Passover meal the evening before. John however has Jesus crucified at noon on the "Day of Preparation" for the Passover, just at the time the lambs were being slaughtered. Are there any good attempts that Christians give to get out of this seemingly irreconcilable contradiction? It seems to me that one or both accounts simply cannot be argued as being historically accurate. What sayeth the great Geek!!!! Icthus | 4/25/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanSource for this claim in Deconstructing Jesus? | Hello Dr. Price. On page 87 of Deconstructing Jesus, you write that "...the Mithraist undertook a ritual shower in the blood of a disemboweled bull (or, if he couldn't afford it, a lamb)," but no sources are cited in support. I've been doing some research on the link between Mithraism and taurobolia recently, and i've only been able to turn up a single Latin inscription (CIL 6.736), universally (it seems) regarded by scholars as spurious. Can you tell me where you got this from? Many thanks. | 4/25/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanMalta and connections between Odysseus and Paul | Hello Doctor of Bible Geekery, I recently visited Malta and spent the morning walking round Valletta in the rain. I noticed repeated references to two historical figures, or two historical literary figures; St. Paul and Odysseus. I'd never really thought about their connection before, but suddenly things clicked in my mind. Both men, on the final leg of their journeys, get involved in some kind of dispute involving food, sacrifices, and storms, both are shipwrecked and both wash up on Malta. This might just be coincidence... but it certainly raises some questions! For example; are there many other links between the more ancient Greek epics and the Acts of the Apostles, particularly Paul's journeys around the Mediterranean? Not just the style of the writing or the fiction, but specific events. Or maybe you could just talk on this topic for a bit. Do you cover this in your writing about Paul? Luke Burrage, Berlin, Germany. | 4/25/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanOn the book of John the Baptizer | Hey Dr. Price, I'm reading the book of John the Baptizer in your Pre-Nicene New Testament and was wondering about the significance of the dialog between John and Jesus. John says, "No stammerer becomes a scholar. No blind man pens a letter." Etc. Then continues to say that if Jesus can give examples of these things he is truly a wise messiah. Jesus does this but John doesn't have a chance to respond. Is this the Mandaeans acknowledging Jesus as a wise man? I can't think of another purpose for this passage. And, from which sources do we derive our knowledge of the early Mandaeans? For example, how do we know that they ceded the words messiah and spirit to Christianity? Thanks for answering my horrendously long question last time, as well as inspiring my interest in biblical study. - Andrew | 4/25/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanGospel Writer's Proffesionalism | Your Geekiness, Do we have a good feeling for how â??professionalâ?? the gospel writer's were, based upon their writing style? Were they top notch scribes, perhaps hired by a church to â??flesh outâ?? the Jesus story, or common laymen compelled to write down the stories? It seems to me that the methodology of quoting from the existing Hebrew scriptures and the histories of Josephus is something a professional scholar might do but a compassionate laymen would not, but being far from a scholar myself I'm not sure how far off in left field I am in this idea. Is there any validity to this? | 4/25/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Cleanresurrection apologetics | Dr. Price, I have been listening to many of William Lane Craig's public debates on the resurrection of Jesus. Overall, I think you did the best job of any of his adversaries, but many others have done well too. As you and many of your listeners may know, Craig rests his case for the resurrection on four "facts": to wit, (1) the burial of Jesus by Joseph of Arimathea (2) the discovery of the empty tomb (3) the appearances of Jesus to his disciples (4) the origin of the disciples' belief in the resurrection "despite their having every predisposition to the contrary." As I see it, (1) is probably a fabrication by Mark, and even if it were true, it wouldn't prove much. (2) slips into the fallacy that you describe so well as "rationalist apologetics," in which Craig essentially assumes biblical inerrancy and then dares his critics to come up with some other explanation for the "fact" of the empty tomb. (3) can quite easily be accounted for by religious visions, which have occurred in every culture ever to exist on earth. My questions concern "fact" (4). Craig repeats the refrain that given the Jewish background of the disciples, if they had visions of Jesus after his crucifixion, they would see him as exalted in heaven, in Abraham's bosom. Craig also argues that the Jewish conception of resurrection was only of a general resurrection at the end of time. First, if the earliest disciples had visions of Jesus in which he appeared in close proximity to them, perhaps even visions in which Jesus spoke to them, if the visions were strong enough, could these visions have caused devout Jews of the time to believe that Jesus had been raised from the dead? Second, if Christianity came into being by means of visions of Jesus, would the earliest disciples have assumed that Jesus' tomb (assuming he had his own tomb) would've been empty, or was the concept of resurrection more fluid (e.g., God gave Jesus a new, heavenly body)? Finally, if Jesus really did have some apocalyptic content in his preaching, wouldn't this make it easier to understand how Paul could view the resurrection of Jesus as the "firstfruits" of the general resurrection? Thanks, Jesse | 4/20/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanOne headbanger of a question on Genesis, hidden gods, and possible Egyptian | Oh Geekiness, Your Geekiness, I've been listening to your podcast for a at least a couple years now, but have never asked a question. I'm just a dilettante with this material, and would rather be thought dumb than open my mouth and remove all doubt. HOWEVER, I recently heard an interview with David Plotz, the journalist who blogged about every chapter of the OT as he worked his way through it. He was talking about the internal conflicts of Genesis, when something occurred to me and I had to write. It's about there being light before there was a sun. SO First assumption: The Egyptian civilization and mythos played an importantly influential role on the OT. Without Egypt, there's no Exodus, no Moses, no Passover, no law, no tradition, etc. Second assumption: It's safe to say that a heckuva lot of the biblical texts are fused versions of pre-existing Mediterranean tales, no? I'm probably over-simplifying this, but as literature, aren't the texts often different kinds of compound alloys of other tales? As I understand it, a good deal of the stories have echoes in other stories that were being told in the region at the time, such as the echoes of Noah in Gilgamesh, the Babylonian god Tammuz becoming a month in the Jewish calendar, etc. Third assumption: As I understand it, the name of the Egyptian god Amon Ra means something like 'the hidden sun' or 'the hidden god.' (Which also has me questioning any links between the Egyptian word Amon and the prayer-ender Amen.) Ra was the sun, and worshiped as a god, and Amon Ra was something like the aspect of the sun when it was hidden at night. I'm sure there are other more elaborate interpretations of 'hidden,' but that seems to be the basic one. Fourth assumption: In Genesis, the deity first announces "let there be light," but the sun doesn't appear until, what, the fourth day? Question: So is it possible to read the Genesis deity that first brings light before there's a sun as Amon, the hidden aspect of the sun? Could we be seeing, in the language itself, an assimilation of a prior tradition into an emerging monotheistic tradition? Amon, the hidden god/sun, brings light but isn't seen. Later, the visible aspect of the god/sun, Ra, makes an appearance. This just struck me as a possible reading for why there is light before a sun, or at least a literary reading that tries to take into account the way the mythologies were adopted and adapted by neighboring cultures in the ancient Mediterranean world. But is this a legitimate reading, or are there any good reasons to cease such pontificating before I get a headache? Yours in sub-geekitude, gavagai | 4/20/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanMetaphysics of Presence | O Great One, This isn't a direct Bible question, but I was curious about something I occasionally hear you mention with regards to church services and 'witnessing' etc. Specifically I have heard you reference the concept "metaphysics of presence" which I believe is attributable to Derrida with origins in Heidegger. I have Googled around for a full explanation of the term but am only more confused. The way it is explained seems to reference the ideas of 'logocentrism' and 'privileging of presence over absence' specifically regarding philosophy and literature. My un-educated paraphrase would be that Western philosophy believes 'meaning' exists and is attainable through Aristotelian logic. However the way you used the term with reference to church services seemed to suggest that it was a kind of covert psychological function. Again, an uneducated paraphrase: "If we are all doing these rituals and praising the Lord, etc there has to be SOMETHING to it." Can you please talk more about this concept and clarify. I think it is a fascinating subject which colors the way we respond to everything from office meetings to political rallies. gods bless you, ErikInAthens | 4/20/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanBook of the Annals of the Kings | Throughout 1 and 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, there are numerous references to the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel and the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah. For example 1 Kings 14:19 reads (NRSV) "Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred and how he reigned, are written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel." Are these real books, and do we have any surviving copies? Do they corroborate the Biblical narrative? If these are not real books, or they contradict the Bible, why would the authors of Kings and Chronicles discredit themselves by mentioning them? | 4/20/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanWanting to know more about ancient myths | Bob; I am looking for some good reading on Mithras, Osiris, Dionysus, and the other dying and rising Gods you have spoke of that share similarities to Jesus. So far, what I have found is that some of the mythological aspects of these stories overlap, but not the lessons or feelings that they are trying to convey. It appears to me that the gospel writers used story lines common to their era to convey their experience, but had a very different hero at the center of those stories. Can you help me out? John | 4/20/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanOn Lilith | I've read and encountered this name in many fictional accounts and stories, so naturally I was wondering on the origin of the character, and indeed from whence she came and what there was to her. Any insights? | 4/20/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanCoincidence? | Mr. Price, I assume that you do not believe in a worldwide flood or a six day creation. How do you account for the multiple flood stories that pervade seemingly disparate cultures around the globe? How do you account for ancient pictures of men hunting dinosaurs or dragons when they allegedly went extinct millions of years ago? Sincerely, TrueX | 4/16/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanGod on equality | I was reading an essay by a University of Toronto professor of psychology on the importance of the religious paradigm in understanding morality, or something like that (I found it rather hard to follow at times). In his deconstruction of Genesis for the purpose of his thesis, Peterson takes a different position than what I saw as a pretty obvious reflection of patriarchal society. Below is an extract of his essay. "Pain, work and the dawn of history Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Eveâ??s essential self-conscious tragedy is the necessary reliance on Adam, and on the social order that the dependence of her children forces upon herâ??accompanied or perhaps foreshadowed by the pain of childbirth. Th is â??punishmentâ?? has nothing to do with any spiritual inadequacy, intrinsically characteristic of females. Even among chimpanzees (although not among bonobos) the essential social hierarchy is patriarchal, and the females live somewhat outside and apart from that. Th e large brain of the human beingâ??a precondition for his emergent selfconsciousnessâ?? brings with it dramatic and lasting consequences for the human mother. A babyâ??s skull is too big for the birth canal, even though female hips are almost too wide to allow for easy running. Th e skull is compressibleâ??incompletely formedâ??to partially compensate for this. Furthermore, the baby is born much earlier, much less developed, than are the babies of smaller brained but equally sized mammals. Th e â??properâ?? gestation period for a human baby is in the order of one and a half years, not nine months (Passingham, 1975). Th us, the human infant is stunningly dependent, to his own detriment (given his dependence on the self-conscious benevolence of the mother and the social surround), but also to the lasting disadvantage of the woman, who gives birth in pain and is then primarily responsible for sheltering and protecting her externalized fetus. Given this burden, she is inevitably vulnerable, dependent on her mate for protection and resources, and alienated from the â??patriarchalâ?? power structure. Th us, the description in Genesis 3:16 is not so much proscriptive, as self-interested but threatened Judeo-Christian (and Islamic?) patriarchs might have it, as it is tragically descriptive. Adamâ??s essential self-conscious tragedy is the necessity of work. Animals have biology and they have social structures, if they are social. Sometimes their social structures have rituals and traditions that are somewhat specific to that structure. However, these structures are not remembered. Th ey are merely embodied. Furthermore, their construction is not conscious. It is emergent. Human beings, cursed with the knowledge of their own finitude and vulnerability, painfully aware not only of the present but of the past and the future, must make plans and act to defend that vulnerability. Th ey must continually discount the pleasures of the present in favor of the security of the future. Th is is particularly true of men, at least historicallyâ??and not only to reduce uncertainty. Womenâ??s child-induced dependence makes the productivity or potential productivity of a mate a critical factor in female selection. Furthermore, male productivity and utility is key to male status, which provides additional ac | 4/16/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanWomen at the tomb | Hi Dr Price, thanks for answering my earlier question about the possible Egyptian origin of the Tetragrammaton and the use of Greek words in Christian preaching. I just saw a new series produced by the Australian scholar John Dickson about the Life of Jesus, in which he referred to the idea that since the testimony of women was not valued in 1st Century Judaism, the fact that women were reported as the first witnesses of the resurrected Jesus makes it more likely to be true. Would I be right to call this an example of the principle of embarrassment? My personal take was that the principle could be taken too far, and that women could have been included in the story for narrative or theological reasons even if it was an invention- for instance, if it was more plausible that women would be the first ones to visit the tomb, or to continue the theme in the Gospels of turning social expectations on their head, or because female mourners were associated with dying and rising gods. I'd be interested to hear your take on this topic. Thanks again for the great podcast, can't get enough :) | 4/16/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanNon-literal three days and three nights? | Dear Dr. Price, In keeping with the season, I have been looking more closely at an aspect of the resurrection wherein the presumed prophecy does not appear to provide a literal match to the described event. The issue is the duration of Jesusâ?? time in the tomb. The synoptic gospels seem to describe the commonly held timeline of a partial day and full night, followed by a full day and full night â?? with the resurrection taking place early the next morning. Not even 48 hours by this reckoning. Yet the prophecy we find mentioned by Jesus in Matt 12:40 appears to outline a different scenario: â??â?¦ for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.â?? The most common response provided by apologists is that any part of a day could be commonly referred to as a full day and so the Friday Passover to Sunday Resurrection timeframe fulfills the prophetic requirements. So, to my questions: - Matthew 16:21 describes Jesus as rising â??onâ?? the third day as does Acts 10:39-40. Are these indications that this three-days/three-nights reference in Matthew 12 indeed had a common usage not intended to mean full, literal days and nights? -To complicate matters I see various apologists attempting to add an extra day â?? or even an extra Sabbath â?? to match the literalness of Matthew. What do you think of these â??extra dayâ?? explanations? Pointed toward Geek-dom, iPatch | 4/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanWhen is a hundred pounds not enough? | Dear Dr. Price, The Easter morning resurrection story invariably brings to mind the image of the vacated burial shroud -- but lacks the associated image of the large volume of accompanying spices. I note that John 19:39-40 tells us, â??Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.â?? Shroud of Turin issues aside, this account found only in John seems to pose a harmonization problem. Namely, here in John we have Nicodemus applying a large amount of burial spices to Jesusâ?? body. However, in Mark 16:1 and Luke 24:1 we find the burial spices are brought to the tomb by the women followers of Jesus after the Sabbath. Are we to imagine that the women did not know that Jesusâ?? body had already been prepared with spices? This does not seem likely given the following accounts: Luke 23:55 â??The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it.â?? Mark 15:46-47 â??Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were looking on to see where He was laid.â?? Matthew 27:59-61 â??And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away. And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave.â?? Collectively, these women-at-the-tomb accounts describe the womenâ??s presence when the body was laid in the tomb and also when the stone was cradled against the entrance. So, being present at this scene from grave-to-cradle, as it were, the women would surely have witnessed Nicodemusâ?? application of the spices. Have you see a rational apologist reconciliation for this conundrum? If not, why do you think the author of Johnâ??s gospel felt compelled to change the narrative? Regards, iPatch | 4/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanTime Capsulated message in a bottle | Hi Bob. I was reading Bart D. Ehrman's intro to "The Coptic Gospel of Thomas" in his book "Lost Scriptures" and in it he said that the Gospel of Thomas was buried with 12 other books in a jar sometime in the late 4th century in Egypt. This jar contained 13 leather-bound manuscripts, one being Thomas. Wasn't this around the time when the big brew-haha (Council of Nicea) over what should be in the Bible occurred and the burning of libraries, specifically the big one called the Library of Alexandria? Could it be some people buried a "time capsule" in hopes that some future generation would discovered them and thereby discover the truth about Christianity, the Church, etc? In their minds they were probably protecting "sacred documents" for those in the future who discovered them, but is that a possible senerio? Could it be those who find these texts will soon discover the great cover up that people/The Church have/has done for centuries? That there was no actual dying and raising saviour named Jesus? It would be interesting to know what they, who buried these texts, thought the significance of these 13 books were. Why did it take so many years, after they were discovered in 1945, for the general public to find out what is in these documents. Why 13? I also find it interesting that the Catholic and other churches told their congregations not to read these texts for various reasons for many years. Why? Besides these texts being called heresy that is? What were so many churches wanting to keep secret or control? It seems to me the rabbit hole goes awfully deep. The author of The Gospel of Thomas is not concerned with a virgin birth motif or a Katabasis motif, but only sayings and that which is above is only the sky and that which is below is only the earth. Whatever else the author had in mind is left to the person, but obviously something was going on in which people felt a great need to bury some sort of "time capsule" for future people to discover and modern day churches wanted to hide for a long while. Whatever the case, people don't just bury things in a bottle for no reason- it's generally because they hope people in the future will discover it during a time when such horrid events end. Something smells very fishy and it isn't with those who buried the "time capsule". Thanks Mriana | 4/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Cleanmiddle east | Your geekiness, Why did so many religions come out of this area? How is it that 3 of the dominant religious schemes in our world today (islam, xian, judaism) all have origin ties to this little area of the world? I mean, why not Siberia, why not ancient Great Britain? Is it really due to the specific natures of these faiths (dogmatic, prosâ??eâ??lytâ??izing, strong sense of community -- almost a religious survival of the fittest)? Sincerely, a questioner from Canada. | 4/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanChristianity, disability and football managers | Hey Dr. Price, I'm reasonably new to your show and haven't ever really read the bible let alone study it. Perhaps your show will change that! Anyway, due to my lack of knowledge my question might be a bit basic compared to many on this site but its something thats puzzled me over the years. Back in the late 90's the then England football manager was a self proclaimed born again Christian. However, his tenure came to a sudden end when he said that disabled people are born that way because of misdemeanours in previous lives. Is their any basis for this in the bible? Surely the idea of "previous lives" doesn't fit in with christian doctrine? Many thanks | 4/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanDo the Dead Sea Scrolls Exist? | In a March 16, 2009 ''[http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1885421,00.html?cnn=yes]'' magazine online article entitled "Scholar Claims Dead Sea Scrolls 'Authors' Never Existed," despite the possible erroneous impression that ''non-existing'' writers penned ''existing'' manuscripts, the well-known Israeli scholar Rachel Elior is again putting forward the claim that the Essenes, as defined by the last "'Sixty years of research..., were a fabrication by the 1st century A.D. Jewish-Roman historian Flavius Josephus and that his faulty reporting was passed on as fact throughout the centuries." Several scholars hitherto have also denied the identification of "Essenes" with either Qumram or the scrolls in the past. Reading the DSS in two English translations, I am so far inclined to see the scrolls as an eclectic collection from more than one sect, as others also maintain. Do you have an opinion on this matter? Thanks for your on-going committment on behalf of us geeks! John F. Felix | 4/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanPsalm 22 | Hello Dr. Price, I hear so much conflicting information about Psalm 22, specifically the part that reads "they pierced my hands and feet." Of course the apologetic stance is that this psalm predicted the crucifixion of Jesus long before the practice of crucifixion was even developed. Others translate "they pierced" as "like a lion." I can't read Hebrew, but I hear there are grammatical issues with either reading. Can we know what the correct translation should be? Zechariah also speaks of one who was pierced. On a related note, I remember reading Greg Boyd's book "Letters From a Skeptic." He uses Psalm 22 as an apologetic tool, but I also recall hearing him shy away from prophecy in one of your debates. He seemed to agree with you that these prophecies weren't all that prophetic. Does this ring a bell? Thanks, Milk | 4/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanLineage Apologetics Part 1 | Hi Dr. Price I heard a bit of apologetics regarding the lineage stories and why they differ so much and the 'childless' Jehoiachin. Apparently Jehoiachin was not childless even though Jeremiah 22:30 states â??Write down this man as childless, as an able-bodied man who will not have any success in his days; for from his offspring not a single one will have any success, sitting upon the throne of David and ruling any more in Judah.â?? Though he would be written down as â??childless,â?? According to the latter part he would have children and i am told that seven of his children are listed in 1 Chronicles 3:17, 18. So the argument then goes in the direction that this text is to be understood in respect to the throne of David in Jerusalem. Jehoiachin was â??as childlessâ?? in the sense that he was without successor in that he did not have any of his offspring rule as king on the throne of David in Judah. Are they just reading that in there? Or am i misunderstanding the context? Thanks for a great show! Nicholas Bruzzese firefly | 4/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanHuman Sacrifice and the Old Testament ? | There are a few infamous examples of human sacrifice in the Old Testament. In Genesis, we had poor Issac nearly being offered up by his father as a holocaust to Yahweh. (Or would that still be Elohim at this point?) Later in Judges, Jephthah sacrifices his daughter to Yahweh after defeating the Ammonites. In Numbers 31:40-41, thirty-two of the Midianite virgins who survived Moses' genocide of their people were given to Yahweh as "tribute." Can we to take these examples as evidence that human sacrifice was a rite in pre-Captivity Hebrew or Canaanite religions? If so, what other evidence exists outside of the Old Testament to support this claim? | 4/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanHistory of the Middle-east | Dear Dr. Price, Could you please recommend a scholarly book of Levant history from Hellenistic times through Roman times. Generally I want to understand the cultural, political and social world in which Christianity was formed. Perhaps what I need is a non-religious history of the Jewish religion? Please help. I greatly admire your work. J. Veitch | 4/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanLevi: Now you see me, now you don't!... Until, of course, you do again. | Dear Dr. Price, While reading up on the Christian doctrine of the shared identity of Levi and Mark, something about the Lukan reference to Levi struck me as peculiar. As you know, in the Gospels of Mark and Luke the authorsâ?? references to Levi the tax collector are, we are led to believe, implied to be "calling stories," in that Levi is called to Jesus to be one of his Twelve Disciples. However, when the authors of both gospels later recite their roll-call of the Twelve Disciples, Levi is explicitly absent from those lists, even though twelve names are still counted. The Gospel of Matthew, however, specifically neglects to mention Levi at all, and instead inserts the name Matthew into essentially the exact same calling story of a tax collector. That gospel, like Mark and Luke, similarly lists Matthew as being on Jesusâ?? list of the Twelve Disciples, but with the added assertion that Matthew is specifically a tax collector. Christians have long maintained that the tax-collecting Levi mentioned in Mark and Luke is a pseudonym for the Matthew mentioned in the roll-call of the Twelve Disciples in all three synoptic gospels, despite the absence of any such explicitly stated claim in the Gospels themselves. Many liberal scholars, on the other hand, have countered that Levi is meant to be a person independent of Matthew, and that the author of Matthew simply sought to tidy up the problem of Leviâ??s absence from the list of the Twelve by doing away with any reference to him through substitution of the name Matthew. Firstly, if we accept that Levi was his own man, it still leaves us with the problem of why Levi is absent from Jesusâ?? list of the Twelve disciples in Mark and Luke. Assuming Markan Priority, did the author of Mark just make a mistake, or was Levi's calling story in Mark not actually a calling story? Secondly, in the same way that the author of Matthew seems to have found an elegant, albeit revisionist, solution to the â??Levi Problemâ?? by simply renaming Levi Matthew, I have wondered if the expansion on Leviâ??s calling story in Luke is that authorâ??s attempt to deal with the same problem. Specifically, in Lukeâ??s telling, Levi the tax collector is not merely called by Jesus to follow him, but then goes and prepares a meal for Jesus and his tax-collecting colleagues in his home. Iâ??m curious if by including this extra story line, the author of Luke sought to convey the idea that Levi was not actually called to be one of the Twelve, but merely to offer Jesus a chance to spend time cavorting with tax collectors over dinner, which the Gospels make clear he was prone to do. If this were so -- Voila! -- it would make Leviâ??s absence from the list of the Twelve in Luke a moot point. Is there any merit to this hypothesis? Best regards, as always, Scott | 4/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanSatan tempting Christ | If Jesus was the son of God and all that belonged to God the Father was his to share why would Satan try to tempt him by offering all he could see from the mountain top. This temptation would only make sense if Jesus were a mere mortal. So the fact that most Christians believe he is the second God in the trinity (GOD THE SON) leads me to think something is wrong with one or the other. A rather 'newbie' in doubting the whole truth. Dave from Wisconsin Thank you | 4/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Cleanlet's talk Apollos | Hello Dr. Price, I'm mighty confused about Apollos and was wondering if you could shed some light on some questions I have concerning him and other Scholar's comentary on him: 1. Why does Acts even mention him at all? He seems rather inconsequential to the overall narrative, and the part describing him seems nonsensical. Why did the author even bother? 2. Earl Doherty claims that Apollos is preaching a gospel that involves no cross/crucifixion. Reading Paul's letter (1 Corinthians), this seems to make sense of the way Paul is expressing himself. Do you agree with Earl's assessment on this point? 3. Some people mention that Apollos might have written the Epistle to the Hebrews. This seems possible considering the way Apollos is portrayed (as a philosophical Alexandrian, which suggests possible ties to Philo and Philo-like teachers, which might make sense of the heavy reliance on Middle Platonism in the epistle.) But one thing I notice is that the cross/crucifixion is mentioned a handful of times. If Doherty's claimi is true (that Apollos lacks a cross doctrine), then it seems unlikely that Apollos could have written this. Although the crucifixion doesn't seem to be at all central to the purpose of the epistle, so maybe it's possible that Apollos adopted this aspect into his gospel after the conflict with paul but prior to writing this? 4. Reading Detering, I see he suggests (though doesn't assert) that Apollos might be fictional and based on Apelles' name, who was a student of Marcion. Is this likely? This strikes me as something likely to be coincidental, but I was curious of your take. I'm pretty confused about this guy. Miles | 4/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanA Q Community? | Dear Dr. Price: I have read extensively on the various "Q" theories, old and modern, but I have difficulty in accepting the existence of an actual "Q" community, one that underwent the evolution from a itinerate Q1 Cynic-sage founder through to the nearly biographical Q3 stage, then on to Mark. Might not the various "Q" layers represent merely multiple literary sources that could have come from any milieu, skillfully combined into a Gospel fiction? Thanx in advance. John F. Felix | 4/3/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQuestioning the Dutch Radical Approach | Dear Dr. Price, I have been enamored by the Dutch Radical approach to the letters of Paul since reading Hermann Detering's book published in the JHC some time ago. The observations and arguments you have made as well in your works have also made the thesis worth considering, and perhaps correct. However, there are one or two things that make me more reserved, causing me to not fully accept that all the letters are forgeries, or at least not all from one source, namely Marcionism. The biggest problem I see is between 1 and 2 Thessalonians; both were in the 10-letter canon of the Marcionites, but there are problems with the view that both come from this school of Christianity. Firstly, 2 Thessalonians seems to presuppose 1 Thessalonians as if the later were already floating around before hand, hence evidence of Pauline letter circulation before Marcion's collection. Also, the eschatology is contradictory, with 1 Thess 4 saying the end was near, while 2 Thess 2 explicitly contradicts the other letter. If both letters came from the same school (not necessarily the same person), would one so directly contradict the other? This is also not a trivial detail but a major subject in Christianity in the 1st and 2nd centuries: is the end near or not? This does not now mean 1 Thessalonians was written by Paul, but it does seem hard to square with the theory that the first 10 letters of Paul were a Marcionite creation. | 4/3/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanMyths and genealogies | Dear Dr Price, In 1 Timothy 1:3-4, the writer urges Timothy to "command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies". Paul Treblico in "The Early Christians in Ephesus from Paul to Ignatius" (page 215) thinks that these "myths" would not have been Gnostic ones, but argues from the rest of 1 Timothy 1 that there would have been some specifically Jewish dimension to them. He also says that the term "genealogies" "would probably be broader than simple lists of descendants" and "can be personal histories or biographies". Do you think he's right about this, and if so, do you think it's plausible that these "myths" might have been the stories of the historical Jesus that (depending on when 1 Timothy was written) might have been beginning to circulate around that time? Thanks! [In case you want to check out Treblico's argument: the text of the relevant pages of his book come out top of a Google search on the phrase "myths and genealogies"]. | 4/2/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanOld testment and historical evidence | Dr Price, I understand the Old Testament as a collection of parables and ancient writings and not a historical document to consult if you want to know about ancient history. What event or place written about in the OT would surprise me with lots of evidence to support is historicity? (I understand that there is some historical things in the OT). Many thanks, jim9. | 3/14/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanLuke 20:46-47 | Dear Dr. Price: I am a long-time follower, but a first-time questioner. In my pre-atheist Christian days, I have heard a lot of sermons and Bible readings on Luke 20 (and the Matthew version at Matthew 22 and 23. There is the "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's," the parable of the husbandmen and the vineyard and the "[t]hou shalt love the Lord thy God . . ." stuff, but I have never heard anyone expound on Luke 20:46-47, "Beware the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, etc." Is it because it's an obvious indictment of the priestly class? Walking in long robes, loving greetings in the markets, getting the highest seats in the synagogues and the chief rooms at the feasts seems to me to describe quite a few modern day priests and pastors. Especially verse 47 where Christ condemns those who "for a shew make long prayers" for "the same shall receive greater damnation." The first thought that came to my mind is a certain bishop that has his own sovereign nation in the middle of Rome. Is that why these two verses seem to be studiously avoided? Or did I miss church on those Sundays when that was preached? Do you know of any apologists who try to explain these two verses as meaning something else? Thanks in advance for your answer. agback | 3/14/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanLuke and Acts have the same author? How do we know this? | Dear Dr. Price, Can you explain how scholars of the New Testament have established that the author of the Luke Gospel and the author the book of Acts are the same person? Could you also recommend a good book or article on the subject? This claim about their having the same author is something I have long accepted as very probably true just because the consensus on this seems so strong across the broad spectrum of beliefs held by New Testament scholars, but I can't seem to find a good account of what the textual clues are for this claim. My thanks, Ozymandias (Ontario, Canada) | 3/14/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanJohn 8:58 - What Does Jesus Say? | Hi Dr. Price, I know how much you enjoy different Bible translations so here's an interesting translations in the Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Interlinear Translation (KIT) of the New Testament. Exactly how should John 8:58 be translated? The witnesses have Jesus saying ''Before Abraham came into existence, I have been''. While apparently a literal translation should be ''I am''. What sparked my interest in this is the footnotes provided in the two the KIT translations. The 1969 edition says; ''58 I have been. (e.go' ei-mi') After the a'orist, infinitive clause, and hence properly rendered in the perfect tense.'' But in the footnote on the 1985 edition they seem to have changed their mind on why it should be translated non-literally when they explain; ''85 I have been. (e.go' ei-mi') The action expressed by this verb began in the past, is still in progress, and is properly translated in the perfect indicative.'' Is someone playing fast games with the translation oh geeky one? How should this be translated and why? Is there an answer scholars agree on? For those who do not know Greek grammar and syntax, what is the difference between perfect tense and perfect indicative? I would be happy to email you the 1969_KIT as i have it as a .pdf file. I think we are both aware why they can not have Jesus say 'I am', as Yahveh calls himself 'I am' at Exodus 3:14. Is Jesus actually calling himself Yahveh? Great show! Nicholas Bruzzese. | 3/14/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanDifferent Heights of Goliath? | Hi Dr. Price, A quick question about the different heights given of Goliath. The Septuagint has him at ''four cubits and a span', Antiquities of the Jews 6:171 also has him at four cubits and a span. The DSS scroll 4QSam again has him at 'four cubits and a span'. I know that the Masoretic Text has him at ''six cubits and s span'' and that not all Greek manuscripts agree on his height, in fact i think it is only the LXX which is different. So down to my question, why do the Masoretic texts differ so much, not just on the height of Goliath, from older manuscripts? And why do most Bibles translate his height at 'six cubits and span' when the oldest manuscripts, namely the DSS, have him at four cubits and a span? Is there anything older we have that allows them to confidently say Goliath was six cubits? Great show, thanks for your time. Nicholas. | 3/14/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanPatchwork quilt from various authors | Hello Bible Geek, I came across the writings of the school of the dutch radical critics of the 19th century. Among the names I came across regarding the topic were W.C. Van Manen and Hermann Detering. It seems that they disregard Paul as a fabricated figure and that all the pauline letters are inauthentic. It seems that other scholars seem to accept 6 or 7 letters to be pauline were the other ones are forgeries in his name. I also appears that FC Baur accepts only 4 of them to be authentic. It seems that in the past people would attributed anonymous work to famous figures in order to lend them some authority. The same way the gospels of matthew or peter were named allegedly after disciples though they were not penned by disciples. but to attribute various episltes to an unknown (presumably since he didn't exist) and a fake personality seems to make no sense whatever to me. bible geek, whose idea was it to invent paul? What makes people trust a figure who is presumably hypothetical? are those epistles marcionite or catholic products? bible geek, can you geekize (if thats a word) or perhaps address this issue. Thank you | 3/14/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanTransfiguration and the Apocalypse of Peter | Dr Price, Regarding the Apocalypse of Peter and the Transfiguration scene in Mark: Is there any evidence to suggest that one story draws from and elaborates on the other? Loisy, in his book _The Origins of the New Testament_ puts forth the hypothesis that the Transfiguration was actually drawn from the Apocalypse of Peter, and further, that Second Peter chapter 1 refers, not to the Transfiguration, but rather the Apocalypse of Peter. I find this a fascinating, but implausible idea. Can you elaborate (where Loisy did not) and give this idea any credibility? Thanks again - Ravishing | 3/9/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanRegarding the possible efficacy of prayer, God's existence not withstanding | Dear Robert Price. I am a Protestant apostate who deconverted to atheism in my teens. Moreover, I am a nullifidian naturalist. I use to think that superstitious people who keep a lucky charm on their person probably do in fact benefit from them, but if so, only by virtue of a placebo effect, that would not be operative for a person shuch as my self. Then I heard of a study conducted, where subjects were actually informed that what they were being administered was just a placebo, and still none the less, a placebo effect was observed. This got me to thinking that perhaps I could still benefit form somthing like a lucky charm, without even believing in the supernatural, in order to boost my self confidence and rate of success at a project I've recently embarked upon. I imagined a baseball player who couldn't find his lucky socks one day, and ended up suffering a sort of inverse placebo equivalent. I decided that it would be wise to choose as my placebo a ritual, so I wouldn't have to worry about losing it. There's nothing superstitious about motivational self affirmations, so I thought "Hey, why don't I just start praying to God again?". I'd like to find out if this could be or help to me in the practice of pick up artistry. Or, in other words, I'm an atheist who's thinking about praying to Jesus to help me get laid. Since you've described your self as an atheist, who is also an actively practicing Chistian, I would be very grateful to hear your take on this, if you would please be so kind. | 3/8/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanGod or Gods? | In Genesis 1:1 the word translated "God" is Elohim, not El. Doesn't the "im" ending imply the plural, such as in cherub and cherubim? Also, isn't there an untranslated word in Genesis 1:1? Art Cominio | 3/6/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanHas Jezebel been unfairly maligned? | Greetings Dr Bob I've recently been re-reading the accounts of Jezebel, Ahab, Elijah and Elisha and the all the exciting goings on in Kings 1 & 2, and find myself confused regarding the character of Jezebel. She has been much maligned by history for her sexual proclivities, however I have found little direct biblical evidence of this. True, she encouraged ecumenicalism and frightened Elijah into running away and hiding. Nor did she hold back in supporting her husband's cause vigorously. But she does seem have been a loyal wife. Further, God appears primarily angry with the likes of Basha, Zimri, Omri, and Ahab who all â??did evil in the sight of the Lord.â?? I do get the impression she is a sexually beguiling woman, especially as it seems only eunuchs are capable of throwing her out of the window for the dogs to eat. But is she really the w***e she is depicted as in the modern parlance? I was also wondering if Jezebel is in fact an historicised version of the Sumerian goddess Inama/ Babylonian goddess Ishtar - given they were goddesses of prostitutes and are associated with the 'Woman at the Window' carvings, which bring to mind Jezebel's haughty last moments when she puts on her make-up and does her hair, before looking out the of window to await her fate Thanks for being so inspiring. The more I listen to the podcasts, the more often I seem to get my bible out Regards Steve the Dobro (UK) | 3/5/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanSynagogues and the New Testament | Dear Dr. Price, I was curious to hear your perspective on using the historical existence of synagogues as a terminus post quem for dating the writing of the Gospels. The four New Testament gospels each make clear references to Jesus teaching in synagogues, and yet there seems to be no clear consensus from the archaeological community as to when the earliest synagogues were built. Dates for the construction of the first synagogues range from the Third Century B.C.E. to after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. I'm suspicious, however, that the early dates for synagogue construction may be the result of a Christian apologetic attempt to defuse what would otherwise be a clear indication that the Gospels accounts are ahistorical. My question, then, is two-fold. First, what does the archaeological evidence suggest for the dating of the earliest synagogue construction? And second, in the absence of any such archaeological evidence, what does our understanding of Judaism suggest might be the reason for constructing synagogues in the first place? Would the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. provide just such a reason? Best regards, Scott | 3/3/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Cleandefense of hell | Hello Dr. Price, What is the biblical basis for the claim that some Christians make that children who die are exempt from hell? Also, what is the basis for the argument that hell is simply separation from God? Some claim that if you choose not to follow God in this life then you can simply go on without him in the after life. I know these arguments are really used to make their beliefs appear a bit less monstrous, but are they biblical? Thanks, Milk | 3/3/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanJacob's Speckled and Spotted Animals | Hello Dr. Price In Genesis 30: 37-42 we have a description of Jacob carving out patterns on wood and placing the wood in the drinking troughs then the animals would conceive and consequently give birth to spotted and speckled young. This is a bronze age tradition and they had no idea genetics determines the patterns on an animal. Anyhow, there are conflicting commentaries and apologetics i have read trying to understand this matter. Apologists suggest that the flock Jacob was tending for Laban had no spotted and speckled animals among it so Jacob tries this trick with the wood and some of the new born are spotted and speckled. Then an angel reveals later to Jacob in a dream (31:12) that the he-goats we in fact striped but you can not see them, and that resulted in the patterned offspring not his wood trick, so in effect they suggested God gave Jacob a short course in genetics (the male goats were carriers and the patterns were only expressed in their children). Seems like a very long bow is drawn to me. In the preceding verses it would seem that Jacob asks Laban (30:32) for the speckled and spotted she-goats to be his as a wage and in 30:33 Jacob says if you see any in my flock that is not colored speckled and spotted i have stolen it. Then it seems in 30: 35,36 that Laban separates the animals according to their patterns and gives those ones to his sons and Laban puts a three day distance between himself and Jacob, and Jacob tends what was left over. Some commentaries say Jacobs flock always had spotted and speckled ones among it, in 30:32 Jacob removes the spotted and speckled ones for his wages. Others say he removed the spotted and speckled ones and kept what was left over. What on Earth is going on oh Geekish one!? Could the ancients possibly have known about inherited traits even in a non scientific sense? Nicholas Bruzzese Melbourne, Australia. | 3/1/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanChristian Persecutions | Dear Dr. Price Long time listener, first time questioner =) I was wondering if Romans 2:12 was a hint to the cause of the Christians persecutions. Contemporary, non-bibical writings have civilians calling the Christians 'criminals' and the Roman officials begging the Christians to get a rope and find a cliff if they are so intent on dieing. I know about Christians refusing to offer incense to Ceasar, but would that alone spark outrage against them? Is there evidence for temple desecration early in church history? | 2/26/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanThe Argument From Evil | Dr. Price, The paradox inherent in the "argument from evil" is what finally scrambled my neurons and pushed me over the edge of doubt. Apologists like to blame all evil on humans, but I could not make the leap that natural disasters are also man's fault as a consequence of the fall. I was appalled at J.P. Moreland's argument that all evil is really good in disguise, but that as humans we can't see the big picture. Presumably God allowed 200,000 innocents to die in the Indonesian tsunami because on balance it somehow does more good than harm. Albert Einstein said he could not accept the God of the bible because of the argument from evil. But Moreland claims that Einstein was not familiar with modern apologetics which have rendered an acceptable answer to this question. I do not care how many degrees in theology and philosophy Moreland has, his argument flies in the face of common sense. Have you ever heard a credible explanation for why natural disasters do more good than harm as Moreland claims? Art Cominio | 2/25/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanBiblical Prophecy | Hi, I noticed that you are a new testament scholar but i had an old testament question. Specifically Daniel 8. A christian friend (i am atheist) pointed out that this is a prophecy pertaining to Alexander the Great, therefor biblical prophecies came true and we should believe in the bible. on reading this chapter it immediately reminded me of the story of Alexander but i have discovered there is some controversy as to when the book of daniel was actually written. is there any insight or information you might have about this and other prophecies in the old testament that were fulfilled in the new testament. thanks | 2/24/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanIronic postion to take | Bob, I was rereading the Pseudo-Clementines in Schneermelcher's New Testament Apocrypha vol 2. at the top of page 512 I came across a line that caused me to pause. It read, "Thus then, as the true prophet has said, a false gosple must first come from an imposter and only then, after the destruction of the holy place, can a true gospel be sent forth for the correction of the sects..." What is your take on this passage? I read it as say that the Catholics recognize that they were predated by a number of Christian sects, to included the Marcionites, since in the following section they have Simon Magus advocating Marcionite theology. Let me know what you think, thanks. Also can you explain what the word syzgies is doing in this text I know it means two things, is the text using it to talk about some form of daulism? thanks again, Steven | 2/23/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanGia/Mother Earth | First, sorry, but I lost my notes, which had the correct spelling of Gia. I've been listening to our local state university's mythology video podcasts and currently that prof has been discussing animistic gods evolving into anthropomorphic gods. He keeps saying, "You can't keep a good Mother Earth down" (which he says is also Gia) and explains that she keeps popping up again among the Greeks and even Romans. Even Cronos, to Rhea's dismay, threw his children into the earth. Now for the questions: animism had female goddesses, esp Mother Earth, which moved into anthropomorphic goddesses, yet Gia didn't disappear entirely. At one time Jews were polytheisthic. They had one male deity and one female deity at one point, before they went to one male deity. So, the evolution was much the same as other societies. So, whatever happened to Mother Earth, esp when sayings like, "Remember you are dust and dust you shall return" were retained? Besides the old stand by, please, "It became a patriarchial society, male dominated", that is. Such a saying would imply that we return to Mother Earth, but such an idea seems to disappear in Abrahamic religions, even though there are hints of such human connections to the earth. With subtle hints such as that, it would seem the idea of returning to the earth after one dies went with tribal societies, yet the Hebrews were tribal even after they dropped the male and female gods for one male. Obviously the idea of being part of the earth did not disappear, esp when God, in the story of Genesis made man from the earth- which would seem to go back to such fertility stories concerning Father Sky raining down on Mother Earth and planted his seed in her, causing life to be born. Was the Genesis creation story of humans an evolution of animistic stories? If so, where did "Mother Earth" go? Esp if "you can't keep a good Mother Earth down"? You can't have life without male and female, yet she seems to go unnoticed in Genesis, except for Adam being formed from the earth by God. She's just not named as such. Thanks again Bob and sorry this is long with so many questions embedded in it. | 2/23/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanThe Path of Salvation theology | I've heard my relatives speak of this, their preacher even preaches it at funerals (why I don't know), but 1. it makes no sense and 2. where did they get such theology? This is assuming that Free Methodist, Church of God, (which are both my relatives' backgrounds) and Southern Baptist (which I understood was yours until you became Episcopalian) is not different with this sort of theology. The concepts are foriegn, at least the way they tell it. Sounds almost like Rapture theology. Is it actually Biblical or along the lines of Rapture theology? Thanks Bob. Mriana | 2/23/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanIs God a compassionate being | Do you think that God is a living, cognizant, compassionate being? | 2/23/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanJung and the Scientific Method | Jung and the Scientific Method One of the reasons I became attracted to your show was that you like to speak of religion in Jungian terms, a bit like Joseph Campbell had done. I also know that objectivity and the scientific method are central to your approach. What is your response to the criticism that Jungian Psychology is not real psychology and is unscientific? thebluediamond | 2/23/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanSUCCESS! | Hey Folks, I am declaring total success. I have perfected the method for Bob to make perfect audio recordings. Also, he can do them any time he wants. Here is a sample Now we just wait for him to do some real questions. I have asked him to do no more than one a day for the next 5 days, so that he gets practice each day with the procedure. But folks, it is real simple. So hopefully after these first 5 days Bob will be able to do it without even much thought. I have included a sample test recording to prove to you all that the process works, and the audio is good. BTW, the recording is even in Stero! Cheers! Ricco | 2/18/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanIndefinite article in Greek, translating John 1:1 and the Logos | Dr. Price, Although I have almost no knowledge of any form of Greek I did pick up an interesting grammatical tip some years ago. It was to do with definite and indefinite articles. And so I understand why Moffatt translates John 1:1 as "...Logos was divine" and you translate it as "...the Word was a God". The New World Translation does the same. I also am aware of how Greeks used the word 'theos' to mean more than just 'God'. My question is not why you do this but why others do not. Are they afraid of treason against the Trinity? Are they afraid of being seen to agree with Jehovah's Witnesses? Are they afraid of losing their only explicit link to this sacred (but late) belief? This is good evidence, I think, of hang-ups and presumptions getting in the way of scholarship. I only wonder how much goes on in other fields. In any case I suspect there is more to it than I can appreciate. The next question is to do with the phrase, 'In the beginning.' The emphatic diaglott (with which you're familiar no doubt) has the literal English as 'In a beginning was the Word...' This implies, to an amateur like me, the Greek equivalent of 'Once upon a time,' as opposed to the Genesis-like 'In the beginning.' So is that indefinite article more important than it seems? Finally: some scholars seem to agree that 'Logos' should remain untranslated. Moffatt seemed to agree. You translate it as 'Word.' Would you like to explain a little about why you chose your words? Translation is a thankless task sometimes I'm sure! Yours faithfully, Karim D. Ghantous | 2/16/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanA technical message from Ricco | Ricco talks about audio quality issues in long and recent past Bible Geek audio file quality levels. I hope you all will put up with us as we try to improve the audio quality of our podcast. I talk to some of the technical issues that I have been working on. Cheers! Ricco | 2/16/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanDead Sea Scrolls and Simon Magus | Bob, In my attempt to plot the evolution of Christianity from the various dispersant group I think influenced the development of Christianity I came across a reference to the Kittim in The Book of War (4Q285, fr. 4) Now working under Eisenman's theory that the Dead Sea Scroll Community was that of James, it seemed likely the reference to the Kittims and there king could be an attack on Simon Magus/Paul and the movement that follows him. I make this suggest because of the links you draw between Kittim and Gitta. Do you know of anyone esle who has thought there might be a connection here? I reread through Eisenman's "James the Brother of Jesus" but Eisenmen accepts Vermes' equating the Kittim with the Romans. However the connection between the Kittim and and hanging from a tree, in 4Q169, which Eisenmen equates with the Pauline doctrine of the crucifixion pg 383 seems to provide limited support to my idea. Let me know what you think. Thanks, Steven M Stiles | 2/15/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Cleanezekiel and pseudo-ezekiel | bob, is the description of the restored temple from chapter 40 on an addition to the original text.josephus says ezekiel wrote two books.is this a hint that from chapter 40 we are dealing with a pseudograph? | 2/15/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanWas Jesus a Pharisee? | Do you think there is any plausibility at all in the claims of the Netzarim (http://www.netzarim.co.il)? They are Orthodox Jews who believe in a Ribi Yehoshua who they say was a strict Pharisee who lived, died and stayed dead in the first century, and was the historical figure behind the later, "Jesus" figure invented by the Gentile church. Of the whole New Testament, they appear to accept only parts of the gospel of Matthew as authoritative. They claim Paul was an apostate who rebelled against Yehoshua -- which would at least be a neat explanation for why Paul never quotes any of Jesus/Yehoshua's teaching or mentions anything he did. Following a statement by Eusebius, they identify themselves with the Jerusalem church that survived until the Romans stamped out the Bar Kochba rebellion in AD 135. I think the whole tale is pretty unlikely, but would like to hear what you think the strongest objections to it are. | 2/15/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanJesus, Lazarus, Joshua and Eleazar | What do you think is the connection between on the one hand, Jesus and Lazarus in John's gospel, and on the other, Joshua and Eleazar (the same names) in the books Numbers and Joshua? Joshua is the successor of Moses as leader, and Eleazar is the son and successor of Aaron as high priest. Eleazar dies in the very last verse of the book of Joshua, shortly after Joshua himself dies, bringing that stage of the story to a close. Lazarus dies shortly before Jesus, and both are resurrected within days. Jesus/Joshua means "God is salvation", and Lazarus/Eleazar means "God has helped". Joshua is the son of "Fish", as you pointed out recently, and the fish is also the sign of Jesus. What is John trying to do by introducing Lazarus as a character who has such a central place in his version of the Jesus story but not in the other gospels? | 2/15/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanThe UNIFIED THEORY of everything: Jesus addition | Your Geekiness, Listening to your show, reading your books, and watching you debate on Youtube are some of my favorite past-times. You're impact on my understanding of Christianity can not be over stated. I am truly indebted to you. I have heard you mention that in your forth-coming book, you believe as Detering and other postulate, that after countless twists and turns by the early church, Paul was created in place of Simon Magus. But I would like to discuss the possibility of taking that hypothesis one step further... Christianity began first with the theology of Christ rather than the history of Christ, and so the daunting task of the historian is to trace the theology behind Jesus back to the community or individual that first started preaching it. I agree with you that most (if not all) the letters of Paul are actually Marcionite creations/redactions written during or after the dissemination of the Gospel narrative. I also find it equally plausible that Paul's theology and identity is a tangled, reworked, harmonized, and orthodox retelling of Gnostic teachings about the spirt realm, leading all the way back to the infamous Simon Magus. ...But here comes the extra step. If there is any germ of truth behind the tantalizing Pseudo-Clementine claim that Simon Magus was a disciple of John the Baptist - if we recognize that Simon's theology is Pauline theology - if we place Simon's preaching in the mid first century - and if we finally interpret Simon's message to be something along the lines of "I am God because he lives within me - and you can get in on the action".... is it possible then to suggest that Simon Magus isn't merely the doppelganger of Paul, but in fact could have been...... (glup) the historical Jesus himself? Why couldn't the scenario play out thusly: â?¢ John the Baptist and others preach a gnostic gospel about the coming of the Kingdom of God. â?¢ John's student, Simon, takes this idea and tweaks it to proclaim the truth of a new God - a God that can dwell in each of us through salvation. â?¢ Jews in the region HATE this idea and label Simon, his churches, and his missions heresies. â?¢ But Simon's revolutionary idea ignites the Gentile/Roman communities like lightening and takes on a life of its own. â?¢ Among gentiles (and even a few Jewish communities), the idea takes shape in the form of a Christ, and Passion stories almost immediately follow. â?¢ Gnostic sympathizers to the original non-historic theology, are quickly marginalized by the Jewish/Catholic tradition that claims authority from the now historical Jesus. If Simon Magus can be wrapped up so tightly in the Paul tradition, why not the extend his involvement to the Jesus tradition itself? Why can't Simon be one of, if not THE author to the powerfully anarchist notion that God dwells in you? Simon's infamy is equal to the power of his message, and after the Catholic Gospels supplanted the source of his message with a historical figure (that Simon had no connection too), he instantly became a rival to the new religion rather than one of its founding prophets. Now, buried deep within Paul, Acts, and various apocryphal texts, are the remains of the original (non-historical) Christian theology - the of Simon - the source of the whole darn thing. Could this be a valid hypothesis? Respectfully, Aaron Bauer | 2/15/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanJesus myth in mark | Dear Bob All through the gospel of mark he is explaining to the reader why you may not have heard of the historical Jesus. At the baptism god speaks only to Jesus. When he cures a blind man he tells him to tell no one. When he drives out demons he forbids them from revealing him. At the empty tomb the women tell no one. It would appear that he knows it is a myth that he is bringing to life. Is there anywhere else in the new testament where the fact that it is a myth is so apparent. Thanks, Dave | 2/15/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanThe gospel? | Hey there Dr Geek, Most Christians today seem to think the gospel is the story of Jesus' death and resurrection, but in the book Jesus clearly preaches "the gospel" of the kingdom of God. Paul also is said to preach the gospel and the resurrection of Jesus, as if they are two entirely different things. So my question is, what was this gospel of the kingdom of God supposed to be originally? Thanks, Darth Pooky | 2/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Cleantou legomenou Christou | Dear Dr. Price: As one entirely undecided on the Jesus historicity question, but still, I concede, hopelessly fascinated by it, I've always personally felt that "Ground Zero", so to speak, on the question of Jesus's historicity is Josephus's description of Ananus's plans to deliver over one James for stoning. -- I'm not referring to Josephus's sometimes contested Test. F. in Josephus's Antiquities 18; I'm referring to a description of Ananus's abuse of his high position in delivering over this James person for stoning in Josephus's Antiquities 20. Now, I don't know if the Greek words "tou legomenou Christou" have been previously the chief focus of any discussion here. But they may have been previously discussed in a few contexts here. I'd certainly like to hear any reflections here concentrating on those words primarily. They are the words that are extant in Josephus's Antiquities 20, 9,1, when Josephus is describing the stoning or threatened stoning of this James person. Instead of just calling the person James, the extant text states that he was "the brother of Jesus, who (?)was(?) called Christ, whose name was James". The Greek original of "who (?)was(?) called Christ" is "tou legomenou Christou". Varied Greek forms of this locution appear in different contexts. Origen referring to this Josephus passage uses this specific locution three times. But in Matthew 1:16, the phrase becomes "ho legomenos Christos" (RSV translation, â??the one called the Christâ??) at the end of that writer's elaborate family tree for Jesus. Then in Matthew 27, at 17 and 22, Pilate uses "ton legomenon Christon" (in the RSV, â??who is called Christâ??) instead. There is also a variant of this that appears in John 4:25, when quoting a Samaritan woman's talk about Jesus. Elsewhere in Origen, we find him writing about Jesus being called "the Christ" (Against Celsus 1.66 and 4.28), while Justin Martyr (First Apology, chapter 30) refers to Jesus as one that Christians "call Christ". Now, I'm not familiar with Greek in the way I'd like to be, but I've read claims that the form found in the extant Josephus text and in Origen's citation of Josephus is "in an oblique case". Do others conversant with Greek essentially agree with that characterization? And if so, what might that say about the other forms elsewhere of this locution duly cited here? Also, in context, in the way it appears in this Josephus passage in Ant. 20, is it possible to say if the writer really means "who _was_ called Christ", or, in context, is it possible it might be saying "who _is_ called Christ" instead? Or are both the context and this specific phrase tense-neutral? Of course, the reference in its context in the extant Josephus passage dealing with this James character has occasioned some discussion, partly textual in nature -- i.e., Is it or is it not from Josephus's own hand? What was the writer (whoever it is) trying to convey? etc., etc. FWIW, the word order here -- "the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ [tou legomenou Christou], whose name was James" -- has sometimes been thought to be strange, but I thought I'd throw into the hopper similar things in Josephus elsewhere (are these really pertinent, or probably not?): Wars 2.21.1 â??a man of Gischala, the son of Levi, whose name was Johnâ?? Ant. 5.8.1 â??but he had also one that was spurious, by his concubine Drumah, whose name was Abimelechâ?? Ant. 11.5.1 â??Now about this time a son of Jeshua, whose name was Joacim, was the high priestâ?? These rare cases, in thousands of lines of material, hardly prove that "the brother of Jesus, who (?)was(?) called Christ [tou legomenou Christou], whose name was James" is automatically authentic Josephus. But these three citations are probably part of the general picture anyway. I remain highly curious as to thoughts on either side of the question regarding the Josephan authenticity of "tou legomenou Christou" and am still entirely undecided myself as to the answe | 2/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanModern Myths | What are the necessary characteristics of a myth? I've heard you mention that you think superhero stories - like Superman - are the contemporary hero myths, and that the writers of science fiction like Star Trek are our modern day prophets. What criteria do you use to determine whether something is "mythology" or simply a work of fiction? | 2/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanGreek and the name of God | Hi Dr Price I've been a fan of your work for a few years now, after first hearing you on the Infidel Guy. I just had a couple of unrelated questions which you might want to split up if you answer them on your podcast. 1) I've noticed that many Christian apologists use the subtleties of Greek language in explaining the New Testament. CS Lewis talks about eternal life, zoe, versus earthly life, bios, and I think it was him who started the meme of divine agape versus the other types of love (philia, eros). Given that these words must have existed in the Greek language prior to Christianity, and that agape seems to have been used in more mundane contexts, are apologists reading too much into the choice of words here? 2)You've talked in some podcasts about a possible origin of YHWH as a moon god. I wonder if there's any connection with Iah, the alternative name for the Egyptian god Thoth. Like YHWH, he was credited with bringing the world into creation through speech. The name "Ahmose", or "Born of Iah" seems to have also been a common name in the 18th dynasty, following the expulsion of the Hyksos, which may have partially inspired the Exodus. It's a slender thread, but it suggests to me that Iah might have been a popular deity at this time, and possibly carried with the Hyksos to the Levant. Do you think there is anything to this hypothesis, or is it more likely to be a coincidence? Look forward to hearing your answer, thanks in advance! | 2/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanPaul: the false apostle | Hello bible geek, I find the following verses in which Paul Philippians 1:18 "What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in that I rejoice." (RSV) Romans 3:7 "But if through my falsehood God's truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?" (RSV) 1 Cor 9:20 "To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews; to those under the law I became as one under the law--though not being myself under the law--that I might win those under the law." (RSV) 1 Cor 10:33 "just as I try to please all men in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved." (RSV) There are also other verses I came across where paul makes similar blasphemies. bible geek, how could those aforementioned verses be interpreted as they question the veracity of what Paul preaches since he already disagrees with Jesus such as in following the Torah or in divorce? could it be that Paul is a hypocrite who wanted to take advantage in some way of the inevitably growing sect and establish himself as a boss rather than a persecutor? I checked many commentaries and they seem unclear desperatly attempting to explain such verses away, but some assert that Paul is a martyr thus could not be lying? I am not sure why that so! however, is paul really a martyr? what is our source and how reliable is it? I am eager to read your book "inerrant the wind". Thank you bible geek, I appreciate your geekness | 2/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanDid Jesus Ever Claim To Be Divine | Dr. Price, A bible literalist friend says that Jesus claimed to be divine in the gospels. Of course he does not believe that Jesus might me mythical or that there are late era redactions in the gospels. Even so, I am hard pressed to find any clear cut examples of Jesus claiming to be divine. What is your opinion? Regards, Art Cominio | 2/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Cleanthe Rival Tradition about Ignatius place of execution | Bob, You mentioned in the opening chapter of "Deconstructing Jesus", on page 27, that there was a rival tradition that claimed Ignatius was put to death in Syria not Rome. What is the name of this rival source? Thanks, Steven | 2/2/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Cleanpolygamy | Hello Dr. Price, In my simple opinion the Old Testament seems just fine with the practice of polygamy. Men are free to sample different flavors as long as that flavor doesn't already belong to another man. In other words God doesn't seem to take issue with a man having multiple wives or concubines, but he gets mad when a man messes around with another man's woman. Is this accurate? Also, what do you think about the parable of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25? Are they engaged to the bridegroom. I can't quite figure out who they are. Thanks, Milk | 2/2/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanWhat did Paul teach? | Dear Bob, My picture of Paul is a man moving from town to town forming small church communities. What did he teach? The epistles would only be what he taught after the fact, not an original message. The epistles would indicate that many of his follows were literate and able to write down his teachings. Why is there no gospel according to Paul or for that matter a writing down of the oral Jesus story of the time? thanks, Dave | 2/2/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanMithras Nativity | Dear Dr. Price, On page 63 of The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man, while discussing the nativity story in Luke, you write, "The visit of the shepherds, alerted by angels to the advent of the baby savior, is a piece with current nativity myths. Shepherds attend the birth of Mithras..." Manfred Clauss, in the book The Roman Cult of Mithras, page 69, says, referring to a relief from Poetovio, "...[T]wo torch-bearers are also often to be found at the rock-birth. ... There are, incidentally, no grounds for calling these two figures 'shepherds', in the wake of the Christian nativity story." Is this a mistake made by the "Infallible Word of Bob", or are you aware of a source that Clauss is not taking into account? Thanks, Matt Prewitt Sweeden, KY | 2/2/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanPaul's ignorance | I have heard you say in past episodes of the Bible geek that you thought that the Pauline epistles might have been written before the gospels because it seems like they don't know about them. If Marcion had Ur Lukas (which is based on Mark presumably) and some of the epistles...and perhaps even wrote parts of them then this doesn't seem to make sense to me. I am also confused about why the writer,compiler or redactor of the cannon ( possibly Polycarp ) wouldn't have made up a letter from Paul that knew the gospels and have at least have thrown in a few crumbs from them. If the idea of writing Acts was to make Paul and Peter more alike...wouldn't adding a letter like this seem like a good way to add to the mix. Really looking forward to your book on Paul ( When is that coming out ? ) Mahershalalhashbaz | 2/2/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanWhat is the origin of Speaking in Tongues | Given the current revival among even some evangelical Anglicans for speaking in tongues I thought I'd do some checking myself, and came up with a muddy picture. Speaking in tongues in Acts and 1 Corinthians seems to refer to 'xenoglossia', with the apostles seemingly able to speak all the languages of their audience, without the having to go through the trouble of learning new verb conjugations etc. Is this the same thing as Jesus was talking about in Mark, or the same thing as referred to in Psalms or perhaps the same as Joseph's amazing linguistic ability? I know speaking in tongues was common in some pagan religions like Apollo's priestess and in Shamenism. Was it common in the first few centuries CE for people to speak in tongues? If so, was it similar to that described in Acts or more like the unintelligible gibberish you hear evangelicals spout when they are apparently taken with the holy spirit? Very much looking forward to your forthcoming book on Paul Regards Steve the Dobro (UK) | 2/2/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanSatanic Counterfeit | Hi Bob, I am curious to know about the idea of satanically created counterfeit religions? I have heard many people speak of this idea and cite numerous different biblical passages that apparently deal with this subject. I have heard a number of different satanic counterfeit theories, some seem to deal with religions that preceed or are contemporary with Christ and some theories seem to deal with certain "satanically inspired" Christian doctrines and or certain relgions, Christian or not, extant today. I have also heard the same sort of people argue that the overwhelmingly unique nature of the bible is a point towards it being true. How is it that people can affirm the idea of satan creating preceding or current similar religions and at the same time believe that the bible and it's stories are unparalleled? And, how are they able to determine counterfeit from genuine in the first place? Thanks much, Shaggie414 | 2/2/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanThe Apostate Paul | Hello Bible Geek, While I was reading Randel Helms' book "The bible against itself: why the bible seems to contradict itself" Paul is obviously a fierce enemy to the early Jewish Christians and other factions such as the supporters of James, or the Jacobites, who portray him to be a false self-appointed apostle and actually an apostate. Moreover, Paul said of Peter, who is depicted as preaching among the jews, in Gal 2:11 " But when Cephas came to Antioch I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned"(RSV) and it seems that Peter disregards Paul as the 'enemy' as in the epistle of Peter to James. Since Peter did not write 1 Peter, were Paul and Peter ever close associates or was this a product of later post biblical controversies in which the later catholic church was dumbstruck by the bitter rivalry between what they deemed as two promient christian figures? Thanks in advance Bob | 1/26/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanToledoth Yeshu and the mitosis of Characters | Bob, I just read and online edition o the Toledoth Yeshu which has Paul Jewish name as Simeon Kepha. This looked a lot Simon Peters name so I google the name and came up with a Haggadah about Simeon Kepha called the Legend of Simon Peter. Using Hyam Maccoby's idea of scapegoats splitting into two different narritive characters do you think it likely that originally Simon Peter was the bungling evil twin of Simon Magus? Then as the anti-Simon Magus he became the champion of the anti-Marcionite Catholics? Steven | 1/26/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Cleannarrow gate | Hi Dr Price, I recently heard a sermon preached about the narrow gate passage in Matt 7. It seemed the main intention of the sermon was to frighten Christians out of their complacency -- to accuse Christians of not being Christian enough. "Do you really know Jesus? Do you really love Jesus more than you love your family? Are you sure you're passing through the right gate? etc. etc." His point was that most people will pass through the wide gate, while just a few will pass through the narrow gate. Can you shed some light on this passage? It seems this verse can be used apologetically to legitimate any group that feels persecuted or at odds with the majority (young earthers, mormons, Jehovah's witnesses). Has there always been a common understanding that the majority of people are destined to roast for eternity, or at least be destroyed? Because I also hear plenty of churches who want to Christianize the country and world. Does believing that loads of people will convert to Christianity conflict with this verse? Is the verse even talking about faith in Jesus? Is it talking about good works? Sorry for the sloppy question. Maybe you can just talk about this verse. Thanks, Milk | 1/26/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanRichard Arthur | Bob, A long while back over a year ago in fact you mentioned that your friend Richard Arthur argued that the Gospel of Judas is a modern forgery. At the time you said he had not published on this topic yet. Well the other day while doing some reseach I came across a reference to an article by Arthur In the Journal of Unifacation Studies Vol 9 2008. While I am waiting for my copy of the article to come in could you give us a summary of your understanding of his arguments? thanks, Steven | 1/26/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanThoughts on Hell | I was doing some reading for an Epicurean philosophy course I am taking this semester and came across a passage about the pre-Socratic philosopher Empedocles and his equation of the four elements with Greek deities. In Robin Waterfield's "The First Philosopher," he states that "the idea of subterranean fire is recurrent in Empedocles' thought and so the equation of Hades with fire is not surprising." This immediately made me think of the November 16th podcast where you addressed the issue of the origin of the fiery Hell of the New Testament. I just thought I'd share this as another possible borrowing point between early Christianity and Greek philosophy. S. Scott Schupbach | 1/18/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanIs Justin the Martyr's 1st Apology authentic | Is Justin's 1st Apology authentic or is it a later forgery? | 1/18/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanThe jewish definition of the messiah | Dr Price, I've been listening to your debate with Dr Fernandez at www.infidelguy.com. At about the 1 hour 18 minute mark, Dr Fernandez stated that the belief that the messiah would be a military conquerer was a corruption of the original definition. I've never heard this viewpoint before. Do you know if it has any validity? Thank you weatherwax / Michael Duchek San Diego | 1/18/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQuestion about fig stories | On page 73 of gospel fictions Randel helms has the fig tree story begin with like and then get embellished by mark...how is This possible since mark is lukes source? Doesn't this make helms case pretty ad hoc since he has to flip the embellishment hypothesis in this one case? Lennius | 1/18/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanEverything I Need to Understand the Resurrection? | I'm on the Westar Institute mailing list and this morning I got a pitch for a new Jesus Seminar Guide called "The Resurrection of Jesus: A Sourcebook." It is rather winsomely billed as "Everything you need to understand the resurrection." Yet as if this startling claim were not sufficiently awesome, whom do I see among the compiled authors but Robert M. Price! What can you tell us about this book, Dr. Price? I see it includes ". . .a collection and discussion by Robert Price of resurrection stories found in the Greek culture of Jesusâ?? day," which certainly can't be reassuring those who wish to see the resurrection as a historic event. Is this apparently rather slim volume worth the $18 cover price, in your opinion? And can one really understand the resurrection by wading through a mere 104 pages? -- ScottKnick | 1/18/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanOne god? | I would like to know how you justify the logos nature of Christianity as being better than the mythos nature of any the polytheistic religions. Is it not possible that literal interpretation of the bible might not lead to the contradictions we atheists so aptly employ in arguing against the veracity of the bible? I'd also like to know what value there is in ascribing all aspects of spiritual and even material potentialities to one entity, whereas pantheists would contest that some dynamics in life are contradictory and thus warrant division and, in many cases, individuation. Can one god adequately replace many? | 1/12/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Cleanimminent end | Hello Dr. Price, There are various verses in the NT that seem to refer to the imminent end of the age. The end obviously didn't come, so why were these passages kept in the text. Does the fact that these verses were not purged from the text mean that they were never embarrassing or threatening to early Christians? How did and do Christians deal with Jesus and Paul seemingly being wrong about this? Thanks for your time, Milk | 1/12/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanPaul L. Maier on Jesus in Josephus' Writings | Dear Dr. Price, I was hoping you could comment on Paul L. Maier's interpretation of the two references to Jesus in Josephus' "The Antiquities of the Jews". In his writings, Maier makes clear his belief that the two Jesus references are original to Josephus, and even goes so far as to suggest that scholarship challenging their originality is "maundering sensationalism by the uninformed and/or the dishonest." Maier's defense of the historicity of the Jesus references -- and by way of that, the historicity of Jesus -- seems to hinge on two arguments. Firstly, he deflects the criticism of Josephus' odd and very un-Jewish-like exaltation of Jesus as "the Messiah" in the Testimonium Flavianum by pointing to the 10th Century writings of Agapius. In Agapius we find an alternate translation of the Testimonium Flavianum in which Josephus sounds less enthusiastic about Jesus and more consistent with his own Jewish beliefs by referring to him as "perhaps the Messiah." Secondly, Maier claims that because much of the information contained in the two passages is not to be found anywhere in the New Testament, a reader should be inclined to consider Josephus' authority as a historian and conclude that the additional information can only be proof of real events and not a demonstration of creative license. With respect to Maier's first defense, how confident can we be that the Agapius translation wasn't itself specifically composed to diffuse the apparent oddity of Josephus' endorsement of Jesus as the Messiah? Certainly, Christian theologians in the Middle Ages would have been aware that the Testimonium Flavianum was somewhat suspect in light of Josephus' Jewishness. Is it inconceivable to think that they would have sought to remedy the problem? With respect to Maier's second defense, should we really be surprised that additional information regarding First Century Christianity not found in the New Testament would be found in the works of Josephus? With his argument to the contrary, Maier seems to imply that Christian traditions were not subject to oral evolution, but were, instead, a system of static beliefs and stories. Isn't it more likely that Josephus, if he even wrote the Testimonium Flavianum, was merely recording popularly held opinion and not necessarily historical fact? I thank you for your time and eagerly await your answer. Best regards, Scott (For reader reference, a summary of Maier's views on Jesus in Josephus can be read at: http://www.4truth.net/site/apps/nl/content3.asp?c=hiKXLbPNLrF&b=784399&ct=1739843). | 1/12/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Cleantypologies | Who was the first person to come up with concept of 'typology'? (ie. the Bronze Serpent, Joseph, Temple sacrifices, etc. being the type to Christ's antitype). It makes for interesting reading (I'm going through Vos' Biblical Theology at the moment), but at the end it seems to be a dodge to try to make the Bible seem more consistent and seamless than it actually is. Do dispensationalists buy typology, since from what I understand they seem to have more realistic view of how irregular the Bible actually is. Thanks, -Robert Fisher, lifelong atheist and Bible Geek fan | 1/12/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanThe Gospel of Thomas - Burning Stones | Dear Your Geekiness, The Gospel of Thomas in the Nag Hammadi Library seems to exemplify the perceptions of early Christianity as a mystery religion. Not only is the reader not privy to the inner teachings of Christianity, but it also appears as though the disciples, often, donâ??t have a clue. One passage, in particular, has always struck me as a little strange, even from the perception of someone who should be in the inner circle of early Christianity: Gospel of Thomas, Verse 13: Jesus said to his disciples, â??Compare me to someone and tell me whom I am like.â?? Simon Peter said to him, â??You are like a righteous angel.â?? Matthew said to him, â??You are like a wise philosopher.â?? Thomas said to him, â??Master, my mouth is wholly incapable of saying whom you are like.â?? Jesus said, â??I am not your (sg.) master. Because you (sg.) have drunk, you (sg.) have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring which I have measured out. And he took him and withdrew and told him three things. When Thomas returned to his companions, they asked him, â??What did Jesus say to you?â?? Thomas said to them, â??If I tell you one of the things which he told me, you will pick up stones and throw them at me; a fire will come out of the stones and burn you up.â?? What, besides possibly blaspheming, could have caused the disciples to want to stone Thomas if he said one of the things Jesus told him? What the heck could Jesus be? Also, I am not sure if the Greek is more illuminating, but I cannot quite tell from James Robinsonâ??s Nag Hammadi interpretation if Thomas means â??if I tell you any one [of the three things],â?? that is, any of the things Jesus said, or â??if I tell you this one thing, you will stone me, but the other two would be okay to say.â?? Dr. Price, do you have any idea about what this verse means? I am a huge fan of your work (books and podcasts)! Thanks so much! Sincerely, Jay Tarnoff | 1/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanColours and numbers | Hi Bob. Really have been enjoying your podcasts and haven't had much by way of questions lately. These questions are a little different. I know, as a lapsed/apostate Episcopalian turned Humanist, I've probably had this explained to me before, but I can't recall the answer nor can I find it in the Book of Common Prayer. In the high churches there are "seasonal" colours, as well as for feasts and fasts. IF I remember correctly, for it's been a while since I attended, Advent is purple, either that or Lent is. Another season is red, white another (Easter I think), black is Maundy Thursday, another is green, and so on and so on. (I suddenly feel like I'm in the Wiz where today's colour is green. Actually it's probably purple, but you get the idea.) What is the origin of these colours for the various church calendar's seasons, feasts, and fasts, and what are they to symbolize, if anything? Numbers, which I stumbled upon trying to find the answer to the colours deal: In the "Tables and Rules for Finding the Date of Easter Day", the Book of Common Prayer says "The Golden Number is 19". To be exact, it says, "The Golden Number of any year is calculated as follows: Take the number of the years, add 1, and then divide the sum by 19. The remainder, if any, is the Golden Number. If nothing remaining, then 19 is the Golden Number." I thought Easter was set by the Spring Equinox, which the B of CP does say at the beginning of this section that Easter Day is always the Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox on March 21. So, which is it? Mathematical (Pythagorean or Dematrian?) or celestrial (AKA astrotheology) or a combination? Where does 19 come into play in the Bible? The Bible has 3, 7, 12, 40 or factors there of, and I don't recall anything about 19. Therefore, how is it the church comes up with 19 as the "Golden Number"? Please keep it simple if it truly is math based, because I really suck at math and mathematical theories. Thanks for your reply and happy holidays. | 1/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanEusebius - Church History | Dr. Price, In his book "The Church History," Eusebius has some very specific details to relate for someone who lived from 260-339 CE. For example, in Chapter Three he relates the destinies of a number of the original apostles. He also states that the first Bishop of Rome to be appointed "after Paul and Peter" was Linus, leaving open the possibility that Peter was the first Pope, something I though was a Catholic fiction. He goes on to say that 1 Peter is "accepted", but 2nd Peter is not regarded as "canonical," although he allows that it may be useful for study along with other scripture. Not being a scholar, I don't know if the use of the word "canonical" is even valid here, or whether it is an interpolation of the translator, Paul L. Maier. What weight should I give to this work of Eusebius? What about Paul Maier? Thanks your Great Geekness, Art Cominio | 1/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanDivine Revelation | Dr. Price, Thomas Paine's treatise on Deism, "The Age of Reason," holds that we can only know God by observing his creation. Because he doesn't accept scripture as divine revelation, this limits what a Deist such as Thomas Paine can know about God. Paine's book left me wondering what any Deist can know about God other than that he is all powerful. Lacking divine revelation, what can we say about the attributes of God? Am I missing something, or is Deism largely a dead issue among post-enlightenment theologians? Regards, Art Cominio | 1/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanJames the Just | Dr Price, Mike from San Diego again. I've been facinated with your arguments for the non-existance of Jesus. Or at least that he's been mythologised beyond recognition. I was wondering about James the Just, who I believe was the brother of Jesus. Was he a fictional character also? Or a real historical figure who Jesus was attached too to gain some credibilty? Or was he a brother only in the spiritual sense? Thank you. | 1/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanPriestitutes | Bob, While doing research on the geneology of Jesus provided by Matthew, I reread Genesis 38. In the foot note for 38:21 the "Revise Standard Version" (pg.35) it says that the word harlot could also be translated cult prostitute. The "Hebrew Study Bible" has a foot note that tries to dismiss this association saying Tamar was acting as a standard prostitute, yet if memory serves me there are two words for prostitutes in the Hebrew language Zonah which means your standard prostitute or loose woman and Kedeshah which means sacred prostitute. Genesis 38:21 uses Kedeshah. Understanding that the "Hebrew Study Bible" has a vested interest in denying that priestitute happened in Ancient Israelite worship, how common was this practice? What deities were connected with the practice, and if it was like the broader practice of the Medditerrian world what do you think Judah was visiting her for? I know the last part of the question call for speculation but it seems to me that it is reasonable to assume that Judah might be visiting her to find out about a spouse for his son Shelah or could the author be implying that he visited with what he thought was a priestitute to commune with his dead wife since the verse before mentions Judah being comforted over her death? Steven | 1/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanBook Recommendations | Dr. Price, Since I first started listening to you a few years ago on the Internet Guy show, I've changed my perspective on a number of issues. This caused me to consider re-reading a number of books that I read in the past. Because time is precious, would you please give me your opinion? Is worth my re-reading the following particular books? 1. Eusebius - The Church History 2. Sir Robert Anderson - The Coming Prince 3. Fox's Book of Martyrs 4. Immanuel Velikovsky - Worlds in Collision 5. Alan F. Segal - Life after Death 6. Alexander Hislop - The Two Babylons Art | 1/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanCritical editions of the New Testament | Bob, I was rereading you Pre-Nicene New Testament where you mentioned an obscure Old Syriac edition of Matthew were Joseph is called the father of Jesus(pg. 120). This got me wondering if there one source in English that includes all the known variant readings of the various New Testament books? Steven | 1/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Cleanquoting outside the canon | Hi Dr. Price, I am curious if the New Testament ever quotes from books that have been excluded from the protestant canon. If so, doesn't this implicitly validate these books as authoritative scripture? Thanks, Evan | 1/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanThe Preaching of Peter XVII | Dear Dr. Price, Pen name "vrabitta", in an Amazon.com review of The Pre-Nicene New Testament, claims that you omit much of paragraph 17 of chapter XVII in The Preaching of Peter. As I read it, it seems to fit the context continuing from paragraph 16: that truth is given to the pious and not through dreams; the debate between Peter and Paul/Simon Magus. In a copy of the Clementine Homilies available on Google Books, the paragraph contains more about how the impious have visions from God e.g. Abimelech, Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar. Do you feel that this was an injection by Clement of Rome? Thanks, Matt Sweeden, KY | 1/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanPaul the small, Simon atomus and Little Mark | Bob, I have recently been thinking about the Historical Paul and I was again struck by the fact that Paul, Simon Magus and Marcion, the three main proponents of Pauline Christianity in the early Church, all have names that are can be interpreted as referring to someone who is small. Paulus in Latin means small or little, in one of the mss of Josephus's "Antiquity of the Jews" Simon the magician is called Atomos which again means small. Further Marcion means little Mark. This raises the question might these individuals be the same person? Steven | 1/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanEarly Christianity, putting it all together | Dear Dr Price, I am eagerly awaiting your book about Paul and can't wait to read it. I have read and enjoyed Deconstructing Jesus and The Incredible shrinking Man and others over the last few years and I am sure the book about Paul will answer many questions I have. Have you considered doing a general work on the origins of Christianity perhaps with a chronological framework? I am thinking of Crossan's book on the early church and even books I read some years ago by Hugh J Schonfield eg The Pentecost Revolution. A few weeks ago you gave a very interesting geeklet on christian Origins in answer to someone's question and I thought it would be great to have a book length treatment of the issue to help fit the pieces together and help us understand who was doing what,why and when. Hope this makes sense, best wishes, Seeker 101. | 12/2/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanWhat is the difference between philosophy and theology? | Dr. Price, All of your lectures are engrossing for me, and I devour them enthusiastically. I listened to Modern Christian Theology Lecture #8 twice on the day of its release, partly because of the manner in which you unite philosophy and theology. Originally, my area of interest was ancient history, but I quickly discovered that the study of history demands a study of philosophy. It took a few years longer for my interest in philosophy to lead me to a study of theology. Now, I am puzzled by the way in which academics seem to treat these two disciplines as though they were somehow different. It seems arbitrary to classify (for example) such as Plato, Immanuel Kant and Soren Kierkegaard as philosophers, while reserving the title of theologian for such as Thomas Aquinas, Friedrich Schleiermacher, and Rudolf Karl Bultmann. In my experience, professors are reluctant to even include theology in the same taxonomy along with philosophy, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics, and aesthetics. My view is that the difference between philosophy and theology is a difference of kind rather than of substance. In fact, I have come to make no distinction between philosophers and theologians in my own mind, because they all ask the same questions, and except for the manner in which we humans ought to live our lives, none has ever presented a compelling answer for any human question I can conceive. Because this is the forum to ask the Bible Geek, please comment, whether you agree or wish to shred my hypothesis. Thanks, Art Cominio | 12/2/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanWhen was the idea of the immortal soul thought up? | Dr. Price, Because of his Phaedo written in 360 B.C.E., Plato seems to get credit for the modern Christian idea of the immortal soul. But from your lecture series on World Religions, it is clear that the concept predates Plato, certainly in Persia and perhaps points east. I do plan to listen again to your excellent lecture series on World religions, but can you possibly save me some time? When did dualism - the idea that a person consists of a material body plus an immortal non-material soul - enter human thought? Isn't it likely that Plato (in the words he puts into the mouth of Socrates) was himself influenced by Persian thought? What do you make of the pre-historic practice of interning bodies with red ochre, food, and useful tools better left for the living than buried with a corpse? Regards, Art Cominio | 12/2/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanBiblical Suicide | Dr. Price, There are several stories of suicide in the bible, both in the OT and the NT. Does the bible teach anything definitive about suicide, either directly or by inference? Thanks, Art | 12/2/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQuestion about repeated stories in the Torah | Hello Bob Price, A question for your show now you seem to have caught up You have previously mentioned the retelling of stories within the bible itself and the concept of Midrash. As I understand it this retelling is done as way of using common story elements and ideas to easily communicate a message to a knowledgeable audience. With a character doing a specific thing, just like someone in a previous biblical story, but the different result shows the difference in philosophy, message, etc. You can also show that much of the synoptic gospels are retellings of old testament stories... but my question is about another theory of repeated stories in Genesis and the Torah in general. Question setup: I once read somewhere, or maybe thought it up myself and mentally attributed it to someone else, that the repeating stories of the patriarchs are the way the nation of Israel was first established. Something like this: All of the tribes descend from one small group who arrived in the area in the distant past. This original group had one story of one founder. The group split into different tribes and over time the names and locations of their founding myths changed to reflect their own slightly different location and culture. But main story elements survived. One of the main goals of the writers/redactors of Genesis, etc was to unite these separate tribes into a coherent single entity, but now had multiple similar myths. They put the myths into an order and just said "Oh, this one was the father of this one who was the father of this one." You say a similar thing probably happened with James and John the Baptist in the New Testament... "Oh, these guys were the brother and cousin of Jesus... which means you are one of us!" This is why you get multiple repetitions of patriarchs saying their wife is their sister, heading away to the east be sheep farmers, being promised the same thing by god, betraying brothers, etc. The different patriarchs are for different tribes, with Abraham the most important, then the rest tacked on as sons. Joseph is the one who represents the ex-Egyptian population in Canaan... you see the way it goes. For example, Noah and similar flood stories existed in the area, all with the same story at the root. What if someone combined the Bible and the Gilgamesh epic? Would they combine the two "Moses" characters into the same story (likely) or would they tell the story twice (also possible), resulting in a repetition? Which one would serve political purposes best? Which method would gain most acceptance from the combined populations in the shortest time? The setup to this question was long and rambling but here it is: Did I just pull the second theory out my butt or is there real literature out there on this? Feel free to take what you want from this email or explain the concepts with your own terms/examples. Yours, Luke B, Berlin, Germany. | 12/2/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanThe afterlife in the OT | Dr. Price, Although the OT is generally silent about the afterlife, there are two incidents about which I would appreciate your comments. 1. In the Book of Job, God restores all that Job has lost in double measure, except for his children, where he receives seven sons and three daughters - the same number he had originally. Is the bible teaching that Job still had his original children because they existed in the afterlife? 2. In 1 Samuel, King Saul has a medium at Endor conjure up Samuel, who seems a little put out about the whole matter. Doesn't this teach that Samuel existed in some form beyond his death? Furthermore, Samuel tells Saul that tomorrow Saul and his sons will be with Samuel. Since Samuel was righteous and Saul was wicked, does this imply that the afterlife is the same for both the righteous and the wicked? Thanks | 12/2/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanOriginal landuage of the OT | i have heard that the OT was originally written in Babylonian captivity in the language of the day, Aramaic. it was then translated into Greek during Hellenic times, and only then, from these two languages, into Hebrew, which was a scholar's language. is this true? was the Septuagint actually a older version than the Hebrew, a source for the Hebrew? if so, what are the implications? | 12/1/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanZombie Attack! Jeruselam 33AD | Bob, In reading Tierney's "The Drums of Chaos" (incidentally any and all Bible Geek fans should get and read this book it is great) Tierney deals with Matthew 27:52-53, "the tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many" as corpses being raise by alien spirits. I have written a short story dealing with the same passage where I take a George Romero slant on this verse, which raises the question what is the intended purpose of this verse? Was the author claiming that the end began but thanks to the efforts of someone, maybe a Time traveler and a Samaritan magician things stopped (reference to "The Drums of Chaos"), or was the author think that Jesus was just one of many that was raised by some unseen necromancer? Or was this Zombie attack some prophecy that I missed? What's the deal? Thanks as always Steven M Stiles | 12/1/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanFourth member of the Trinity | A few weeks ago you mentioned that some attempted to add a fourth member to the tirinity. Who was this fourth member, or have there been more than one? | 12/1/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanWhat Bible verion do you recommend? | I first learned of you on the Infidel Guy, and love all the detailed descriptions that you discuss about The Bible. I have never read most of The Bible, and I would like to know what would be the best edition of The Bible that you suggest that I should read, and is there a companion I should have when I read it. | 12/1/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanOriginal Sin | Dr. Price, Original sin seems to be an invention of Augustine of Hippo that was never a Hebrew belief. Despite contradictory verses in the bible concernng the visiting the sins of the father upon the sons, isn't original sin a gross misinterpretation of the bible creation myth? | 12/1/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanEarth Centric Christianity? | Dr. Price, In your view is Christianity Earth Centric? Astronomers have deduced the existence of hundreds of planets elsewhere in the universe by observing gravitional effects, and recently photographed seven planets orbiting distant stars. Closer to home, the possibility of life on one or more moons of Jupiter is a possibility. In your opinion, what would be the theological implications of life discovered elsewhere in the universe - either primitive or intelligent? | 12/1/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanAsherah Poles and the Garden of Eden | I was thinking about Asherah worship in early Canaanite mythology. As I understand it, Asherah worshipers had a pole with a serpent wrapped around it, similar to the today's medical symbol (though I never seem to find two images of the poles that look the same). Does it seem reasonable that the Genesis account of Eve succumbing to the serpent in the Garden of Eden was symbolic of women succumbing to Asherah worship? And that Eve being betrayed by the serpent would be an attempt to discredit the Asherah cult? It would be saying that when women are tempted by this cult that it only leads to bad things. | 12/1/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanCriterion Of Embarassment | Hello Bob, I listened to an interview this week of your "smug" buddy Ben Witherington III with Cameron Reilly ( precise description of Witherington by the way LOL ) anyway in the interview he said there are "Roman documents that talk about Jesus being crucified under Pontius Pilate." Is he blowing smoke or what ? I have never heard this before. Also if I may ask just one more I have been reading Boyd & Eddy's Lord Or Legend book in it they talk about numerous embarrasing things written in the gospels why do you feel or believe that the Criterion Of Embarrasement is not a valid argument forge by apologists? Thank You Vincent Dayton Ohio | 11/29/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQuestion about Revelation's "Synagogue of Satan" | Dr. Price, In his Revelation letter to the Ephesians, Christ says in Rev 2:9 "I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan." Please comment on the meaning of this phrase. In a related question, I find it odd that Christians pay little attention to these "Epistles" that were supposedly written by Jesus as revealed to John of Patmos. I would certainly think that "Epistles" from Christ himself would trump anything written by a secondary source. Do you believe that the difficulty of interpretation accounts for thir being so widely ignored, or simply their embarrasing content? John Galt | 11/22/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQuestion About Jesus' Teachings on the Sabbath | Dr. Price In the Gospels, Jesus certainly never repudiates the Torah as Paul of Tarsus did. So, do you consider the flaunting of the Sabbath by Jesus and his disciples to be redactions from a later time when Christianity had split from Judaism and become a completely new religion? A related question concerns your opinion about the roots of the Christian religion. The notion of Christ as Jewish Messiah seems very strained as Jesus fulfilled none of the Jewish expectations for a political national leader of the House of David. Doesn't the binding of the Tenach and the New Testament into a single anthology seem to be anachronistic since they represent two totally different religions connected in our times only by the thinnist of threads? Granted that Christianity had its roots as Jewish sect, don't you believe that modern Christianity shares little or nothing with modern Judaism? John Galt | 11/22/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanParables of Mathew Chapter 13 | Your Geekness, Jesus explains some, but not all, of the parables in Matthew Chapter 13. Some of them have two possible explanations, and I have heard them preached both ways. For example, the mustard seed that grows into a tree is sometimes said to be a prediction of positive growth for the church. However, a mustard bush large enough to house birds in its branches would be a grotesquely large bush, not to mention the usually negative symbology of "birds" in the bible. Likewise, "leaven" is universally used to represent sin in the bible, so it is hard to imagine it representing positive growth for the church. Another example is the pearl which could represent either gentiles or the product of a non-kosher shell fish. Please shed some light on these Matthew 13 parables that can have either a positive or negative interpretation for the future of Christ's "ecclesia". Regards, John Galt | 11/22/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanWhere did they say that Jesus was born? | Dear Dr. Price, On a previous show you mentioned almost in passing that Marcion thought Jesus appeared miraculously in Capernaum. I also seem to recall that Rene Salm has marshalled strong evidence that Nazareth essentially didn't exist in the supposed time of Jesus!! What is going on here? Are there competing traditions for a possible historical Jesus? Were the gospel writers trying to undercut Marcionite followers? Does it make more sense if we assume an early second century or later writing of Mark? I would love to hear your take on this. Thanks, Seeker101. | 11/15/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanWhere does the NT idea of hell come from? | Hi Bob This is my first Bible Geek Question. Where does the New Testament idea of Hell come from? The NT writers seemed pretty keen on the idea, with Jesus bringing up the subject about 70 times, and over a 150 mentions of Hell overall. As you know, it is variously described as hot and dark (I thought flames and darkness were mutually exclusive) with lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth. Mark seems to think that we'll even get our own personal, immortal worm! (I say 'we' though I don't want to be presumptuous regarding the day of judgement - though I expect my own personal chances of avoiding the pit as pretty slim). The imagery of Hell doesn't seem to fit with either Hades or Sheol, both which seem to be shadowy. cold places devoid of specific torture or suffering. I know the word 'Hell' has Norse origins, but where does the New Testament authors concept come from, as it doesn't seem to fit with either Jewish or Hellenist traditions? Love the site and podcasts Best Wishes Steve the Dobro (UK) | 11/15/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanWeeping Women | It seems that many cultures have had mourning ceremonies involving weeping women. From the wailing about Tammuz, to the weeping for Attis to todays Mourning of Muharram in Islam. This ceremony looks a bit odd to me, it's certainly nothing I've ever seen in Christianity. Does Christianity not have a ceremony like this? Perhaps due to scriptural reasons? "Why do you weep woman?" says Jesus. Or am I missing some weeping ceremonies that Christians are involved in? | 11/14/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanNot in the Bible, but it oughta be! | There are quite a few ideas associated with Christianity that aren't in the bible. Lucifer's fall and the Trinity are the two that most often come up in conversations I have with people who are amazed at what *isn't* in the Bible. Do you have any favourite extra-biblical stories/ideas that most people think come from the book itself? | 11/14/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanHow likely is it that the jews of 1st Century Judea would use the Septua | Bob, How likely that a Palestinian Jew would have used the Septuagint instead a Aramaic or Hebrew edition of the Old Testament? I ask because of the fact that the authurs of the New Testament seem to use the Septuagint exclusively even having Jesus use it a theological proof text. Steven M Stiles | 11/8/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanChristian Origins | Your geekiness, Iâ??m trying to form a coherent view of Christian origins (no easy task!) and the more I read of the Dutch radicals the less everything I thought I knew makes sense. So letâ??s assume no historical Jesus, and that Marcion made up Paul. How do the pieces fit together? Where do the Marcionites arise from? Were there other Paulists before them? Who are the Petrine followers and how did they get started -- were they really a jewish christian sect in Jerusalem? What about the supposed galilean Q movement? The Gnostics? Who were the early gentile christians? And what group(s) eventually become the catholics? Daniel. | 11/8/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanBible Apocrypha Recommendation | Based on your recommendation my bible of choice is the NASB. I turn to it for reading any biblical books that are not in your Pre-Nicene New Testament or in Richard E. Friedman's 'The Bible with Sources Revealed'. It's a good bible but of course misses out some of the fun books like Maccabees and Ezra. Do you have any recommendations for books which contain the Apocrypha? | 11/7/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanLilith | I have been a fan of the roleplaying game Vampire the Masquerade for many years. As always my interest move in wider circles from where I begin. In one of their background books we have a fictional story of Lilith. She is portrayed as a the mate and equal of Adam and later as the lover of God, or Jehovah as they call him. I'm very interested in knowing more about her. So my questions are the following: Where can I find out more about her story? Is there a relation between her and Adam or the Christian god for that matter? Here is a link to what I am talking about if you are intrigued: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw_0_22?url=search-alias%3Daps&field&keywords=revelations+of+the+dark+mother&sprefix=revelations+of+the+dar The third entry i also good. | 11/7/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanDevelopments in Biblical History | I am greatly interested in learning about the origins of Christianity and about the early Christian faith. I have recently begun to read the book Antiqua Mater by Edwin Johnson--which I happily purchased from the BG store. During reading I have found my curiosity has been piqued regarding matters of biblical historicity. First, I am wondering, since the time Antiqua Mater was first published, if there have been any major new historical developments or archeological findings that would help to support the argument for the historicity of Christ or any figure related to Christianity, such as Paul or any of the disciples? Does there exist any evidence at all that would immesh Jesus Christ or Paul to the history of the times the were supposed to have lived? And do you think that Johnson's interpretations of the writings of Tacitus, Pliny, Suetonius, Justin Martyr, etc. are accurate or correct? I have to say if it is the case that there isn't really any strong evidence for the historicity of Christianity outside biblical or apocryphal literature, it seems to me to be some kind of gross evasion of historical responsiblity to claim that there really is. From the perspective of an historian, what does it hurt to tell it like it is? Isn't an accurate assessment of reality significant? P.S. Thank you very much Bob for providing this great service to us, it is a delight to listen to and learn from you and I hope you know that you are needed more than you can imagine. shaggie414 | 11/7/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanEvaluations of Aquinas' Five Ways | Searching about on Google over the past month or so, I've found it surprisingly difficult to find philosophically rigorous evaluations of Thomas Aquinas' Five Ways that aren't obviously guilty in one way or another of either arguing against a strawman or suffering from legitimate charges of misinterpretations of Aquinas' arguments. I'm aware of Kenny's work and have seen some excerpts from Plantinga's "God and Other Minds", but was wondering if you had some favorites of your own that treated the arguments seriously and rigorously. Thanks, James in AZ | 10/29/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQuestion about Modern Theology lectures | Dr Price, I have recently started subscribing to your show and enjoyed the lecture on Darwin, Kant, etc. you did as part of the Modern Theology series. As I was checking this webpage out I notice that you have published commentaries for at least one of your other lecture series, are you planning to do something simular for this series? I think it would be extremely helpful for those of us which are trying to counter the mainstream summaries like William "the conservatives were right all along" Baird's two volume History of New Testament Research. Sky | 10/29/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanJesus Absconditus | Why did Jesus spend so little time on earth after he rose from the dead? Is there some reason he had to get back to heaven. Seems like it would have been better if he'd have hung around for a few years to prove to all the skeptics without a doubt that he really had risen. I'd love to hear what you think. Thanks | 10/29/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanZoroastrian influence on Judaism | Hi Dr Price, I am interested to find out more about possible Zoroastrian influences on Judaism after the Exile and also the influence of later Greek thought on Judaism. Are there any books which can demonstrate this influence on particular thinkers of the time or in the bible text itself. I have come across interesting snippets in Gregory Riley's The River of God but I would love to go a little deeper. Love the show. Many thanks, Seeker 101. | 10/29/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanRichard Burridge: gospel = biography | Richard A. Burridge What Are the Gospels? A Comparison with Greco-Roman Biography Second edition Introduction by Graham Stanton Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004. Pp. xiv + 366. Paper. $34.00. ISBN 0802809715. I was told that gospels=biography, and since the ancient could write fictional biographies of historical people, but never biographies of fictional people, conclusion: JC is historical. Please comment. BTW, I accept the Mythicist Hypothesis. | 10/14/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanChrist the Magician cup? | Dr. Price what are your thoughts on the recent discovery of a cup with an inscription refering to a "Christ" as a magician? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26972493/ | 10/14/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanHow will religion play out in the future | I was interested in your thoughts on how religion could play out in the future. That is, as something that doesn't leave society but that adherents no longer wear on their sleeves. I'm envisioning something like a hobby. A stamp collector or model airplane builder might well mention his hobby as small talk, but only the most fanatical would proselytize. As an atheist, I like the picture you paint, but I'm having a hard time seeing how Christians would get past the "you're going to Hell" thing. If I collected stamps, it might be a nice thing for my neighbor to have the same hobby, but if I'm a Christian, it would be outrageous for me to let him go to Hell without at least making an effort to prevent that. Please convince me that your view of the future is really plausible. I want to believe! Bob (Seattle) | 10/14/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanIs Saul also among the Prophets? | A couple of times in 1 Samuel there is a story which seeks to explain the popular phrase "Is Saul also among the prophets?" (1 Sam 10:11 and 1 Sam 19:23) - but I am not sure when people would use the original phrase. Unlike the phrase "He's a mighty hunter like Nimrod" where it's easy to see what is meant, this one leaves me clueless! Have you any knowledge of why this phrase needed a double explanation and when it would have been used in conversation? | 10/14/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanThe Revelatio of Paul. | In Galatians 1:11-17 we read that Paul received his gospel directly from JC through revelation. Then reading the rest of the letter, we notice that nothing there is written about doctrinal agreements (or not). We only read that the pillars recognized the grace given to Paul. Paul wrote that he presented his gospel to the pillars and the they did not add anything. Can we deduce that they agreed? Paul never makes that explicit. The only place where I could find a statement about Paul preaching the same gospel as the other apostles is in 1 Cor. 15:3-11 which you consider an interpolation (and I agree). So, it would seem to me illogical to conclude that a gospel revealed personally by direct revelation just happens to be the same that the other apostles preached. Something does not make sense here. That is too much of a coincidence. Is Paul stretching the story? That is, he knew about the gospel from his pre-Christian life and then just claimed that it was actually not learned from other Christians, but directly from God (or an angel)? I have the distinct impression here that we are not reading the right story here, something is missing, somebody is lying, something was changed, or added, or something else. The way it is now in the letters of Paul it does not compute. | 10/14/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanVisions of the Risen Christ | If we assume that 1 Cor 15:3-11 is an interpolation (I agree), what historical evidence do we have then that the Christ appeared not only to Paul but to others as well? What do you make of the reference at the end of the Letter to the Romans that Paul had relatives that became Christian before he did? | 10/14/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Clean10/9 There is no Bob problem | Hello, since I sent the short note yesterday explaining there was no Q&A yesterday because I had not heard from Bob, I wanted to let you know that I have heard from Bob, the show just slipped his mind, and there is no problem. See you next week. Cheers! Ricco | 10/8/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Clean10/8/08 - the non-show announcement | We waited until 8:30 pm east coast time for Dr. Bob to show up, but he never came online, so there was no questions answered this week. Cheers! Ricco | 10/7/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Clean10/1/08 Bible Geek opening monlogue | Each week Dr. Robert M. Price answers questions posed to him on TheBibleGeek.org | 9/30/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanGospels = biographies? | Please comment on Richard Burridge, 2004 What are the gospels? A comparison with Greco-Roman biography, 2nd edition, Eerdmans. Any example of biography of mythical or non-historical person? | 9/30/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanSodom, Gomorrah, and Homosexuality | Dear Dr. Price, While researching the story of Sodom and Gomorrah and the various Abrahamic perspectives on it, I was surprised to discover that Jews, Christians, and Muslims interpret the story differently in terms of the degree to which each reads the story as a castigation of homosexuality. While the three versions of the story (i.e., the Talmudic, Biblical, and Qurâ??anic) vary to some degree in the details, the story goes something like this: God, upset by the sinfulness of the people of the Five Cities of the Plain (i.e., Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Zoar), tells Abraham that he plans to destroy the cities and everyone in them. Abraham, whose nephew Lot resides in Sodom with his wife and two daughters, pleads with God to spare the cities. God agrees to fulfill Abrahamâ??s request if two of his angels can find within Sodom 50 righteous men whose mere existence may redeem and save the cities from destruction. When the angels inform God that they could only locate one righteous man -- Lot -- God decides to continue with his original plan of destroying all five cities. The two angels, however, go to Sodom to warn Lot that he should flee from the city before Godâ??s wrath is exacted. While the two angles are visiting with Lot in a house, a mob of male Sodomites gathers at the door of the house and demands that Lot give up the two â??menâ?? (i.e., the angels) so that they, the mob, may do certain things to them. (It is unclear if the mob knows that the â??menâ?? are angels.) Lot refuses, but offers his daughters to the mob instead, which they angrily refuse. The angels then strike the mob with blindness so that Lot may escape with his family to the city of Zoar, which God has agreed to spare in return for it offering safe haven to the fleeing family (minus Lotâ??s wife, of course). The controversy, should we call it that, stems from just exactly what it was that the mob was intending to do with, or to, the angels (Genesis 19:5). The Tanach version of this specific incident seems to be fairly unambiguous about the mobâ??s intentions: "And they called to Lot and said to him, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, and let us have relations with them.'" The King James Bible version, however, is somewhat ambiguous: "And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, 'Where [are] the men which came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them.'" Particularly interesting is the New International Version Bibleâ??s take on the incident, which is rather comical in its unambiguity: "They called to Lot, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.'" The Yusuf Ali translation of the Qurâ??an tells it this way: "And his [Lutâ??s] people came rushing towards him, and they had been long in the habit of practicing abominations. He said: 'O my people! Here are my daughters: they are purer for you (if ye marry)! Now fear Allah, and cover me not with shame about my guests! Is there not among you a single right-minded man?' They said: â??Well dost thou know we have no need of thy daughters: indeed thou knowest quite well what we want!'" My question is this: To what degree can we be certain that the original intent of the story was to represent the Sodomite mob as wanting to have forceful sexual relations with the two angels? And furthermore, if this was indeed their intention, have theologians traditionally equated male-on-male (or in this case, male-on-angel) gang rape with homosexuality, or is homosexuality instead inferred from the general sinfulness of the Five Cities of the Plain? | 9/30/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanHere is a question right up your alley | Bob, you have mentioned the role that Ancient novels, Classic Tragedy and the Old Testament played in the formation of the New Testament narratives do you think there is any role for horror stories especially in the formation of some of the Apocalypses. I know of at least one person, Deborah Felton, who is doing research into Horror stories of the Classic world. As I read over some of the source material she is working from I was struck by the realization that the Biblical narritive would have be read aloud to an audience, which raises the question how much of the demonic stories, ghost, the desent into Hades, etc. were meant to frieghten the listener? Or put another way, how many of these stories served the same function modern horror stories do? | 9/30/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Cleanislam moon worship | Your geekiness, What is the relationship between islam and moon worship? As an increasing number of muslims live in my area and are currently fasting during the day, it occurred to me that ramadan is a type of moon cult fest, since you starve during the day and feast once the sun sets and the moon is shining. There seem to be many other elements of moon worship -- ramadan begins with the full moon, their symbol is the crescent moon, they follow the lunar calendar, etc. I've heard that Allah was a moon god, and has some relationship with Abraham (another moon god?), and had moon/star daughters. It occurred to me as well that the meteorite that muslims worship may have been thought of as a piece of the moon by the ancients. Your thoughts? Is islam a fusion of pagan moon worship with judeo-christian types of ideas? | 9/30/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanJoshua/Jesus | I read that the name Jesus is just the Greek version of Joshua - which means Yahweh Saves, or Saviour. Are there any theories out there (crazy or not so crazy!) that link Jesus Christ with Joshua Son of Nun? Do people see any connection between them? | 9/23/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanDid Marcion use Mark? | From what I understand Marcion's gospel was a form of Luke - and Luke was based on Mark. However it seems that Mark and Marcion are very different - Mark is very Jewish, or at least very scriptural in that almost all of the elements within it can be traced to old testament passages. Why would Marcion use a gospel based on the Torah to develop his own? Was Marcion as anti-jewish as I imagine? Or did Marcion not realise that Mark was interpreted scripture? Or was there an intermediate stage that I'm missing? Any help in sorting out my confusion would be appreciated! | 9/23/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQuestion about the young nudist | Dr. Price, I was hoping to get your interpretation of Mark 14:51-52, the famous scene of the young man and the linen cloth. I know that several scholars, including your colleague John Dominic Crossan, have paired this section with the â??Secret Gospel of Mark.â?? In your article, â??Second Thoughts on the Secret Gospelâ?? you make the case that the â??Secret Gospelâ?? was Morton Smith's forgery. If this is the case, what sense do you make of Mark 14:51? By the way, I stumbled across the book â??Mystic Rhythmsâ?? on Amazon, the one that you and Carol did about Rush. Is this where you advance your Geddy Lee Myth hypothesis? | 9/23/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Clean9/24/08 Opening Monologue | Bob's opening monologue for the 9/24/08 Ask The Bible Geek show, where Dr. Robert M. Price answers questions posed on TheBibleGeek.org site. | 9/23/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanCan a sound case for interpolation of Gal 1:18-2:1 be made? | Greetings Oh Great and Knowledgeable Bible Geek Marcion's version of Galatians lacked 1:18-24 and the word "again" (greek: palin) in 2:1. Tertullian, Irenaeus and others claimed Marcion striped out what he did not like. Can it be that Marcion had the original and the early Catholics doctored the text to suite their dogmatic agenda? Is there a way to make a case for Marcion priority in the text of Galatians? Thanks and All the Best | 9/23/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanWho are the Cathars? | I was reading a post else where and someone was asking if others had more information on the Cathar. This is a new early Christian group to me. I've heard of other groups, like the Gnostic, Essenes, Nazarenes, Docetists, and alike, but I have no information except what Webster's dictionary states, which is (in the singular) "a member of one of various ascetic and dualistic Christian sects esp. of the later Middle Ages teaching that matter is evil and professing faith in an angelic Christ who did not really undergo human birth or death". This sounds almost Gnostic, with slight differences. Next in line after that definition is the word "catharsis" and Webster speaks of "purgation", "purification or purgation of the emotions (as pity and fear)", "a purification or purgation that brings about spiritual renewal or release from tension". I'm assuming there is a relationship, not just in origin of the word "catharsis", but also cathartic rituals. Can you please enlighten us on the Cathars and their rituals (probably cathartic ones given the word relationship), as well as other things about them and other sources to read about them? Thanks. Mriana | 9/23/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Some here today will not taste death | Dr. Price, I've been listening through old Bible Geek episodes (in reverse order--your books are being progressively unwritten!), and on many occasions you talk about how Jesus' promise to return gets progressively "hedged" as the original followers of Jesus died off, and this explains variations in the text. I'm not clear how this makes sense given the Christ-myth theory, however. If there was no Jesus, there were no original witnesses to the prophecy who would be dying off over time. So why would the prophecy be revised and extra explanations added (you mention that the transfiguration was taken to be the coming of the kingdom of God, for example) if there wasn't really anyone who thought Christ's return was imminent? For that matter, how does it make sense for there to be a belief in the "return" of Christ at all if he was mythology later transformed into history? Finally, it still just doesn't seem plausible to me that early Christians in the mythic scenario would be able to get away with just wholesale inventing the historical Jesus. Wouldn't someone have called them on it since it would be less than 100 years or so after the claimed events occurred? Are there any examples of early Jewish critics of Christianity pointing out that the NT is just midrash on the OT or that the stories are otherwise implausible? -Zac | 9/16/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; The New Atheists | Your Geekiness, In a lecture you gave for FreeThought Fort Wayne concerning your book "Top Secret: The Truth Behind Today's Pop Mysticisms", you gave some of your thoughts on some of the New Atheist writers, like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens. Do you have any intention of writing any articles, or perhaps even a book concerning the New Atheists, what they say that you take issue with, and what they say that you agree with. Your take on Pop Mysticism was uncompromisingly fair in it's assessment, as you take the time to appreciate as well as criticize the claims that are made. I think it would be useful for freethinkers to have such a book on the New Atheists as well, especially if it is written by one who wields the sword of discernment as skillfully and gracefully as you do. thebluediamond | 9/16/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Preemptize question | This is a preemptize question I am asking with the hope that it will be answered about the time you are covering Islam in you world religion lectures. What is your take on Karl-Heinz Ohlig arguement that Muhummad was a Christological title and not the name of a historical person? thanks as always, Steven M Stiles | 9/16/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Clean9/17 Bible Geek show monologue | Dr. Robert M. Price answers questions from visitors to TheBibleGeek.org | 9/16/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Pre-Exodus Israel | Hi everybody, I'm interested in the bible as a layman / hobbyist, so forgive any of my noob questions in advance : ) My question for today is, How did the Isreali's end up as Egyptian slaves in the first place? It just seems that Moses was called to lead them out, but I'm curious as to how / why they ended up there at all and any type of references where I can read more about that. thanks! Dennis | 9/16/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; For God so loved the world | For God so loved the world that he gave his only son. I'm afraid I don't know the proper reference. But I'm confused. Since right after his death, Jesus went back to his fathers side, or was his father, what exactly was given? I don't see what the sacrifice was. I'm enjoying catching up with the past episodes. Funny way for an athiest to spend his time, but I love history. Michael Duchek San Diego, California | 9/16/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Resurrection Accounts - Luke v John | Dear Dr. Price: One topic that I never saw well-addressed in any harmonization acount of the Gospels was the varying reports provided by Mary Magdalene, in Luke and John. To wit (NASB): Luke 21 : 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; 5 and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, â??Why do you seek the living One among the dead? 6 â??He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, 7 saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.â?? 8 And they remembered His words, 9 and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. 11 But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. 12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb .. But in John 20: 1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, â??They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.â?? 3 So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. Luke clearly has Mary reporting of the resurrected Jesus, Peter thinking the story to be nonsense, Peter running to the tomb. But in John we have Mary reporting that someone has taken the body and they don't know where they have "laid" him (an un-resurrected accounting as one could provide), Peter going to the tomb. These "certainly" have to be referring to the same account. I can't find any articulate apologist responses to this issue. How have you seen this addressed in a rational, reasonable attempt at harmonization? Many thanks, iPatch | 9/10/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Clean9/10 Ask The Bible Geek monologue | Bob's intro for the 9/10 Ask The Bible Geek show, where he answers questions posted on http://TheBibleGeek.org forum | 9/10/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Long-living patriarchs and ancient near eastern kings | I remember, during an Infidel guy podcast, hearing you talk about the "Book of the generations of Adam" genealogy in Genesis 5 and its direct parallel to some list of Sumerian or Akkadian or Babylonian kings; but since then I have not been able to remember in which episode you talked about it nor have I stumbled back upon it. I was wondering if you could draw that parallel again, and perhaps even go into a little more detail about the dating of the ancient near eastern texts referenced and where one might find good translations of them for personal study. | 9/10/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Detering article | Are there any plans to (re)publish Hermann Detering's article The Falsified Paul in the new JOHC as I can't find a back issue available and a hard copy version is much easier to read and refer back to. Thanks. | 9/10/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; John the Baptizer diet | Bob, In World Religion lecture #7 you mention that you believe Judaism may have originally been like Zoroastrianism with an evil deity created the unkosher foods animals. If this is the case does it explain the charge that John the Baptizer had a demon in Luke 7, since John would be eating the creations of the evil diety? Coud this pericope be a reference back to the polytheistic Hebrew faith Margaret Barker argues was still around with the formation of Christianity? Or is merely an early Christian attempt at attacking the founder of a rival sect by equating him with a crazed ascetic who eats bugs? Steven | 9/10/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Historical Jesus | Is it true that there is a consensus amongst historians that there was a historical Jesus? Secondly Michael Grant has said that the Jesus Myth position has been refuted again and again by scholars. Do you know of any materials that present these refutations? Thank you. | 9/10/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; The names of some of the Pre-Christian saviors aka Jesuses | Bob you mentioned the other night a forthcoming talk you are going to give on pre-Christian savior. Who are some of the figure or are you talking about Isis, Bacchus, Mithra, Ashtar the Awesome, Baal,etc. Or was there a a general cult of the Savior that did not care about the specifics of the Savior. How does the Marcionite/Gnostic revealer Chrestus aka "the Good" figure in with this savior cult or was this a later synthesis that associated the two concepts. Thanks, Steven | 9/10/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; How important is the Codex Sinaiticus | As you may already know the Codex Sinaiticus will be released online for the first time. Here is the story: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gzdZYondd-Jlqw-ziW9W3qmSSeUwD922E3300 http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/ What is the significance of this? Love the show keep it up! | 9/3/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; We got 'em. They got 'em. Where do the Christians got 'em? | Hi! I'm a humble Amphibian-American living in the Northwest. Having grown up Jewish (and you wouldn't believe how hard it is for a frog to keep Kosher) and hanging out with Chassids I have at least a passing acquaintance with my Tribe's odder tradition. I don't have enough Hebrew or Aramaic to really get further into it, but that's just a matter of making the time. My flirtation with Eastern traditions tended towards the Vajrayana school. My wife grew up in an indifferently Chinese Ch'an Buddhist home. We became Sufis a few years back. She came up with a very good line - "Mystics recognize each other. Fundamentalists only see themselves and sin." It's not completely true, but there's definitely something there. In all four of these the training and tradition have always been available. In some times and places they would get you killed for heresy, and there were all sorts of cautionary tales and safeguards. But in the end the esoteric, personal and whatever else you want to call it was around for those who cared to look for it. And one didn't have to look too hard. So where is the mystic Christian tradition, let alone a living one? The Orthodox seem to keep them shut up in monasteries. The Catholics have Contemplative orders, once again kept far away from the flock. Is there anything like Chassidus, Kabbalah, the Tantras or Tariqat in the Christian world? Or is it all locked safely away where most people can never get near it? | 9/3/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanShow Intro - Sept 3 | Bob's opening monologue for the September 3 show where Dr. Price answers questions submitted on http://TheBibleGeek.org | 9/3/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; M.A. Thesis on the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles | Hi Dr. Price, I have been a fan of yours for a long time now and I have always loved your approach to your work... getting to the point, I was wondering if you could make any suggestions toward an M.A. Thesis on the Apocryphal Acts, whether sources, ideas, or if there is an area that you think there could be more research of the literary-critical type, I know you have a strong background in fiction and literature in general, so I just figured I would ask if you had any ideas in the back of your mind, maybe something bouncing around in there concerning the Apocryphal Acts that is just golden! As all your ideas are! Thanks so much, keep up the good work, you have inspired many! | 9/3/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Hebrew Tablet and the Historical Jesus | Hi Dr. Price There's a stone tablet with Hebrew inscriptions in the news this week that may have an impact on the Historical Jesus debate. The story is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/world/middleeast/06stone.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=messiah&st=cse&oref=slogin In summary, it's an inscribed tablet dating from the late 1st century BCE, in which a messiah figure is prophesied to rise from the dead in three days. The times article says that this may be evidence that the resurrection prophecies in the Gospels may actually have been uttered by Jesus, since he would have had a context for them within apocalyptic Judaism of the time. And yet, I couldn't help recalling all the apologists who argue for the historicity of the resurrection itself, because 1st century Jews could never have imagined a dying and rising messiah if it hadn't actually happened. If this tablet is genuine, and the interpretation of the inscription correct, doesn't it pretty much demolish that argument? | 9/3/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Who is the "narrator" of the NT? | I was reading Acts around 4:15-18 when I noticed that events are being described that, presumably, no Christian was present to record for the purpose of including in the Bible. It is obvious that to the overall nature of Bible writing is that of an omniscient narrator. But this case is not a question of chosen style of writing, but what facts were available to the writer from which to construct the story line at all. If Christians make the claim that God inspired the Bible in the sense that he proved such unknowable facts to the human author, then why would this hypothetical God bother to be filling "his critical message to the human race" with such trivia has the words and motivation of the Sanhedrin in this minor episode. How much of the Bible is written in this "omniscient-trivia" style? Thanks from a lifelong atheist. | 9/3/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; sons of Alphaeus | Bob, In Mark 2:14 Levi the son of Alphaeus is mentioned, then in Mark 3:18 a character named James or Jacob, son of Alphaeus is named one of the twelve. Are they suppose to be brother or the same person or what? In Matthews redactions of the naming of the twelve (Matthew 10:2-4) "Matthew" lists Matthew the tax collector and James the son of Alphaeus, while Luke includes the name Matthew without the saying whether this Matthew was a tax collector and James the son of Alphaeus. This combined with the fact that Matthew in the retelling of Mark 2:14 (Matthew 9:9) calls the tax collector Matthew suggest that they are different people, if they are different people then what is the importants of the name Alphaeus? Steven | 9/3/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; the real Jesus | It seems to me there are two contradictory ways of debunking the New Testament and believe me it needs debunking. 1. This is the emphasis on the Jewish Christians who ran the early church, were dispersed after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, and eventually were considered heretics by the mainstream churches. The Pauline Church ignored them as much as possible and was not really interested in the real Jesus, a Jewish apocalyptic figure. The Robert Eisler book on the Old Russian version of Josephus gives us an interesting picture of this Jesus and of his politically rebellious followers. 2. This is the emphasis of Burton Mack and others that Jesus can be found only in the Q source and in the Gospel of Thomas and he was less a Jewish apocalyptic figure than a Cynic offering aphorisms and not much more. Which is the better position? | 8/26/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Regarding Romans | Good day Professor, and I thank you in advance for your time. I have not yet read your book "The Pre-Nicene New Testament," but I am engaged in a discussion regarding what you purportedly said in regards to Romans 1.3 & 1.4. The person I am discussing this with has quoted you as saying that you believe that Romans 1.3 - 1.4 are an interpolation. This person says you did not explain how you came to that conclusion, and who specifically agrees with you. The reason I am interested in this is because I personally have examined the text, and found substantial consistencies in the language of at least Romans 1.3 with the rest of Romans. Here's my example: Romans 1.3 "Jesus Christ our Lord" - Rom 1.3, 5.21, 6.11, 6.23, 7.25 "The seed of" - Rom 1.3; 9.7; 11.1 "According to the flesh" - Rom 1.3; 8.1; 8.4; 8.5; 8.12; 8.13; 9.3; Therefore, at your earliest convenience we will await your reply. Best regards. - Team FFI | 8/26/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; The inscriptions of the Israelites | I was doing a show when someone brought up the 'artifacts' discovered by Ron Wyatt- the nurse archeologist. While it is very easy to dismiss his findings, I must ask about the inscriptions themselves? Have the Israelite saga graffiti been debunked, refuted and falsified? Should we add this to the pieces of Jesus' cross or his foreskin, or challis and all the other fakes or is it legit. What say you? | 8/26/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Tacitus mentioning Christus | Tacitus in his work The Annals says this: "Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus..." source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitus_on_Jesus How legitimate is this passage by Tacitus? Was Tacitus considered a very accurate historian? | 8/26/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Goliath Stories | Bob, You mentioned, I believe it was in the Genesis lecture, that you once had some of your students write stories about Goliath from Goliath perspective. This idea has struck me as an interesting concept and I was wondering if you might consider doing an anthology of Goliath stories? I was thinking of writing one myself but was unsure of a publication outlet for a swords and sandal short story, then I though the person I would like see publish it was you. Would you consider publishing through lulu an anthology of Goliath or Biblical modeled stories with an introduction done by you? | 8/26/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A;Lukes preface and woman clothed with the sun | Dr. Price, I have two questions if i may: 1. I'm curious what you make of the Luke 1:1-4. Is the whole passage a later interpolation? If authentic, do you think the author is "guilty" or "innocent"? By innocent I mean that he for whatever reasons thinks that his sources are historical in nature, and that he has genuine historical information to add from his "eyewitnesses and servants of the word". Or is he guilty, in the sense of being one of the earliest known Jesus historicist who knowingly takes symbolic source stories and construes them as a Jesus biography? 2. I've heard many Catholics claim that Revelation 12:1-6 refers to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and her role as a salvatory "co-redemptrix" or "mediatrix". Not sure if you're familiar with the "Our Lady of Guadeloupe" cult following, but they claim a supernatural origin of an image of Mary standing on the moon with stars above her and the sun behind her -- and use this as a proof text. Does the text have anything to do with Mary? Who is the woman? And what is the significance of the 1260 days? Many thanks, Daniel. | 8/26/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanBob's 8/27/08 intro | opening show monologue. | 8/26/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Rationalist Theology and Rationalist Lifes of Jesus | Bob,at a number of place you have mentioned Rational theology and Rational lifes of Jesus, I know that this movement and their explanation of Biblical miracles came under attack by Strauss. Is there any books in English represent this movement and their theology I am especially interested in the varous Lifes of Jesus. Thanks, Steven | 8/25/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; What's so funny about the Enlightenment? | I have occasionally heard or read New Testament scholars speak dismissively of the Enlightenment or "Enlightenment thinking," particularly when discussing how historians ought to regard the miracle stories. I just finished a book by Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright, "The Meaning of Jesus," in which Wright treats the Enlightenment as if it's something that went out with the wringer-washer. Granted, I don't get out much, but just when did rationalism and empiricism fall out of favor among historians? Seriously, are the values of the Enlightenment really considered passe by NT scholars, or is this just an attempt by apologists to excuse magical thinking when doing historical reconstruction? -- Scott Knickelbine | 8/25/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Dr Price, will "The Amazing Colossal Apostle" be available sometime? | Greetings Dr. Price from Robert Bumbalough in Mesquite Texas aka libertarianbob. I listened to Biblegeek #12 (recorded in November 2005) yesterday. In that show with Reginald Findley, you mentioned you were working on a book about Paul and his roots in Marcionite Gnosticism entitled "The Amazing Colossal Apostle". Is that work available? I'm very interested in learning the story of how Paul got on with the Gnostics. Thanks and Best Robert Bumbalough | 8/25/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; This question has to do with the Genesis lecture | Bob, I have a question for your Genesis Lecture series. In the 8 June Genesis lecture you talked about the scarifice of Isaac, you however did not mention the alternative story put forward in Shalom Spiegel's book "The Last Trial: The Akedah on the Legends and Lore of the Command to Abraham to Offer Isaac as a Sacrifice" that Isaac as actually scarificed and resurrected after two to three years. Could you give your thought on this tradition. Steven | 8/24/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Book of Mormon | Bob, I know you have written a few articles/ essays on the Book of Mormon and was wondering if you could point to any scholarly aka non apologic work on the Book of Mormon? As always thanks, Steven | 8/22/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Clean8/20 Bible Geek intro | Bob's intro to the 8/20 Bible Geek webstream. The webstream is new, and is when Bob answers the questions that accumulate in the "Ask The Bible Geek" forum. The questions answered each week will be released, at this point, one a day, so that you get a Bible Geek bite each day. | 8/21/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; What happened to 'Love the Lord your God'? And what is love? | Dr Price, two questions regarding Romans 13:9 - "For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." First, it is interesting that the author only quotes those commandments which deal with relations amongst people. Is the author intentionally ignoring commandments like 'Remember the Sabbath Day', or 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me' and others which deal with relations with God? Jesus states that the sum of the Law was to 'Love the Lord thy God AND love thy neighbor. Yet, the statement that the Law can be summed by 'loving God' is strangely absent from this Romans passage (also see Galatians 5:14). What is going on? Second, moral commandments like 'Thou shalt not kill' are stated as negatives. How does the author consider not killing, or not stealing from a neighbor to be loving that neighbor? I don't steal from my neighbor, but I do not necessarily love that neighbor. Just what does the author mean by 'love' in this context? Thanks - Ravishing | 8/18/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Peter James and Paul's martyrdom | where is any evidence of the deaths of these people. It is often argued that they wouldn't have died for what they were preaching if they thought it wasn't true, which is disputable in itself. Do we have any reliable evidence that all of them actually even exsisted let alone were martyred? | 8/17/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A Samson question | I was listening to a show you did on the Infidel guy about how Samson represents the Sun god. I know his name means Sunshine in Hebrew, What myth would this story have been taken from? Does it have any earlier origins? Also when Manoah ask's the angel what his name is why do you think he wouldn't tell him? And why did they think it was God? Does this have anything to do with the reference to Yahweh not giving his name? Thank you so much for taking the time to read my question. | 8/16/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Why did Matthew write his crucifixition scene differently from that o | In the second chapter of Randel Helms' book "Gospel Fictions" the author points out that in three of the four canonical Gospels that the words of Jesus are recorded differently, and Matthew spins the words for his own purposes. In Mark and Matthew Jesus is depicted as uttering his final words as ""My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?". But as Helms point out: "Mark presents these words it self-consciously realistic fashion, shifting from his usual Greek into the Aramaic of Jesus, transliterated into Greek letters: "'Eloi eloi lama sabachthanei (My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? - Mark 15:34). Mark gives us no hint that Jesus is "quoting" Pslam 22:1; we are clearly to believe that we are hearing the grieving outcry of a dying man. But the author of Matthew, who used Mark as one of his major written sources is self-consciously "Literary" in both this and yet another way: though using Mark as his major source for the passion story, Matthew is fully aware that Mark's crucifixion narrative is based largely on the 22 nd Psalm, fully aware, that is, that Mark's Gospel is part of a literary tradition (this description would not be Matthew's vocabulary, but his method is nonetheless literary). Aware of the tradition, Matthew knew that no Aramaic speaker present at the Cross would mistake a cry to God (Eloi) for one to Elijah - the words are too dissimilar. So Matthew self-consciously evoked yet another literary tradition in the service both of verisimilitude and of greater faithfulness to the Scriptures: not the Aramaic of Psalm 22:1 but the Hebrew, which he too transliterated into Greek - "Eli Eli" (Matt. 27:46) - a cry which could more realistically be confused for "Eleian". Matthew self-consciously appeals both to literary tradition -a "purer" text of the Psalms-and to verisimilitude as he reshapes Mark, his literary source. ..... Matthew certainly knew that he was creating a linguistic fiction in his case (Jesus spoke Aramaic, not Hebrew.) though just as clearly he felt justified in doing so, given his conviction that since Psalm 22 had "predicted" events in the crucifixion, it could be appealed to even in the literary sense of one vocabulary rather that another, as a more "valid description of the Passion." My question then Dr. Price is why did Mark and Matthew want to have his bystanders at the Crucifixion scene say in Mat 27:47 "And some of the bystanders hearing it said, "This man is calling Eli'jah." While Mark has it that: Mar 15:35 "And some of the bystanders hearing it said, "Behold, he is calling Eli'jah." Helms seems to have hit the nail squarely in that Matthew used Hebrew words as his Jesus' last utterance to make the observation of his bystanders more realistic, but I do not understand why it was important to Mark and Matthew to have the bystanders indicate that they thought Jesus was calling Elijah. Could you shine your light on this one, please? | 8/14/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; 3 part question | 1. How historically reliable and accurate do scholars consider the accounts of Josephus in regards to what he wrote? What are some other sources for the Jewish Roman war and the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem? 2. Do you think it's possible that John of Giscala could be the John of Revelation fame? | 8/12/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A mult-part | 1) I'd put off buying the PNNT for quite some time because my budget was tight. I got a few Target giftcards and was finally going to order it. But its out of stock!! What's the deal with that? Does Target just suck? Or did you manage to sell all the copies that were printed? 2) I have asked in the past about a graduate program or teacher from a Dutch Radical perspective and you said that that there saddly wasn't any. Do you know of teacher or program you consider good on the Pauline letters or Marcion? I have already looked into Tyson but was wondering if there was any others. Thanks 3) Any thoughts on famed Greek translator Richmond Lattimore's translation of the New Testament? As I've heard it doesn't vary a lot from other translations, but I feel like it works better for when you're reading the New Testament as a literary document, as it abandons the conventional chapters and verses and so on. But in the introduction he says absolutely nothing about theology (I don't think he even mentions God!), so I wonder what sort of axe, if any, he might be grinding with his effort, or what his religious view are. | 8/6/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; How history unfolded | Dr. Price could you speak on your theory of how Christianity evolved? Thanks, Steven | 7/29/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Uncovering the Legs and Feet | It's often been said that in the hebrew written parts of the bible, 'legs' and 'feet' are used as euphemisms for p***s. How do we know this euphemism is what we think it is? Is it merely that it makes the most sense out of the passages? Also, I assume that the same doesn't apply to the greek, otherwise the scene where jesus kisses the disciple's feet would raise all sorts of questions... | 7/22/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Abraham and Joshua | n Moses lecture 4 you mentioned that Abrham was a moon god who gave birth to the stars, can you elaborate on this? If he was a moon god what are the implications for Islam in claiming to be a Abrahamic faith or do you think they inherated this label from the various Christian sects that influence, according to Luling, the formation of the Quran and Islam? Next it seems to me that Joshua is a old semetic deity especially since his father is reported as Nun, who was the Deity of water/sea in several Middle Eastern Mythologies. Is this correct, if so could the story of his destruction of Jericho have been an attempt to explain the destruction of the walled town by people who did not understand Geology? (How was Jericho the great walled city destroyed? Well Joshua the God did it by shaking the walls and causing a great fire to consume things.) | 7/15/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Unitarian Church | Dear Bible Geek, sorry I didn't get to meet you along with S.T. Joshi last year. I want to pick your brain about the Unitarian Church. I attended for several years hoping to be among rationalists, but I found that it is becoming increasingly New Age. I gauged how popular New Age topics were by attendance to them. For example, when "The Secret" was featured, you couldn't find a place to park, I'm told. I think you used to be a Unitarian minister? I'd love to have your take on this. | 7/8/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Does the fact that the Gospels were written in Greek mean anything? | I know that there are defenders of the idea that the gospels were originally written in Hebrew and then translated into Greek. This seems to be very important to some conservative apologists. However, I & II Macabees, and the other deutro-cannonical books were written 100 years before the gospel events were purported to transpire, and they were written in Greek, which is why the Protestant reformers and the Masoretic scribes refused to admit them into the Old Testament/Tanack. During the 100 years on either side of the Common Era, was anything of religious import written in Hebrew, or was it all originally written in Greek? If everything was written in Greek, then why wouldnâ??t everyone expect the Gospels to be originally in Greek? Why would apologists feel the need to maintain that the Greek gospels were translated from Hebrew originals? | 7/1/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; A.E. Knock and the Concordant Literal New Testament | curious if you have ever heard of or read this translation at concordant.org also what is your take on the greek word Aionion being mistranslated eternal instead of eonian, being that Aion is a noun meaing eon or age and Aionion is only the adjective form of this word as I have been told. Seems to me this would be the same as translating yearly, daily, or hourly as eternal and eliminating their distinction. Rich | 6/24/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A - Theological bias of some researchers | Dr. Price, Is the continual acceptance of the James ossuary by the like of Dr James Tabor (UNC-CH) an example of theological bias, in this case the believe that there had to be a Historical Jesus, influencing 1st century archeology of Israel? If so what is the value of archeological research for Biblical scholarship? | 6/17/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Whose scandaless birth is Matthew attempt to spin | It has been pointed out that the author of Matthew is not describing a miraclous birth but is trying to put a positive spin on the fact that Jesus's Biological father was not Joseph. For this reason the Gospel of Matthew includes in Jesus's geneology a number of other women who had scandals associated with their becoming pregnant or who appear to have had premarital sex(in the case of Ruth). Accepting that this is indeed what Matthew is attempting to do whose birth is he exlaining away? Or put another way, if Jesus is purely a mythical character, as I think he was, why does Matthew create the problem of him being illegitimate? If Matthew is responding to a preexisting story what is the Sitz-Im-Leben of this story? | 6/11/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; I don't have enough faith to be an atheist | I am having trouble here. I have listened to hundreds of hours of atheist podcasts, attend bible studies, etc. To my surprise, I had never heard of Norman L. Geisler. I am familiar with christian apologists and have had little difficultly discounting them. After suffering through "I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist", I can discount much of his science, moral, and logical arguments. I am having problems with his dating of the gospels (as early as 30 - 50 CE, if I recall correctly), and his insistence on the "facts" (especially Luke). I have been trying to find critical responses to his work, but I can seem to find anything useful. I guess I have been lucky dealing with very unintellectual christians. This is the only time I have been thrown by an apologist. I am familiar with your analogy, and use it frequently, "just because New York City exists doesn't mean spider man is real". I am still not taking the leap of belief in the supernatural because the gospels may be more historically accurate than I thought. I would like for you to point me in the direction of some refutation of this book ideally, or just refutation of the certainty of the historical context of the gospels. I am not fishing for a lengthy response on your part by any means. I assume that you are a busy man, but I can't seem to find a good response to this book. I would just like a few links, or maybe a book suggestion. | 6/4/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Deamons & Dwellings | when Jesus drove out demons, where did they go? Luke 8 seems like if Jesus drove them out, they would be in the abyss. So they begged to go to the pigs. It sounded like demons need dwellings, whether animals or people. But where did the demons go after the pigs were drowned? Mt 12:43 portraits demons seeks rest by finding human bodies to dwell. so demons need rest can't just wander around? | 5/28/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Jesus first fast | Why did Jesus fast after his baptism? | 5/21/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Ancient gods raised to earthly life | some scholars assert that the ancient god men(osiris ,tammuz,etc.) were not actually ressurrected back to earthly life but simply died and went directly to the afterlife,so ressurrection didnt actually count as earthly rebirth,what is your take on this,as ive read that many scholars have an anti borrowing agenda,trying to show that actual ressurrection of ancient godmen(osiris,tammuz etc.) never really were ressurrected like jesus was after 3 days,therefore jesus was new,unique and the only real godman to have actually died,after 3 days get ressurrected to earthly life and then go to heaven.thanks | 5/13/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Were Peter and Matthew Septua-gents? | Bob- in some of the objections I've read to the authenticity of I Peter it's claimed that the author's use of quotations from the Septuagint makes genuine Petrine authorship unlikely. However I was under the impression that the Matthew gospel also made use of the Septuagint (eg the alma/parthenos goof). To make things even more complicated, I've been reading some stuff by an internet rabbi who claims the Septuagint didn't even exist in the 1st Century C.E. Can you please set me straight on this, especially the question of whether the Septuagint would have been used by any of the NT writers. Thanks very much. | 5/6/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Jehovah vs. the dragon | Dr. Price, You have mentioned multiple places to include Paperback Apocalypse about YHWH/Jehovah's (sorry I have yet to find a good Hebrew font for my computer) battle with Leviathon, this event as you have noted has a lot of simularities to the other Near Eastern Mythologies. I also believe that they exhibit a lot of parrellels with the Greek Mythology leading me to wonder if stories like YHWH vs. the Dragon and Apollo vs. the snake might stem from a common source. Nor is this the only place I see simularities. I also believe that the stories of Abraham's attempted scarifice Issac, and Athamas attempt to scarific his son Phrixos, stem from a common source. Also Herakles vs the lion and Samson vs. the lion just to name a few. This brings me to my question do you know of any book still in print that covers any potential parellels between the Hebrew Scripture and other Mythologies and Religions. I asked for in print because I have a couple of professors who are neophils and have stand their views that anything out of print must be obsolete and thus already refuted. Also to any BibleGeek fans I have purchased both books that Ricco and Bob have released already and they are good, in fact the readability and Price's foreword make The Quest for the Historical Jesus well worth the purchase cost even if you have it already. Can not wait for future titles to be released. And last but certainly not least to Bob and Ricco keep up the good work. Thanks | 4/30/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Suggestion and Question re Moses | Dr. Price, After listen to your reply to the Quest for the Hitorical Jesus question I think a good couple of books for you to put out is Strauss' two books: The Life of Jesus, Critically examined and The Life of Jesus for the People. Which brings me to my question; In Pre-Nicene New Testament you mentioned that the author of Luke used psuedo-Philo's nativity of Moses found in Biblical Antiquities, this caused me to question if Moses might too be a mythical hero. Now I know that Psuedo-Philo was influenced by Hellenism and was probably trying to make Judaism national hero shine as much as the Pagan heros but the accounts of Moses in the Torah also have various aspect of the Mythical Hero motif. What is your take on this, is there a historical Moses behind the various documents of the Pentateuch or is Moses a mythical hero? Thanks as always, Steven | 4/23/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; Translationese | QUESTION: bob, i saw a theory that mark was originally written in latin ,not greek and was tranlated into greek, hence the latinisms in the text.what do you think of this theory? | 4/16/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; The Dutch Radicals | Dr. Price, At a number of places on past Biblegeek episodes you have mentioned your and Dr. Doughty; along with Hermann Detering; being advocates of neo-Dutch Radicalism. Have either of you managed to pass on this theory to a new generation, or will it pass away again (as it did with the passing of GA van den Bergh van Eysinga) with you, Doughty, and Detering? I am especially interested in people working in acedemia. Thank, Steven | 4/9/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A Dream Vision Hypothesis | Why have arguments holding that the belief in the resurrection of Jesus started with non-physical appearances of Jesus to the disciples in dreams or visions failed to persuade the "majority" of Biblical-Critical scholars? Are there some good discussions, books, or papers on this topic (that is, why such arguments have not been found persuasive to many scholars)? | 4/2/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A; The Pentateuch | My church's youth group is about to begin an "intense" study of the Pentateuch, and I was wanting to know if there is anything that would be useful to know before I listen to my church's version of history. Thanks. | 3/25/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A - Daniel's Seventy Weeks | I am continually amazed to see how many Christians argue that the 70 weeks of years, or rather 69 weeks in the book of Daniel, accurately predicts, even to the very hour, Christ's crucifixion. They argue that this is an amazing testimony to God's foreknowledge. However, they don't seem to see the glaring inconsistency in that these same teachers have inserted a stretchable gap which has now lasted more that 2000 years. In my view this makes the 490 years term of fulfilment, laughable. What's the point in having a pin point accurate prediction of 69 weeks, only to insert an ever increasing gap before the final week. The 70 weeks of years is broken up into 3 sections; 7 weeks, 62 weeks and 1 week. I notice these prophecy pundits don't insert a gap in between the first 7 weeks and the 62 weeks. Also if this passage was really talking about Jesus, wouldn't all the Religious leaders at the time of the crucifixion have seen that Christ was the fulfilment of this passage? What is your take on this? | 3/19/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanDating The Gospel of Mark | Dr. Price answers the question; Does Mark in his gospel talk about the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD in any way. Can we be sure if this was written before or after 70AD? Can we say for certain if it was on one side or the other of the destruction? | 3/12/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanQ&A - The Historical Jesus | Dr. Price answers a question from the web site; TheBibleGeek.org. This question can be found and discussed at; http://thebiblegeek.org/node/1316 | 2/28/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanBenedict of Nursia | Benedict of Nursia (born in Nursia, Italy about 480 CE and died about 547 CE) was a founder of Christian monastic communities and a rule giver for monks living in community. | 2/22/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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235 |
CleanDidache | The Didache, meaning "Teaching" is the common name of a brief early Christian treatise (dated by most scholars to the early second century), containing instructions for Christian communities. | 2/20/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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236 |
CleanTertullian | Quintus Septimius Florente Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian, who lived from aout 160 to 235 CE, was a church leader and prolific author of Early Christianity. He also was a notable early Christian apologist. | 2/19/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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237 |
CleanClement 1 | Clement 1 was the fourth Pope and Bishop of Rome from 88 to 99 AD and is considered the first Apostolic Father of the early Christian church. | 2/14/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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238 |
CleanPolycarp | Saint Polycarp of Smyrna, lived between 69 and 155 CE, was a Christian bishop of Smyrna, now �°zmir in Turkey, in the second century. He died a martyr when he was stabbed after an attempt to burn him at the stake failed. | 2/13/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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239 |
CleanThe Gospel of Thomas | The Gospel of Thomas is a New Testament-era apocryphon completely preserved in a papyrus Coptic manuscript discovered in 1945 at Nag Hammadi, Egypt. The book was bound in a method now called Coptic binding. It was written by a school of early Christians who claimed the Apostle Thomas as their founder and does not have a narrative framework, nor is it worked into any overt philosophical or rhetorical context. | 2/11/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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240 |
CleanPhilo | Philo (20 BC - 50 AD), known also as Philo of Alexandria (gr. ΦίλÏ?ν á½? á¼?λεξανδÏ?εÏ?Ï?), Philo Judaeus, Yedidia, and Philo the Jew was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher born in Alexandria, Egypt. | 2/7/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanPliny The Younger | Gaius or Caius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius or Caius Plinius Caecilius (born from 61 to 63 -- died about 113 CE), better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, a remarkable writer, an author and a natural philosopher of Ancient Rome. | 2/6/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanIgnatius | Ignatius, one of the earliest recorded figures in Church history | 2/5/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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243 |
CleanPaulus Absconditus; Paul versus John in Ephesian Tradition | Paulus Absconditus; Paul versus John in Ephesian Tradition | 1/27/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanThebibleGeek.org episode 104 questions | Ricco reads the questions answered by Robert M. Price on TheBibleGeek.org episode 104 | 12/9/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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245 |
CleanThe Quest of the Mythical Jesus | An essay by Robert M. Price, read by Ricco for TheBibleGeek.org | 12/7/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanTheBibleGeek.org 12/5/07 | Ricco reads the questions that were addressed by Dr. robert M. Price in episode #103, released on 12/2/07 | 12/5/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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CleanTheBibleGeek.org 12/5/07 | Bob on the Reason driven podcast; http://reasondriven.blogspot.com/ | 12/4/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 247 Episodes |
Customer Reviews
Sadly content-free
I admire Robert M. Price's views. Unfortunately, he has chosen to sell his actual weekly show on his web site, and this podcast consists merely of an annoying teaser: someone else reading the questions addressed in last week's show with no answers. I think it would be a great benefit for his show to receive wider exposure, so it is a shame that he cannot see his way clear to releasing it freely.
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- Category: Christianity
- Language: English
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