John MacDonald

Heidegger Circle: 2026 Central APA CFP

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The Heidegger Circle welcomes submissions on any topic in Heidegger scholarship for its annual Satellite Session at the Central Division of the APA. The Central Division Meeting will be February 18th to 21st at the Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, Illinois. The deadline for submissions to Central Division is September 2nd, 2025. Please send submissions of no more … Heidegger Circle: 2026 Central APA CFP

THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL (Conclusion Part 8/8: The Parallel Lives of Paul and Simon Magus)

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Last Time: THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL (Part 7/8: Paul and Salvation by Any Means Necessary) Hermann Detering and others argue for a significantly later date for the composition of the Gospel of Mark than the mainstream scholarly consensus, which typically places it around 65–75 CE. Detering proposed that Mark was written no earlier … THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL (Conclusion Part 8/8: The Parallel Lives of Paul and Simon Magus)

THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL (Part 7/8: Paul and Salvation by Any Means Necessary)

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Last Time: THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL (Part 6/8: The Dog Who Stopped the War) Now: (Introduction) If the Gospels, Acts, and Pauline letters are fictive 2nd century writings, the Q source would then be our only early source about Jesus.  The “Q” source, a hypothetical document in historical Jesus studies, is thought to … THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL (Part 7/8: Paul and Salvation by Any Means Necessary)

THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL (Part 6/8: The Dog Who Stopped the War)

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Last Time: THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL (Part 5/8: Literary – Beyond the Historicism/Mythicism Debate) Now To recapitulate, while Paul is written in role as an early 1st century apocalyptic Jew, the apocalyptism to the contrary also makes sense post 70 CE of Mark 13, and even as the apocalyptism of post Bar Kokhba … THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL (Part 6/8: The Dog Who Stopped the War)

THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL (Part 5/8: Literary – Beyond the Historicism/Mythicism Debate)

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Last Time: THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL (Part 4: Paul and the Schools) (Intro) One popular debate right now is the historicism/mythicism debate in New Testament studies – the historicity of Jesus or whether he was originally believed to exist on earth or in the heavens. When Livesey picks up this angle, she does … THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL (Part 5/8: Literary – Beyond the Historicism/Mythicism Debate)

THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL (Part 3/8: The Coming Kingdom of God on Earth and the Unnecessary Jesus and Paul)

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Last Time: THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL (Part 2: Jesus, Paul, and Plutarch) Now: (Introduction) We’ve been thinking about how an early date of Mark or Paul’s writings would be useful for historical mining reasons but may just be wishful thinking.  For example, the gospel of Mark is generally dated no earlier than 70 … THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL (Part 3/8: The Coming Kingdom of God on Earth and the Unnecessary Jesus and Paul)

THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL (Part 2/8: Jesus, Paul, and Plutarch)

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PREVIOUSLY: THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL (Introduction with Prof Nina E. Livesey) Last time we levelled the playing field and established a spectrum of interpretation of Paul from the far right of Christian fundamentalism with a very early date of an historically reliable Acts and letters (13 authentic) to a middle point of critical … THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL (Part 2/8: Jesus, Paul, and Plutarch)

THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL (Part 1/8 with Prof Nina E. Livesey)

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Previously: Announcing A New Blog Series: THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL The Letters of Paul in their Roman Literary Context: Reassessing Apostolic Authorship (by Nina E Livesey, Peer Reviewed Cambridge Press, 2024) (INTRODUCTION TO THIS SERIES OF POSTS ON THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL WITH PROF NINA E. LIVESEY) Critical New Testament scholars … THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL PAUL (Part 1/8 with Prof Nina E. Livesey)