In the Greek and Roman world, Ehrman argues there isn’t a universal neighbor ethics like a Greek should love every other Greek. This is on the other hand present in the Old Testament with every Israelite should love every other Israelite, stranger or not. Jesus radicalizes this teaching, such as with the parable of the … Bart Ehrman and the Surprising Truth Behind Love Thy Neighbor

Mark presents a satirical view of Jesus and his world.  With Mark’s Gospel, Mark does numerous things lampooning Jesus and his world, like having Jesus predict the apocalypse and his return during the listeners’ generation, though by Mark’s time that never happened.  He had the absurdity of Jesus repeatedly explaining his resurrection/crucifixion to his disciples, … (3) Some thoughts on my History Valley Podcast with Jacob Berman Presentation: Who Killed Jesus?

Regarding objects, it is clear today philosophers tend to privilege the physical object, the object of inquiry in physics, and so interpret the anthropological object, sociological object, mathematical object, psychological object, geographical object, historical object, indeed the object of inquiry in general in this light.  By “meta-physics” we thus usually mean the most fundamental physics: quarks, general relativity, … Rethinking Metaphysics

One of my first slides in the presentation I wrote: Again, we see the idea of blame for Jesus’ death being transferred to the Jewish elite. Just as we saw the difference between the John the Baptist of Josephus vs the John the Baptist of the gospels, we see the caricature of Pilate in the … (2) Some thoughts on my History Valley Podcast with Jacob Berman Presentation: Pilate

It has long been known that the gospels have to some extent appropriated the famous figure John the Baptist and repurposed him for Christians purposes to note that while John is the greatest among men, the newly developed Christian community was greater: In Matthew 11:11, Jesus declares that among those born of women, no one … (1) Some thoughts on my History Valley Podcast with Jacob Berman Presentation: Jesus and John the Baptist

Bart’s new book that I’ll be blogging about on Jesus’ revolutionary ethics will be out soon, and here is a taste about Jesus and charity.

Our Vice President Ed did a kiosk article recently on the origin of evil that was also featured on Debunking Christianity. Here is the link: https://infidels.org/kiosk/article/why-adam-and-eve-sinned/

What we find in the historical record about Jesus’ death is that it all converges on the idea that Jesus’ death is the responsibility of the Jewish elite.  The Roman leader Pilate is exonerated, for instance, even though he orders the crucifixion.  In my opinion this totality of evidence speaks against the idea that Jesus was … My Presentation on the Historical Paul and Jesus on HISTORY VALLEY PODCAST with JACOB BERMAN

Ehrman’s new book on Jesus’ innovative ethics is coming out later this month so I will be blogging about that, and I will supplement this with Goicoechea’s book on Christianity and personhood. Here’s a preview: From the blurb: From the New York Times bestselling author of Misquoting Jesus comes a surprising history of Jesus’ most radical commandment—a new kind … New Blog Series: A New Christian Theory of Ethics and Personhood with Ehrman and Goicoechea