Bond stresses the difficulty in trying to distill historical information about Jesus from the gospels. She writes: Thus the many chreiai in the Gospels are not primarily repositories of oral tradition, but fundamentally literary creations, crafted to take their place in a larger biographical work… There is most likely some historical fact at the core … (4) The Next Quest For The Historical Jesus: Biography by Helen K. Bond

One of the interesting things about this essay is some of the anti-Jewish overtones in the gospels may stem from literary need born out of the attempt to present universal saving by Jesus. Reinhartz writes: (1) Although the Four Gospels vary with respect to some of the details, they all portray some level of animosity … (3) The Next Quest For The Historical Jesus: Beyond The Jewish Jesus Debate by Adele Reinhartz

Blogging my way through the anthology, Moxnes has the first essay. One tidbit I’d like to highlight is how Jesus challenges societal norms. Moxnes writes: Jesus is calling young men to follow him and leave the patriarchal household and their father (Mark 1:16–20). The new household that Jesus establishes is one without a father (10:28–30); … (2) The Next Quest For The Historical Jesus: Reception History by Halvor Moxnes

My new Philosophy for Kids book is out today. Please pick up a copy!

I just got my copy with a whopping 32 essays in it so I will be blogging about the volume for a while. (2) The Next Quest For The Historical Jesus: Reception History by Halvor Moxnes (3) The Next Quest For The Historical Jesus: Beyond The Jewish Jesus Debate by Adele Reinhartz (4) The Next … The Next Quest For The Historical Jesus (INDEX)

If you’re intellectually impatient like me, just start watching at 47:00 when they start to stretch out their hands to cast a magic spell. That the faith community is backing Trump is wonderful. If Trump loses, it will be a powerful argument for the futility of prayer. There are reasons hospitals don’t have faith-healer departments.

“In Leibniz’s sense, a ratio sufficiens, a sufficient reason, isn’t at all a ground capable of supporting a being so that it doesn’t straightaway fall into nothing. A sufficient reason is one that reaches and offers to beings that which puts them in the position of fulfilling their full essence, that is, perfectio. ” (Heidegger, … Philosophy and the Will

Previous Posts in this Series: (1/4) Christianity, A Question of Reasoning: The Continental/Analytic Philosophy Divide (Part 2 of 4) Christianity, A Question of Reasoning: The Continental/Analytic Philosophy Divide (Part 3/4, AFTERWORD) Christianity, A Question of Reasoning: The Christ Myth Theory and the Lord’s Supper (Part4/4 Appendix) Christianity, A Question of Reasoning: The Christ Myth Theory … Does Literary Imitation Suggest Christ Never Existed: The Trump Lens (2/2)?

It’s now more mainstream to acknowledge that the NT writers were rewriting OT scripture to flesh out the biography of Jesus, and so we have Mark create his crucifixion narrative out of Psalms and Isaiah since Paul doesn’t record any details. Matthew presents Jesus as the New and greater Moses. Spong had actually written about … (1/2) Does Literary Imitation Suggest Christ Never Existed?

Trump is polling well with conservative Christians but is really trying to overcome the problem that conservative Christians often stay at home on election day.