Tag: Testament
-
Understanding Jesus: Separating Faith from Early Christian Influence
If you grew up in (or are currently a member of) a protestant church, you have probably been allowed to believe that your faith has been relatively unchanged throughout the millennia. Catholicism (your church’s grand-pappy) has had a colorful history filled with all manner of exciting events among them the councils. The catholic councils would…
-
John the Baptizer, Messiah or Nah?
In the New Testament, John the Baptist was portrayed as the only person holy enough to be able to baptize Jesus of Nazareth at the inauguration of his ministry. The story (present in all four gospels) has Jesus requesting the ceremony at one of John’s baptism services. John seems to be reticent about performing the…
-
Quick Thoughts Regarding Christians and the Third Temple
I thought i would share this random thought that popped into my head after seeing videos published of the various American evangelical groups lobbying and preparing to construct the the third Temple of YWHW. These groups have brought us the CAD drawings for the edifice itself as well as red Heifers (supposedly without blemish), Menorahs,…
-
The Lost Gospel: Q
First of all, No. This has nothing to do with the conspiracy theory bearing the same letter as a name. During studies of Christian origins, one is very quickly guaranteed to run into the term Q-source quite often when discussing the synoptic gospels. Q stands for “Quelle”, the German word for “source.” It is a…
-
The Evolution of Modern Christian Eschatology (The ever changing end of the world.)
With all the terrible events transpiring in Europe and Israel, Christians (mainly evangelicals) are in full-blown rapture mode. Dozens of YouTube channels about end-times prophecy pop up every day with all of their episodes carrying a call to salvation. These are certainly scary times; no doubt about it. We teeter closer than we ever have…
-
Political Intrigue and the Crucifixion; First-Century Watergate. Part Two: Changing Money.
The scene of Jesus overturning the tables of the Temple money-changers is one of the most iconic of the New Testament. While his righteous wrath at the desecration of the Temple seems to be in line with what we know about Jesus, just about everything else in the story seems very odd. In this entry,…
-
Political Intrigue and the Crucifixion; First-Century Watergate. Part One: Branches and Hosannahs.
The story of the last week of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is…..off. As the new convert reads of his trip into Jerusalem, they are filled with many questions…..as am I. Several aspects of the story do not make sense. In this series of posts, we will touch on a few of them as…
-
Papias of Hieropolis
Papias of Hieropolis is more than just an amazing name for your next child; he may be one of the most important players in early Christian history that you have (probably) never heard of. It is through him that what little we know about the author of the “main” gospel, Mark, comes to us today.…
-
There’s Something About Mary, Mary and Mary….
The name “Mary” occurs quite often in the story of Jesus. Whether “Maria”, “Mariam” or “Mariamne”, the new testament is loaded with them. In fact, did you know that the gospel of John lists the women who were present at Jesus’ crucifixion and that all three of them were named MARY? That is exteremly odd…
The Incredible Jesus 