A Virtual File Cabinet for Our Studies of Christian Origins & Hebraic Faith
This post contains two responses from Claude.ai about why scholars believe Luke borrowed from Josephus and not the reverse. 1st Prompt – Why do critical bible scholars date Luke/Acts to the 2nd century. Cite sources and scholars’ names? This is a nuanced question with a genuinely contested scholarly landscape. The majority critical consensus still places […]
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT on 6/7/2026. Among the seven letters that the majority of critical scholars regard as authentically Pauline—Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon—there are several passages that scholars frequently cite as evidence that Paul suffered from some recurring physical ailment or weakness. None of them identify the condition with certainty. […]
Continue ReadingFrom Claude.ai on 6/6/2026. Prompt – Some critical bible scholars say that when the Gospel of Luke and Acts begin addressing Theophilus, the reference is not to a person but a group. Cite those scholars and their rationale and context. Claude responded: Theophilus as a Symbolic Address: The Collective/Generic Interpretation The two relevant passages are […]
Continue ReadingJesus was not interested in creating Christians. Read More. Somewhere along the way, people replaced the challenge of embodiment with the safety of devotion. It became easier to worship Jesus than to live as he lived. Easier to admire the Buddha than to undergo the kind of inner confrontation his path required. Religion turned living […]
Continue ReadingBy Jim Palmer Before the extracts from his very good article, here is a clip from his article, The Bible After God: A Post-Religion Guide for Understanding the Bible “…theology isn’t the free search for truth, as much as a defense of an already held position. A lot of theological reasoning is circular, inevitably “proving” […]
Continue ReadingThis post contains Claude.ai’s summary of the article at BAS: Another Temple in Judah! The Tale of Tel Moẓa. Claude’s Conclusion copied from below – Despite the biblical narratives of Hezekiah’s and Josiah’s reforms, the evidence at Tel Moẓa demonstrates that sanctioned temples existed in Judah beyond Jerusalem from 900 B.C.E. until the early sixth […]
Continue ReadingFrom Claude.ai on 6/1/2026 for the prompt: List other places in John where the author uses the literary device of a deliberate misunderstanding. The literary pattern in John is remarkably consistent: the Johannine Jesus says something, one or more other characters misunderstand him, and Jesus slowly brings the dialogue partner(s) to a deeper understanding. The […]
Continue ReadingFrom Claude.ai on 6/1/2026. This is a rich and genuinely fascinating area of critical scholarship. Here is a thorough breakdown: John 3:3 — Anothen: “Born Again” or “Born from Above”? The verse in question, using your preferred NRSV translation, reads: “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being […]
Continue ReadingFrom BAS here. OP – Adonai Tzevaoth by Avery Barron on 5/29/2026. I’m very curious about the recurring tendency to render this phrase as “Lord of Hosts” in the overwhelming majority of English translations. Robert Alter’s translation opts for “Lord of Armies,” which, despite the apparent academic consensus that this is the actual way to […]
Continue ReadingFrom Claude.ai as a follow-up to the post here on 5/31/2026. Yes — the history of Trinitarian theology is essentially a long series of attempts to resolve the tension between God’s unity and the distinction of the three persons, and each attempted resolution tended to err in one direction or another. Here is a comprehensive […]
Continue Reading