A Virtual File Cabinet for Our Studies of Christian Origins & Hebraic Faith
Summary: “Son of God: From Pharaoh to Israel’s Kings to Jesus” by James K. Hoffmeier Hoffmeier traces the concept of divine sonship from ancient Egypt through Israelite kingship to its eventual application to Jesus in the New Testament, arguing that the title “Son of God” has deep roots in Near Eastern royal ideology rather than […]
Continue ReadingFrom Claude.ai on 5/7/2026. – Summary of the article at BAS: “Judah’s African Ally: Taharqa and the Kingdom of Cush” By James K. Hoffmeier, Biblical Archaeology Review 51.2 (2025). Following the summary are two followup responses from Claude and one includes a Hyksos to Cush timeline.
Continue ReadingNew Book for Summer 2026 Release per his paper, May 2026. Jesus Betrayed: The Five Fundamental Ways Christianity Lost its Way 125 pages; five chapters plus Epilogue Epilogue: The World Transforming Difference
Continue ReadingThe Existential Impulse – What Replaces God When You Outgrow Religion by Jim Palmer The intro to that long post is: This article serves as a foundational piece in my [Palmer] work on existential health and post-religious spirituality. It outlines the structure I refer to as the “existential impulse,” which sits beneath questions of God, […]
Continue ReadingExtracted from Jim Palmer‘s Facebook Post here. You can’t pin Christianity on Jesus. It’s not his fault. To conflate Christianity with Jesus is to ignore the tragic gap between his life and what was later built in his name. Jesus was not a Christian. He did not found a religion. He did not set out […]
Continue ReadingThe claim that Paul explicitly cites only two teachings of Jesus (as direct dominical commands) is a common observation in critical scholarship. The two passages typically identified are: 1) Preachers should receive material support Paul explicitly attributes this teaching to “the Lord”: This is widely understood to reflect a saying of Jesus preserved in the […]
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Continue ReadingFrom Claude.ai on 5/2/2026. – Prompt: Where in the bible do critical bible scholars say Jesus teaches there’s forgiveness outside of the temple and you don’t need atonement? Cite all sources inline. Response This is a rich and nuanced topic in critical biblical studies. Here’s a thorough overview of the key passages scholars point to, […]
Continue ReadingBelow is Claude.ai’s summary of the transcript (in Dropbox) of Bart Ehrman’s interview “Did Jesus Actually Believe in Hell?” with Megan Lewis. This was prepared on 4/29/2026. Response – Here is a summary of the key points Dr. Bart Ehrman makes in this transcript, along with their context: Summary of Dr. Ehrman’s Argument: Did Jesus […]
Continue ReadingThe contents of this page were assembled by Claude.ai on 4/29/2026 from the transcript of John J. Collins interview by Bart Ehrman and from a file with my Kindle Highlights from Paula Fredriksen’s book When Christians were Jews. Claude’s paper version of the merger and a widget version are in the 2nd Temple Judaism directory […]
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