A Virtual File Cabinet for Our Studies of Christian Origins & Hebraic Faith
From ChatGPT on 3/3/2026. Scholars such as Steven C. Walker and Howard R. Macy argue that humor is prevalent throughout the Bible, while cautioning that it is not like stand-up comedy. The challenge is that humor doesn’t translate well across cultures, languages, and millennia — so what reads as sober narrative to modern eyes may […]
Continue ReadingRobin Gallaher Branch received her Ph.D. in Hebrew Studies from the University of Texas in Austin in 2000. She was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship for the 2002–2003 academic year to the Faculty of Theology at North-West University. The links and images below are from Robin Gallaher Branch’s “Latest at BAS”as of 3/3/2026. Feb 26 – Who Was […]
Continue ReadingThis post is ChatGPT’s 1000-word summary of Robin Gallaher Branch’s article, “Who Was Phoebe? A Closer Look at Paul’s Trusted Patron and Emissary.” published by BAS on 2/26/2026. The full article is in his directory in Dropbox. His article examines Romans 16:1–2 to reassess Phoebe’s status in the early Christian movement. Branch argues that Phoebe […]
Continue ReadingBart Ehrman’s Posts: Relevant Scriptures From ChatGPT on 3/2/2026. Summary of Biblical Perspectives. Across the canon (NRSVUE), several views appear: Below is a structured list of passages in the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE) that describe what happens when a person dies. I have grouped them by theological theme, since the biblical witness […]
Continue ReadingThe outline covers 13 chronological events spanning from the giving of the Law at Sinai through the composition of the gospels after 70 CE. Each entry identifies the key figures, describes what happened, and explicitly notes how it connects to the events immediately before and after it in Fredriksen’s argument. The narrative chain Fredriksen is […]
Continue ReadingBelow is based on the book When Christians Were Jews by Paula Fredriksen, pp. 32–41. That portion of her book was copied & pasted from my Kindle version and uploaded to Claude.ai to prepare the outline/summary below. Overview This passage traces a connected chain of political and religious events in Judea from the death of […]
Continue ReadingFrom Marg Mowczko here. Footnotes [1] Widows are always presented in a sympathetic and honourable light in Luke-Acts:
Continue ReadingFrom Bart Ehrman’s textbook The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings (Oxford University Press). I now turn to the longest and apparently most widely read writing [of the Apostolic Fathers] in the collection, called The Shepherd, written by an otherwise virtually unknown Christian named Hermas. Like the book of Revelation in the New Testament, […]
Continue ReadingIn February 2026 at BSA, Mark Goodacre and John Kloppenberg presented opposing lectures about whether or not Q existed. A member of BSA offered a summary of their positions and Goodacre said the summary was better than he could have done. The summary is pasted below. Other members thought the summary was prepared with an […]
Continue ReadingThis post contains the conversation at BSA titled “Jesus sacrifice” started on 2/23/26 by Kimberly Callaway, but first here is an extract from a Bart response to a question. “Technically, if God releases a person from the consequences of their sin based on the death of Jesus he is not “forgiving” (foregoing payment or penalty) […]
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