A Virtual File Cabinet for Our Studies of Christian Origins & Hebraic Faith
This post stems from a comment by Sean Freyne in a BAR article included in a post on this site here. Key takeaways are: Prompts are: Initial Prompt: Herod changed the high priesthood. He got rid of the Hasmoneans [the previous Jewish rulers] and brought in replacement high priests from outside, from Egypt and from […]
Continue Reading9/1/2026 – This post contains two Claude.ai prompts/responses as to the influence of gnostism on or by Paul and Marcion. This is a followup to the very long “conversation” with Claude that is contained in the two previous posts. Prompt – Those beliefs seem to me to sound a lot like Paul’s teachings. Do critical […]
Continue ReadingFrom Claude.ai in response to the prompt: Given all this good info on Gnosticism and it variations, how could I explain it to someone in a short statement when they ask “just what is it”? Response: Here’s a compact version you could use, plus a slightly longer one. One-sentence version: “Gnosticism is a family of […]
Continue ReadingThis is a very long post beginning with a BSA post titled Gnosticism 101 by Keith P. Myers then followed by multiple Claude.ai’s comments about Keith’s explanation and then how christianity, plantonism, and other beliefs evolved. Jump to “popular modern Christianity has drifted toward a Platonic/Gnostic escape-eschatology“
Continue ReadingCharles Bledsoe’s comment to a post at BSA here. It’s been a little while since I took his course here on the Hebrew Bible, but if I recall, and understood him correctly, Dr. Baden is of the view that reading and interpreting the Bible is, and has always been a creative engagement with it. Readers […]
Continue ReadingThis post is an extract from Bart Ehrman’s post on August 25, 2026 here. He provided concise tables showing the different divisions/presentation of the Hebrew Bible and the English(later Protestant) “Old Testament”. Hebrew Bible/English Old Testament: Charting Their Differences Some blog readers have requested more posts on the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. I’m happy to comply! […]
Continue ReadingThis post contains two responces from Claude.ai on 8/26/2026. The first prompt is: Critical bible scholars understand that the stories in the book of Genesis continue in the book of Exodus, and there are multiple versions of many stories and multiple versions of the same events in some stories. Provide a list of those duplicates […]
Continue ReadingFrom BAS Newsletter of 8/25/2026. BAS has compiled a remarkable Special Collection, The Biblical Moses. Follow the great scholars’ reasoning in all these articles:
Continue ReadingFrom Claude.ai on 8/24/2026. All emphasis is mine. Christianized Readings in the Protestant Old Testament vs. the Jewish Tanakh This is a well-established area of text-critical and translation scholarship. Critical scholars distinguish between the Hebrew Masoretic Text (which underlies the Jewish Tanakh) and Christian Old Testaments, which historically drew heavily on the Greek Septuagint (LXX), […]
Continue ReadingThis post contains multiple ChatGPT prompts and responses about the scholars differing views on the Joseph-Jacob-Israel story. Jump to: The Joseph story in Genesis 37–50 is one of the most interesting cases where critical scholars distinguish between the literary story we now possess, the older traditions that may lie behind it, and the question of […]
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