A Virtual File Cabinet for Our Studies of Christian Origins & Hebraic Faith
From ChatGPT Romans 1:3–4 is one of the central texts in debates over early “exaltation Christology” because its wording can be read as describing a transition in Jesus’ status at the resurrection. Critical scholars disagree on how far that transition goes. Core Debate: What about Jesus’ status changed at the resurrection as depicted by Paul […]
Continue ReadingThe Church of Laodicea in the Bible and ArchaeologyA look at Laodicea’s “lukewarm” legacy from Revelation 3:15–16 by Megan Sauter, Published March 12, 2026. [Tom’s NOTE – This article talks about the evolving, largely Gentile based Christian congregations losing the protection enjoyed by the Jews due to their religious heritage. By denouncing the Jews, the largely […]
Continue ReadingClaude.ai’s Prompt: Provide details, dates, and context in about 1000 words for the times when the Christian Church was composed almost entirely of Jews. However, as more Gentiles (non-Jews) converted to Christianity, the percentage of Jewish people in the Christian Church decreased, and, therefore, Christians’ special status as Jewish monotheists, which permitted them to refrain […]
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) […]
Continue ReadingThis post contains a 1000-word summary by Claude.ai of a lecture and Q&A by Bart Ehrman at the BSA here. The lecture and Q&A was a little more than hour and is IMHO a very good overview of the events from Constantine’s origins to his death. The 9,000-word transcript is in his directory in Dropbox.
Continue ReadingFrom Claude.ai on 2/17/2026. Go to the post here for how the Apostles Creed relates to the Nicaea Creed. Summary – Those in bold are the primary Councils. Council of Nicaea (325 AD) Convened by Emperor Constantine, Nicaea was the first ecumenical (universal) council of the Christian church. Its primary purpose was to resolve the […]
Continue ReadingBelow is the ChatGPT summary from the transcript (in his directory in Dropbox) of Dr. James Tabor’s lecture 8 from his course titled Christianity Before Paul: Rediscovering the Jewish Movement of Jesus on MVP in January 2026. Tabor says that Howard’s revised edition responds well to his critics in a large appendix. Overview and focus of […]
Continue ReadingThe post contains material provided by Dr. Tabor as Lecture 7 from his course “Christianity before Paul.” Scroll down to read the ChatGPT summary of the transcript provided with the course. Lecture Seven Overview – [The Didache from the lecture’s page at MVPodcast.] In this lecture, Dr. James D. Tabor introduces students to one of […]
Continue ReadingBelow is a ChatGPT-generated summary of the transcript of Tabor’s Lecture 5 in his Christianity Before Paul course on MVP. The transcript is in a subdirectory of his directory in Dropbox: Dropbox\Christianity\Scholars\James Tabor\Christianity Before Paul\. Overview: James the Just and Early Jesus Leadership Dr. James Tabor argues that James the Just, identified as Jesus’ brother, […]
Continue ReadingFrom Lecture Two Overview | In the Beginning None Greater Than John In this lecture, Dr. James D. Tabor shifts the starting point of Christian origins from Jesus to the figure earliest sources identify as foundational: John the Baptist. Using the Gospel of Mark, Q, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Josephus, Dr. Tabor shows that […]
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