A Virtual File Cabinet for Our Studies of Christian Origins & Hebraic Faith
This post is Claude.ai’s summary on 9/22/2026 of an essay by Marc Zvi Brettler and Amy-Jill Levine published and downloaded from TheTorah.com at the links below. The essay presents a core Jewish-Christian divide that is a puzzle: many Jews find the Christian belief in atonement through Jesus’s blood strange, while many Christians assume Jews lack […]
Continue ReadingThis post contains most of James Tabor’s post on 9/20/26 sharing the story and his interpretation of the scriptures. After Tabor’s post is the relevant scriptures from Leviticus 16, Legacy Standard Bible. All emphasis is mine. “Being “washed in the blood of the lamb” has become a more appealing cultural image in our Christian imagination, […]
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 ReadingBy Claude.ai on 3/31/2026. That is one of the genuine tensions that critical scholars themselves debate. This is actually a point where critical scholars themselves identify a significant discontinuity. Here is what the scholarship actually says: The Forgiveness Problem: Ehrman’s Direct Assessment The most direct critical-scholarly voice on this is Bart Ehrman. Ehrman argues that […]
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 ReadingFrom Claude.ai on 2/18/2026. In addition, after that response is a Q&A with Bart Ehrman’s answer concerning a scripture from Acts that some say shows Luke did believe in Atonement. Talking Points from the text below: First Prompt: What do critical bible scholars cite as passages in the Gospel of Luke that are taken from […]
Continue ReadingBelow is a response to the “conversation” or thread at BSA titled Atonement or Forgiveness, How About Neither? that began on October 9, 2025. The post begins with an interesting position by Charles Bledsoe, and comments by Michael Waddel and others are interesting. One of Schaun Wheeler’s responses is below. I like this, but I […]
Continue ReadingFrom Claude.ai, Sonnet 4 in Explanatory Mode. Prompt: Explain the differences, scholars who support each, and when they appeared of the ransom theory of atonement; the substitutionary theory; and the alternative moral exemplar theory. To understand these three theories of atonement, let’s first establish what we’re exploring: how does Christ’s death on the cross accomplish […]
Continue ReadingBelow is from a Post/Thread at BAS here by Willie Pankey, Retired Academic Librarian. Some scholarly observations to consider: “Most scholars agree that the doctrine of bodily resurrection is a fairly late development within the writings of Judaism. The first unambiguous declarations in the OT of resurrection from the dead occur in Daniel 12:2 and […]
Continue ReadingIn addition to the below, see a post here about Tophet. Jeremiah 6:20 20 Of what use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba, or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me. Jeremiah 7 21 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of […]
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