A Virtual File Cabinet for Our Studies of Christian Origins & Hebraic Faith
Response by Schaun Wheeler on May 22 with a detailed analysis of the reference to Joseph and family returning to Bethlehem for a census. He presents 5 “rhetorical moves” to change the wording into what we find in the story.
Continue ReadingBart Ehrman takes the different resurrection accounts in the Gospels and compares them: What about the Birth Stories? My work, not Bart’s.
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT on 12/3/2025 and 12/12/2025. Below is an outline comparing how each Gospel handles Jesus’ origins and what that reveals about their distinct theological aims, with scholarly support embedded in the text. Scroll down for a comparison table. Below that response is a more focused response on how and why, or silence, on his […]
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT on 12/3/2025. Below is a historical-critical explanation of why the Gospel of John omits a birth narrative, using the work of major scholars (Brown, Bultmann, Koester, Schnackenburg, Culpepper, Martyn, Dunn, Bauckham, and others). Citations appear within the text itself, as you require. 1. John’s theological agenda makes a human birth narrative unnecessary John’s […]
Continue ReadingKey Points repeated from the Summary of Bart and Magan’s video cited at the bottom of this page. From ChatGPT on 9/18/2025. Scroll down to the Summary of Bart and Megan’s podcast titled Critical New Testament scholars who study early Christian literature tend to treat the Protoevangelium of James (also called the Infancy Gospel of […]
Continue ReadingWe Have Seen His Star in the East: What Was the Christmas Star? See a slightly different version on his blog here. By James D. Tabor December 25, 2024, at Bible History Daily. That article includes the image of the Focal Point article by Molnar included below. Can Astronomy Explain the Biblical Star of Bethlehem? By […]
Continue ReadingFrom OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com Prompt – Provide based on the work of critical Bible Scholars, a table listing the differences between the Christmas stories of Matthew and Luke. Provide in the table scriptural references to support each site. List all sources at the end of the response. Below is an expanded […]
Continue ReadingFrom OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com Here is the Old Testament context for the passages Matthew cites as fulfilled prophecy in his birth narrative. Each reference includes an explanation of the original Old Testament context and its alignment (or misalignment) with Matthew’s application. 1. The Virgin Birth: Fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14 “All this […]
Continue ReadingMatthew’s Nativity Story, Critically Examined – January 2, 2015 by Paul Davidson From Luke’s Nativity Story, Critically Examined – An excellent article dated January 3, 2016 by Paul Davidson with much more than the extracted title, intro, and table below. Comparison with Matthew’s Nativity Story It is impossible to harmonize Luke’s story with Matthew’s. While there are some […]
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