A Virtual File Cabinet for Our Studies of Christian Origins & Hebraic Faith
Extracted from Jim Palmer‘s Facebook Post here. You can’t pin Christianity on Jesus. It’s not his fault. To conflate Christianity with Jesus is to ignore the tragic gap between his life and what was later built in his name. Jesus was not a Christian. He did not found a religion. He did not set out […]
Continue ReadingThe claim that Paul explicitly cites only two teachings of Jesus (as direct dominical commands) is a common observation in critical scholarship. The two passages typically identified are: 1) Preachers should receive material support Paul explicitly attributes this teaching to “the Lord”: This is widely understood to reflect a saying of Jesus preserved in the […]
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 ReadingBelow is Claude.ai’s summary of the transcript (in Dropbox) of Bart Ehrman’s interview “Did Jesus Actually Believe in Hell?” with Megan Lewis. This was prepared on 4/29/2026. Response – Here is a summary of the key points Dr. Bart Ehrman makes in this transcript, along with their context: Summary of Dr. Ehrman’s Argument: Did Jesus […]
Continue ReadingThe contents of this page were assembled by Claude.ai on 4/29/2026 from the transcript of John J. Collins interview by Bart Ehrman and from a file with my Kindle Highlights from Paula Fredriksen’s book When Christians were Jews. Claude’s paper version of the merger and a widget version are in the 2nd Temple Judaism directory […]
Continue ReadingIn addition to below, see the post with Tabor’s views here. Yochanan HaMatvil–John the Immerser! From Perplexity on 4/16/2026. Q: When was the time Jesus was baptising in the north and John the Baptist in the south, and what scriptures support that, and who are the critical Bible scholars who support it?
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT on 4/15/2026. Critical scholars—especially John Dominic Crossan, along with K. C. Hanson and Douglas E. Oakman—argue that several of Jesus’ parables and sayings directly reflect the economic realities of the Galilean fishing and agrarian system centered around Capernaum. Below is a structured mapping of those teachings to that economic context, with sources cited […]
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT on 4/15/2026. The statement that Jesus moved to Capernaum appears explicitly in the Gospel of Matthew: Primary Text This is the clearest and most direct reference to Jesus relocating his base of activity to Capernaum. Supporting Context from Other Gospels While they do not explicitly say “he moved,” other Gospels depict Capernaum as […]
Continue ReadingThis post contains a summary by ChatGPT on 4/13/2026 of Mark Goodacre’s YouTube Short titled Did Jesus have a house in Capernaum? The transcript on which this summary is based is in his directory in Dropbox. Following the summary are ChatGPT responses providing context and other scholars’ views and then a list of various versions […]
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT on 4/13/2026. Summary of Mark Goodacre’s Youtube Short, “Why is Luke’s Genealogy so Different from Matthew’s?” The transcript that was the basis for this summary is a PDF file in Goodacre’s Dropbox directory. Mark Goodacre explains the differences between the genealogies in the Gospel of Matthew 1 and the Gospel of Luke 3 […]
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