A Virtual File Cabinet for Our Studies of Christian Origins & Hebraic Faith
This Post is Claude.ai’s summary of a transcript of the first 18 minutes of a video interview between host Derick Lambert and biblical scholar John Dominic Crossan, taken from a YouTube video. This part of the video was recommended by James Tabor as preparation for his 5/30/2026 Zoom meeting. The partial transcript is in Crossan’s […]
Continue ReadingFrom Claude.ai on 5/10/2026. Follow-up to the summary of Ehrman’s interview of Collins here. Prompt: Collins mentions [in the summary linked above] the intellectual class in Yavne and Babylonia. Provide context and background to the people to whom he is referring and their history. Cite all sources in line. Claude responded: Here is a detailed […]
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 ReadingThe outline covers 13 chronological events spanning from the giving of the Law at Sinai through the composition of the gospels after 70 CE. Each entry identifies the key figures, describes what happened, and explicitly notes how it connects to the events immediately before and after it in Fredriksen’s argument. The narrative chain Fredriksen is […]
Continue ReadingThis post contains a Claude.ai’s summary of my transcript of the video lecture of John Dominic Crossan’s presented in a video on YouTube that is the same name as this post and is here. Crossan related the evolution of Herod the Great to his son Herod Antipas, who wanted Emperor Tiberius to make him the […]
Continue ReadingThe video below was received from Dr. James Tabor on 11/28/2025. In the email to us, James said: This amazing video, along with the interactive web project linked to it (https://itiner-e.org), are truly wonderful in helping us to better image that ancient Mediterranean world that is the backdrop and stage of most of what many […]
Continue ReadingFrom ChatGPT Here’s a summary with sources of what is known (from ancient and modern scholarship) about what crimes could lead to crucifixion in Roman times (particularly in Judea / the early 1st century CE), who was eligible (and who was normally exempt), and some of the caveats and debates. I’ll note which sources say […]
Continue ReadingThis post contains ChatGPT responses related to the approach of God’s kingdom. The responsesd followed a response thread contained in the post here. Here is a practical outline showing how the idea of the miraculous approach of God’s kingdom changed after 70 CE, when Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed. This period is crucial because […]
Continue ReadingThe below information was extracted from the Bible Nerds forum at BSA. Emphasis is by this web guy. OP is Joseph Nobles. Next Quest for the Historical Jesus: “Armies and Soldiers” by Christopher B. Zeichmann (pp. 284-297), March 28, 2025. Despite a prevalent focus on military forces and members in the primary texts of the […]
Continue ReadingThis page links to a great transcript with links to the podcast at Literature and History.com [For more on Herod the Great’s son Herod Antipas’ rule of the Galilee, see Antipas—The Herod Jesus Knew by Morten Hørning Jensen] Episode 76: Judea Under Herod. 1 hr. 52 min. The Roman client king Herod (c. 73-4 BCE) ruled Judea […]
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