Reading Time: 5 minutes Let’s remember what we’re not dealing with, and what we are dealing with, in a gospel writer. Goodbye journalist, biographer, historian. Hello mythologist and fabulist. Mythologists and fabulists have been the most successful storytellers in the history of writing. Their books have been on best seller lists for thousands of years. Some of their writings […]
Gospel of Mark
Posted inReligion
You say ‘Gerasa’ and I say ‘Gadara’
Reading Time: 8 minutes This is a guest post by Lex Lata (prompted by Jonathan MS Pearce’s video, Biblical Contradictions: Demons and Gadara vs Gerasa). In the matter of proper names, the Greek copies are often incorrect, and in the Gospels one might be misled by their authority. The transaction about the swine, which were driven down a steep place by […]
Posted inReligion
Why Matthew’s guards at Jesus’ tomb are so important
Reading Time: 5 minutes I’ve written before on why the guards at the tomb of Jesus, included only in the Gospel of Matthew, are almost certainly invented by the author of that Gospel. Today I will tell you how they fit into a larger narrative construction of the Jesus story, and that their invention tells us an awful lot […]
Posted inReligion
Matthew & John’s Threes: Fact or Literary Device?
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Gospels are littered with literary devices and mechanisms that serve narrative purposes but leave the reader doubting the veracity of the claims. These may include deus ex machina plot devices, allusions, mimesis and other hallmarks intertextual links, numerology, and other such things. Numerology is certainly important, whether it be the number 12, the gematria of […]
Posted inReligion
The “Empty Tomb” & The “Minimal Facts” argument
Reading Time: 6 minutes Here is another guest piece by the inimitable David Austin, this time on the topic of the Empty Tomb. The “Empty Tomb” & The “Minimal Facts” argument The “Empty Tomb” claim has been the mainstay of Christian apologists’ arguments for a long time. The apologists love to say, whenever the resurrection is challenged by a […]
Posted inReligion
Problems with Mark’s Crucifixion Death and Atonement
Reading Time: 3 minutes This question was given to me as a “Superchat” on my most recent YouTube appearance by SCHOLARvid, and was then refined and sent to me personally. it’s worth looking at: My understanding is that in Mark 15:34 God abandons Jesus before he dies on the cross. “At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud […]
Posted inHistory
No, the Gospel Writers Weren’t Eyewitnesses
Reading Time: 7 minutes A recent comment from the resident Catholic troll commenter seemed to show incredulity at the idea that we might believe that the Gospel authors were not eyewitnesses of Jesus and his ministry. Now, obviously, literalists and conservative Christians maintain they are, but this is hardly surprising. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, on the […]
Posted inUncategorized
On The Gospel of Mark
Reading Time: 8 minutes In the closing stages of writing my latest book, The Resurrection: A Critical Examination of the Easter Story [UK] (please grab yourself a copy!), I had a few test readers. One was David Austin, down in Australia, who has provided a few guest articles for your delectation. Here is another one from David – thanks muchly to him […]
Posted inHistory
Is the Betrayal of Jesus by Judas Historical?
Reading Time: 4 minutes In the closing stages of writing my latest book, The Resurrection: A Critical Examination of the Easter Story [UK] (please grab yourself a copy!), I had a few test readers. One was David Austin, down in Australia, who has provided a few guest articles for your delectation. Here is another one – thanks muchly to him (as […]
Posted inUncategorized
Anointing of Jesus: Fact or Fiction?
Reading Time: 5 minutes In the closing stages of writing my latest book, The Resurrection: A Critical Examination of the Easter Story [UK], I had a few test readers. One was David Austin, down in Australia, who has provided a few guest articles for your delectation. Here is another one – thanks muchly to him: The Anointing of Jesus – Fact […]