One of the greatest particular perplexities in New Testament scholarship is the discrepancybetween Paul’s account of the conference in Jerusalem in Galatians 2:1-10 and the council ofJerusalem in Acts 15:1-35.The main similarities are as follows:1) Paul and Acts both say that Paul and Barnabas went together to a meeting inJerusalem.2) Paul and Acts both sayContinue reading “The Conundrum of the Council of Jerusalem”
Category Archives: Tim Whitaker
Jesus, Law and Love
Today it is not unusual for North American Christians to assume that Jesus was all about love rather than law and to assume that love is a matter of feelings. Since Christian doctrine is basedon the story of Jesus’ life as well as on the apostles’ proclamation of his death and resurrection,such notions about Jesus’Continue reading “Jesus, Law and Love”
Jesus and Purity Laws
In Volume 4 of A Marginal Jew, John P. Meier addresses Jesus’ attitude and actions pertainingto purity laws.Meier thinks that it is facile to stick labels such as “ritual” or “moral” on the laws in thePentateuch pertaining to purity. Nevertheless, he acknowledges that there are four categoriesof impurity which can be distinguished in ancient texts.Continue reading “Jesus and Purity Laws”
Jesus and the Sabbath
The following is a brief overview with a general critique of the chapter on “Jesus and theSabbath” in John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus: Volume Four:Law and Love (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009), pp. 235-341.A few remarks concerning Meier’s program are in order to provide some background regardinghis judgments concerningContinue reading “Jesus and the Sabbath”
The Gospels and The Eyewitnesses
The church has always taken for granted that the primary reason that the four Gospels were written was to preserve the memory of the story of Jesus of Nazareth lest it be forgotten. While it is not known with certainty exactly when any of the Gospels were written, based upon internal evidence in the GospelsContinue reading “The Gospels and The Eyewitnesses”
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