It is widely known that one of the most important tenets of Jewish faith is the oneness of God. For millennia, faithful descendants of Abraham have affirmed their strict monotheism by starting each day by reciting the Shema (“Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one!”; Deu 6:4). Given the centrality…
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Q: How did the literalist interpretation of Christianity win out over that of the Gnostics? A: It didn’t. The Gnostic “interpretation” came considerably later than the orthodox Christian teachings about Jesus. In most cases, what we call Gnostic Christian writings were written 100 years (and in some cases 200-500 years) after the orthodox Christian writings…
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I came across an article this morning that I think you’ll find very interesting. In short, it argues that the traditional date for celebrating Jesus’ birth (i.e. Dec. 25th) was chosen for reasons that had nothing to do with pagan festivals. I’m sure you’ve heard that Christmas is actually a transformed pagan holiday. In my…
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As the so-called “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife”[1] recently demonstrated, interest in the possibility that Jesus was married remains high. The reasons for this are not entirely clear to me, but I suspect several factors are in-play: Modern culture loves a good conspiracy and anything which claims that a powerful organization covered up something about its…
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Ok, that sounds like the beginning of a cheesy joke, but the truth is no laughing matter. The recently revealed “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife”, as some media outlets took to calling it, is yet another example of modern skepticism about the reliability of the canonical Gospels. It’s hard to get anyone to pay attention to…
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One of the most commonly asked – and least satisfyingly answered – questions in the church is this: how should Christians relate to culture? Answers to this extremely important question range from “Christians should have nothing to do with culture” to “Christians should be directing culture”. At least part of the reason for the…
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In 2002, a remarkable find was announced to the world: an ossuary or bone-box with the Aramaic inscription translating to “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.” Given that the box itself dates back 2000 years and that it was very unusual to put a brother’s name on a funerary inscription unless the brother was…
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While it is true that knowledge is power, it is also often the case that a little bit of knowledge can be a bad thing. This is frequently the case when it comes to referencing the original languages of the Bible. Far too often, those new to the task of exegesis (responsibly drawing intended meaning…
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Here’s a question I received recently about a topic of considerable interest to many Christians: Hi Craig! I was hoping you could help me with something I struggling with in the Bible. You’ve been a great help in the past! Matthew 24:34 (and the same passages in Mark and Luke) are what’s puzzling me: 32 “Now learn…
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