Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

The publication was supposed to have been delayed, because several other fragments are being studied with the intention is to publish them all together in book form. So we will have to wait to see the fragment itself. But sounds like it will be significant either way.

When used in prophetic scripture, the 1260 days, 42 months, and 3 1/₂ years refers symbolically to the completion of a set period of time. I think the imagery is drawn from an ancient calendar formula which always completed the last half of a heptad of years with a count of 1260 or 1290 days.

Just a comment on 42 months versus 1260 days. These are in fact the same time frame. The writer is speaking in terms of the ideal Mesopotamian calendar of twelve 30-day months. This tells us the writing is symbolic, as we'd expect in this dreamscape like book. An example of the use of such a calend...

I forgot to reply to this question. Are there any Roman records of the Jewish wars apart from Josephus? Yes, Tacitus has a less extensive but important account. There is at least incidental mention in other Roman literature, as well (and beyond that, archaeology, etc.). However, some of his contemp...

Start with Acts, since you get Level 1 Symbolism that wears its Symbolism on its sleeve. BTW, Tacitus is ALL OVER the Book of Acts. Acts 3 introduces the 12th Legion. The 12th is crippled and beat up. Acts 5 tells of Sapphira and Annanias, ciphers for Messilina and her lover, Silius. Big Joke : &qu...

Thanks James. If you want the related article on my site please go here:

Stuart wrote:... To speak directly about it would upset the timeline laid out (e.g., Acts 21:6) ...

Did you mean to write 21:6? Also, when do you date Acts? Are you saying that Acts was a fictional timeline written in the Bar Kokhba period?

There doesn't appear to be anything special about describing the destruction or not. Josephus clearly does so, but in general, where do we find descriptions of the destruction of the temple in Christian literature outside of the NT? There are some, after several decades, but it's far from consisten...

My full question is; which of the New Testament books were written after AD70? Assuming there are several, why did none of them mention the 'earth-shattering' events of AD70? The destruction of the temple by Rome fulfilled one of Jesus' own prophecies (Matt. 24:1-3) and its theological significance ...

One of the things I have to admit is that the Essenes (or Essenic sect) were using a 364-day calendar from about 200 BC to 70 AD. They would have had to intercalate during that time span somehow! So, they may well have done something like you are proposing. Ive got a book called, 'Calendar and Chron...