Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

@MHI don't know that Luke is intentionally referring to a long period of time. I do think his understanding of the previous century is somewhat foggy, and he's throwing out names he read in Josephus or heard elsewhere to give his work the semblance of a historical document. Much like the patristic w...

Without more data to go on, Herod's 18th year could be 20 or 19. However, the initial stage of the temple took one year, six months to complete (Antiquities 15.11.6) and coincided with Herod's inauguration, which pretty much means it had to be early 19 BCE. Whether late 20 BCE or early 19 BCE, addin...

Herod's temple began construction in 19 BCE. Adding John's 46 years takes you to 28 CE, making John's crucifixion take place in 31. Which is impossible within John's own narrative, since 14 Nisan fell on a Wednesday that year.

@JW I think translating it "high priesthood" rather than "high priest" is a bit deceptive too. It lets you hide the fact that the word is a title for a person in the singular. Most exegetes (at least, the less critical ones) explain it by showing that Josephus often uses the titl...

It's even worse if you take into account the fact that John the Baptist's imprisonment and execution took place about 36 CE according to Josephus.

I just read "Ishmael ben Phiabi and Judaean Chronology", a chapter in a book by Daniel Schwartz ( Studies in the Jewish Background of Christianity ). He makes a pretty good case that Ananias was only high priest for a year before going to Rome to stand trial, and that Ishmael took over soo...

DCH, I'm sympathetic to your argument, but I don't think you can dismiss the coins that easily. Coins minted by Judaean prefects are usually distinctive to the prefect in question. The 24 CE issue by Gratus is virtually identical in design to his 18 CE issue. Only the date is different. http://www.w...

They are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. (Ezra 4:12) The text is talking about the foundations of the temple. Everyone can see that but you, Ged. Show that you understand what the text of Ezra-Nehemiah says before you bring in external evidence. Also name a single scholarly comme...

DCH, your initial post in this thread is fascinating. I haven't had the chance to read the rest of the thread yet. However, there's a major problem with the hypothesis that Pilate began his tenure in 19: we have coins minted by Valerius Gratus in Caesarea in 24 CE. Numismatic evidence trumps literar...

Looks to me like Luke was treating Annas as de facto High priest, ruling by proxy through his son in law Caiaphas There's no good reason to think Caiaphas was son-in-law to Ananus. There is no source for such a relationship outside of the unreliable Gospel of John, which post-dates Luke. (On the ot...