Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

I see this only as a beginning; these Egyptian Semites became 'Jewish' in stages and over time - I think - much later than most historians believe. These people of the Sethrum are, I also suppose, the Sethians of the Syriad (=Sethrum) who Josephus mentions @ AJ 1.2.3.13 (i.e. "two stelae"...

Ghislaine Elisabeth van der Ploeg "The Impact of the Roman Empire on the Cult of Asclepius" (PhD, 2016) LINK , p.266: The title Dominus is equivalent to the Phoenician Adon which is an epithet found with numerous gods, for example Baal. It identified gods and rulers of cities, signalling ...

For reference: The gods, the king, humanity, and the dead existed together in the cosmos, which the creator god had brought into being from the preexistent chaos. All living beings, except perhaps the creator, would die at the end of time. The sun god became aged and needed to be rejuvenated and reb...

Thanks for the background on Mormon "History". I agree it is entirely fictional. But is it instructive of "Early Christian History"? I meant that the dynamics of Mormon origins are instructive of the dynamics of early Christianity. No relation to substance (except that I do beli...

There are a lot of commonalities between the Sibylline Oracles and the books of the Prophets. I long assumed that the books of the Prophets were written log before the Sibylline Oracles, but if in fact many books of the Prophets were written in the 2nd century BCE, then this raises the possibility ...

I've been exploring cults of Alexander and Asclepius, investigating my locus of Cyrene. We know generally about Alexander as the son of Zeus-Hammon, although I'm not sure there was a cult of Alexander that was particularly prominent. Obviously there was, but it slid into a generic Ptolemaic cult. Ne...

I believe that the writer of the Gospel of Mark drawn from Philo's works regarding Gaius in multiple places. The mocking of Jesus, description of the desolating sacrilege and the association with Pilate all come from Philo's works IMO. Perhaps this can be added to the list. I am conscious of Christ...

"Fasting" counts for daylight hours; "Feasting" therefore is the taboo daylight activity: eating in sight of the sun-god . It simply 'doesn't count' at night. So it's not "feasting" at night, a time when it is acceptable to eat sacrificed meat. The Shame and Sin is not...

Was there an "Arian controversy" in Mormon history? I have read that there are indications of this. ... Thanks yakovzutolmai I'm not sure what your background is, but Mormon history begins around 1820. The history described in the Book of Mormon is certainly false. You would identify cont...

I quicker think it is reminiscent of the story of a sick Emperor needing healing in the acts of Pilate material. Thanks, that is quite interesting. I have always thought of that in the context of Doctrine of Addai, an artefact of Jesus being a renowned healer and invoking the interest of political ...