Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

you see that the Clementines preaches a pre-existing concept, Jesus is not needed but he is somehow roped into it, he doesn't matter - the pre-existing concept is all that matters. So then, what do we see? That there is some big thing going on around Jesus sure there is therefore every man and his d...

It still seems reasonable that a dude called Paul existed Acts makes it more likely, since they this work wants to claim his memory The approach of dismissing his existence is a big fat zero unless a reason can be put forward for it No reason = no good reason to dismiss his existence I think Hakeem ...

But as I had noted, all “Gnostic” texts he could possibly mean are in fact late derivations from the canonical Gospels and teachings, and MacDonald quite agreed. So they are on the wrong side of “historical causality” here: they are a product of the historicizing pedigree, not a predecessor to it T...

"But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God" There's good reason to question the assumption that prophecies like this should be taken literally, ie, literal human generations If people can see "the kingdom ...

Very clever, davidmartin. And there is information. Look in the first letter: Galatians. I found that what Paul took, was their written story, nothing more. All the rest comes from himself (now incredibly forged by the catholic church). Paul is the one who starts a religion (for which he needed the...

Not really Giuseppe When Paul says this, he is saying pay no attention to the earthly life of the man, nor his followers, nor their teachings regarding him Thus, he is taking a previous movement in a new direction, toward the cosmic Christ and his apostle (himself, of course) What the previous movem...

Are you saying the gospels were entirely written in the late 2nd century? From no earlier sources? There is a big problem with that, which is the gospels do not perfectly align with the beliefs of the late 2nd century For example, Mark and John have no birth story - which suits Marcionites and other...

This is one element the eventual Catholicism blended in from the heretical movements, that Jesus was also God, and equal part of the trinity. But itwas not the position of the early proto-Orthodox. that is an interesting question but it may be not that the proto-orthodox blended from the heretical ...

I'm ignoring Hakeem for the most part, i think differently and there isn't much common ground or any room for debate, it seems pointless to engage him

Hakeem's complaint against Thomas is unconvincing "He said to them, "Give the emperor what belongs to the emperor, give God what belongs to God, and give me what is mine." When a three part saying was a common form, a standard device in those days (i don't remember where i read that, ...