Category Archives: History

Dialogue with Vincent Torley over the Probability of Jesus’ Resurrection

Posted on April 12, 2017 by

Yesterday I wrote an extended response to apologist Vincent Torley’s OP–“Evidence for the Resurrection”–which was discussed recently in a post on John Loftus’ blog. In his OP, Torley argues that there is about a 60-65% subjective probability that Jesus rose … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologists, Historical Jesus, Historical Paul, History, Philosophy, Replies to Critics, Resurrection | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Understanding the Value of Biblical Parallels

Posted on August 15, 2016 by

Here on Κέλσος I frequently discuss parallels between the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and Christianity and other literature, historical figures, and religions of the ancient Mediterranean world. I am likewise currently working on a dissertation that compares the Gospels to popular-novelistic … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Biography, Ancient Novel, Historical Jesus, History, Miracles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Historical Reliability of Popular Biographies, Part 2: Redaction Criticism

Posted on July 27, 2016 by

In my previous post I discussed the complexity of historical criticism, and how even texts of the same literary genre can vary substantially in terms of historical reliability, based on their date of composition and their available sources of information. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Biography, Ancient Novel, Dissertation, History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Historical Reliability of Popular Biographies, Part 1: Framing the Comparison

Posted on July 23, 2016 by

Recently on Κέλσος I have been discussing the generic features that the NT Gospels share with Greek popular-novelistic biographies. Such features include the simple vocabulary and sentence structure found in these texts (as I discussed in my most recent post), which distinguish popular … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Biography, Ancient Novel, Dissertation, History, Literary Theory | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Patterns of Myth-Making Between the Lives of Alexander the Great and Jesus Christ

Posted on May 24, 2016 by

Recently on Κέλσος I have been discussing the Alexander Romance and some of the similarities that this mythical biography of Alexander the Great shares with the New Testament Gospels. The earliest Greek version of the Alexander Romance that we possess dates to … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Biography, Ancient Novel, Classics, Dissertation, Historical Jesus, History, Miracles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Good Blog Series on the Authorship of the Gospels

Posted on October 3, 2015 by

Keith Reich (PhD in Religion, Baylor University, 2010) has been writing an intersting blog series on the authorship of the Gospels, over on his academic blog Know Thyself (Γνῶθι Σεαυτόν in Greek). Among the topics discussed are the internal anonymity of the Gospels, when … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Patristics | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Some Scholarly Bibliography on the Historical Jesus and the Apostle Paul

Posted on September 10, 2015 by

Last Spring quarter, when I was taking graduate seminars on the New Testament and Christian Origins at UC Santa Barbara, I compiled a bibliography of notable scholarship over the last several decades on the historical Jesus and the apostle Paul … Continue reading →

Posted in Bibliography, Historical Jesus, Historical Paul, History, Religious Studies | 10 Comments