Divinity United

The Daily Mail Online has run a piece today entitled: "' Jesus NEVER existed': Writer finds no mention of Christ in 126 historical texts and says he was a 'mythical character .'" The writer is Michael Paulkovich who is described as a "historical researcher." (It is probably worth mentioning that the next story that the Daily Mail suggests its readers view is "Has 'Dracula's dungeon' been unearthed in Turkey?") As the title, and every following paragraph, states, Paulkovich did not find reference to Jesus in 126 ancient historical writers (his list is provided), and so therefore, Paulkovich believes Jesus was mythical. The assumption built in here is that by the end of the first century Jesus was famous enough throughout the Roman Empire that any decent historian would have mentioned him: "all of whom should have heard of Jesus but did not."  Yet, it should be obvious that this is clearly an argument from sile...

King's College, London is hosting a conference June 20-22 on Jesus and Brian, the Life of Brian that is. The programme and other information can be found here . The mystery guest at dinner on 21 June might be worth attending! Chris Keith at the Jesus blog suggests one of the Pythons. Oh, another instance of wishing I was closer to London.

For those interested in what some biblical scholars are saying about Reza Aslan's book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. A selection of reviews and blog comments are located below. I highly recommend Robert Gundry's razor-sharp review, but you can't go wrong with Le Donne, Hurtado, Evans, and Carey either. Reviews:  Robert Gundry's review of Zealot  in Books and Culture "Jesus as a Jewish Jihadist":  http://www.booksandculture.com/articles/2013/novdec/jesus-as-jewish-jihadist.html Anthony Le Donne at Jesus Blog:  http://historicaljesusresearch.blogspot.ca/2013/07/a-usually-happy-fellow-reviews-aslans.html#more Larry Hurtado:  http://larryhurtado.wordpress.com/2013/08/15/zombie-claims-and-jesus-the-zealot/ Craig Evans at Christianity Today:  http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/august-web-only/zealot-reza-aslan-tells-same-old-story-about-jesus.html Greg Carey at the Huffington Post:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-care...

An excellent Pre-SBL conference is being jointly hosted by St. Mary's Seminary and University and the John, Jesus, and History Group. The headline speakers will be James Dunn and Alan Culpepper who have been outstanding contributors to Johannine scholarship. Other noteworthies include John Ashton, Jan van der Watt, Craig Koester, and Catrin Williams. The conference is subtitled "Engaging the Legacies of C.H. Dodd and R.E. Brown." Looks to be a highlight of SBL even before SBL begins. Details below: John, Jesus, and History Engaging the Legacies of C.H. Dodd and Raymond E. Brown A Pre-SBL Conference at Saint Mary’s Seminary & University, Baltimore November 20-22, 2013 Program as of May 1, 2013 Sponsored by the John, Jesus, and History section of SBL and St. Mary’s Seminary & University Conference fee: $150 (June 1 to October 15; $170 thereafter) (includes program, lunch and dinner Thursday, coffee breaks, reception) WEDNESDAY ...

The Jesus, Criteria, and the Demise of Authenticity Conference organized by Chris Keith and Anthony Le Donne and hosted by United Theological Seminary and the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio, took place on October 4 and 5. It was a great conference. I am always a fan of smaller conferences where there is more interaction and discussion on a single topic and the related issues. The core of the conference were presentations by the contributors to the volume edited by Keith and Le Donne and bearing the same title as the conference. Each paper was an argument against the basic premise of each of the criteria of authenticity as they have been used in historical Jesus studies. You can read the book to get the details and you can read Mark Goodacre's blog for the play by play ( Oct 4 and 5 ). There is a question as to what the demise of the criteria of authenticity means for historical Jesus study and whether their demise is eminent. While many of the presenters highlighted th...

New location for the Jesus, Criteria, and the Demise of Authenticity Conference which was organized by Chris Keith and Anthony Le Donne. It will be held in Dayton, Ohio, on October 4-5 and co-hosted by United Theological Seminary and the University of Dayton's Center for Scriptural Exegesis, Philosophy, and Doctrine. See Mark Goodacre's post .

This past week has seen the dismissal of a good scholar from Lincoln Christian University which was going to host a conference in October on the forthcoming book co-edited by Anthony Le Donne and Chris Keith, Jesus, Criteria, and the Demise of Authenticity . Unfortunately, Lincoln Christian University has received pressure from their constituency and have let Anthony go. You can see the reactions around the biblioblogs: Michael Bird , Larry Hurtado (and the ensuring comments), Ben Witherington , Joel Watts , Jim West , and I am sure many others. There is little that is known of specifics to bloggers, it appears, but this is unfortunate for academic freedom. Christian institutions have the right within their statements of faith and community life policies to dismiss faculty for doctrinal reasons. This is what faculty sign on to at such institutions; however, I think Larry Hurtado is correct that when such dismissals take place the issues often involve those interpreting the statem...

There looks to be a great conference at Lincoln Christian University on the forthcoming book edited by Chris Keith and Anthony Le Donne: Jesus, Criteria, and the Demise of Authenticity (T&T Clark/Continuum, 2012). The major contributors to the book will be at the conference and some of them include Dale Allison, Mark Goodacre, Jens Schroeter, and Loren Stuckenbruck. Morna Hooker has written the   foreward , which is posted at the T&T Clark blog, and the opening line is priceless! The premise of the book is that the criteria of authenticity have never really yielded us an objective view of the historical Jesus. This book has been a long time coming. I am looking forward to its release. [30 May 2012 -- new location for the conference!]

During the week of Oct 3-7, 2011, a number of NT scholars, pastors, and students will be posting blog entries on Bruce Fisk's, A Hitchhiker's Guide to Jesus . This will be a great opportunity to find out other opinions about the book from a variety of perspectives. Here is the link: http://hitchhikersblogtour.wordpress.com/ . Check out the list of bloggers and blog who will be reviewing. I am looking forward to reading what everyone has to say.

I have just finished Bruce Fisk's enjoyable and fun A Hitchhiker's Guide to Jesus: Reading the Gospels on the Ground (Baker Academic, 2011). I saw the book in a Baker Academic announcement a couple weeks ago, and since I am teaching a course on Jesus and the Synoptic Tradition this coming fall, I thought I should check it out (not to mention that Bruce Fisk teaches at my alma mater Westmont College). After reading the first chapter, I was hooked and knew that I would be placing the book on the required reading list for my course. When my copy first arrived, I read through the comments from an impressive list of academics and was a bit skeptical of what seemed like overly positive praise. Rereading those comments now, they are right on. For example, Gary Burge states: "Bruce Fisk has possibly written the most creative, fascinating, and informed book on the Gospels in a generation..." For me, what makes this book so appealing is the way in which Fisk weaves together ...

I ran across this interesting quote of a quote of a quote in James H. Charlesworth's, The Historical Jesus An Essential Guide (Abingdon, 2008), p. 8. "Einstein is often not mentioned in the list of Jews who admired the historical Jesus. In Einstein and Religion , Max Jammer quotes an interview with Einstein in 1929; here are Einstein's words: 'I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene....No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life' (p. 2)."