The Bible Geek Show

One topic: Universalism/Universal Salvation

Birger Pearson argues for a Jewish pre-Christian origin for Gnosticism, but Bart Ehrman says that view is passé. Why do you agree with Pearson? Did some Gnostics use Son of Man as an important title as opposed to the ways Vermes said? Or am I just taking "title" too seriously, since it's on the brain because I just read Vermes? Is the doctrine of the Trinity more of a Catholic device than other fa...

In Geza Vermes's Jesus the Jew he says many scholars reject his understanding of Jesus as a Galilean charismatic sage like Honi or Hanina ben Dosa, as well the contention that “son of man” was not a title. Please explain. Do you have any wisdom to impart in the subject of full Holiness? Do you see any reason to believe the traditional stories of the martyrdoms of Paul and Peter? Could the Gospel o...

Tell us about Bruno Bauer. Do you know whether anyone has made a serious, well researched argument to change the BCE/CE dating scheme to something more centered in the Western/Hellenistic/Enlightenment Eras? Might the Emmaus story be based on a dream? Or the resurrection appearance of Romulus on the Alba Longa? What do you make of the references to anti-natalism in the Bible? Is the passage in Rev...

Mark has the crowd hail “the kingdom of our father that is coming,” while Matthew has “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.” Is it possible that Mark believed Jesus was the Messiah ben Joseph and still expected that Simon bar Kochba would appear as the Messiah ben David? And that Matthew wrote after bar Kochba was defeated and makes Jesus fulfill both roles? Don’t you realize tha...

James D.G. Dunn (Unity and Diversity in the New Testament) says that the Ebionite gospel omitted Matthew’s Nativity story because they were adoptionists, implying that their Christology was secondary, not the original. But couldn’t Matthew have added it? Is there any truth to current claims that loads of Muslims are converting to Christianity after experiencing visions of Jesus? How would you crit...

Can you pontificate a bit on the various schools of thought on dating New Testament literature and the Apostolic Fathers? Is there a translation that you can recommend for a first time Bible reader? Was there a Paul in history; how and why did these writings get attached to his name? Has the Bible itself become an idol? What percentage of Paul’s "authentic" letters would you estimate to be first p...

The crucifixion story in all four gospels had to have been based on Josephus’ story of rescuing a friend from crucifixion. All four gospels were written after the Josephus “rescue”, so there is not a problem with the dates. But Paul talks about Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection before the Josephus rescue occurred. How did he know about it? Concerning Pau's vision about the "Last Supper", I had...

Why do people continue to set dates for the Rapture when they’ve all fallen through? Perhaps the Bible mentions 2 different arks of the covenant, the wings of the cherubim atop one of them forming a triangle through which sun shone, like the Eye of Horus. Do we lack various heretical texts simply because people stopped copying them? Are snakes symbols of wisdom because they appear to be merely a h...

Did early Christians associate the trumpets of Rosh Hashanah, the New Year festival, with the Last Trumpet of the Rapture? What do you think about that last seventh chapter of the book: "Jesus for Sceptics" where a list of hardcore atheists is given, who under numerous and solid evidence changed their attitude and became hardcore Christians? Do you know of any (good) books about Polycarp? Assassin...

In a Gospel about, and supposedly written by, Nicodemus why would it not state that he assisted with the burial? I was wondering what examples we have of textual reconstructions, created through the methods of textual criticism, that match subsequent discoveries of texts. What do you make of the bizarre episode in Exodus 4:24-26? Was Peter as stupid or illiterate as we are told? Do we have example...

In which gnostic work can one find the myth of the sacrifice of the primal man of light, whose shattered divine sparks give life to the whole creation? What was the role of women in early Christian formation such as the Johannine gospel being written by female hands? Have you seen the documentary showing the possible basis for the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? https://www.nature....

How does Adoptionism fit into the evolution of historic Christology? My question is about the range of meanings that adelphoi can take. Can it mean ‘brothers in Christ’ which could be understood as ‘believers’ (regardless of gender)? There are various examples of Matthew ‘cleaning up’ Markan originals to beef up the Jesus character into a much more divine figure. So why did Matthew leave in ‘my go...

In Acts 1:13-14 “certain women” are mentioned alongside the disciples. Who were they? Was it intentional that Mark has a stand-in appear inside Jesus’s tomb instead of Jesus himself? Also, that Mark had the stand-in notify a group of women first about Jesus’s resurrection? What is your understanding of Ezekiel's vision of the temple and the restoration of the pure worship? The Gabriel Revelation S...

Assuming that Luke and Matthew we copying large parts of Mark, and that books were extraordinarily rare, what kind of people were Luke and Matthew? Were they respected scribes? Low level bishops of some sort? For those who consider the Bible inerrant or infallible, what does this mean in the context of Proverbs and Song of Songs? What does it mean for Psalms? If Thomas, Didymus, or equivalents mea...

In biblical times, how could one distinguish a Jew from a Samaritan by outward appearance? Where did Paul derive the information we read in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26? What do you think of the recent introduction of inclusive language in the New American Standard Bible? Might Thomas have been the “Twin” brother of Jesus? I could imagine a situation where a historical figure, increasingly understood as...

Do you think that back in the times at the beginnings of Christianity, there was an organization or brotherhood similar to the modern day Masons that ran parallel to Judaism, and later to Christianity, that served as an incubator for the kinds of syncretic ideas that seemed prevalent in the unorthodox sects of that era? Why is it assumed Matthew and Luke each used some third source (M or L) as opp...

What do you make of Matthew 27:52? I Corinthians 2:8 mentions the “archons,” usually translated as rulers of this world. Are archons necessarily celestial or can they be earthly? Why would a celestial being be crucified by celestial beings? Occurrences of “12” in Homer. In the Book of Revelation, are those who are thrown into the Lake of Fire annihilated, or do they endure eternal punishment? E.A....

Tell us about Bruno Bauer. Do you know whether anyone has made a serious, well researched argument to change the BCE/CE dating scheme to something more centered in the Western/Hellenistic/Enlightenment Eras? Might the Emmaus story be based on a dream? Or the resurrection appearance of Romulus on the Alba Longa? What do you make of the references to antinatalism in the Bible? Is the passage in Reve...

I think the Jesus ben Ananias account in Josephus is actually about the Gospel Jesus as an old man. If this Ananias is the high priest of the Gospels, then Joseph Caiaphas was his son in law, and Jesus was his grandson. I'm curious about the origin of the idea found in many religions that pain and suffering somehow appeases a deity. In the epic movie, “The Life of Brian”, Monty Python members pose...

My understanding is that "Paul" means something like "humble" or "small." Is that the idea? That this character goes from being the powerful persecutor Saul to the small and humble little Paul? Or is it more likely that there was some vague historical memory of a Paul who played into Jewish or Christian communities, and the memory of Simon Magus was grafted in some way onto that actual Saul/Paul?...

Christians often criticize atheists for believing that the universe was created from nothing. How do they square this with their belief that God created the universe ex nihilo? I wondered if you've been following the story of "the Shapira document." What is your general take on Strobel and his Case For Christ? I can explain the idea behind Bayes theorem in a way that ANYBODY can understand without...

What was that parallel Bible you said you liked so much? Is there any reason to believe that the Q character from Star Trek was named after the Q source from Bible scholarship? How widespread is the belief that OT theophanies were appearances of the pre-incarnate Christ? What’s wrong with Joseph Atwill’s arguments? What book sets forth the fundamental historical-critical axiom that in any choice b...

Do we know why Jesus declares woes upon the “unrepentant” cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum in Matthew 11 and Luke 10? Which is more likely authentic: Luke 6:20 (“you poor”) or Matthew 5:3 (“the poor in spirit”? Is Luke redacting Matthew, or is Matthew redacting Q? In the Odyssey, only Eurycleia recognizes Odysseus’ secret identity, then rats out 12 maids who were in cahoots with the Su...

Is there a work that gives a good overview of the different models of how Christianity could have started? Genesis and Exodus use the term "Pharaoh" as if it's a proper name, while also referring to the "King of Egypt." Ezekiel refers to "Pharaoh King of Egypt," again like 'Pharaoh' is the name, and 'King' is his title. Same in 1 Kings 3:1 and 1 Kings 9:16. What's going on here? I wanted to know i...