Jens Schröter. From Jesus to the New Testament: Early Christian Theology and the Origin of the New Testament Canon. Translated by Wayne Coppins. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2013. xiv + 417 pp. Hardcover. $59.95. ISBN: 9781602588226. From Jesus to the New Testament is a translation of Jens Schröter’s 2007 work Von Jesus zum Neuen Testament. The volume comprises a collection of sixteen independently-written essays united by their focus on early Christian history and the formation...
It all started with Chaim Potok—the 20th century Jewish novelist who wrote mainly about Orthodox and Hasidic Jews living in New York City, and is famous for such books as The Chosen and My Name is Asher Lev. I discovered his novels in college, and, after reading a few of them, I came to a very startling realization: I wanted to be Jewish. This new dream elicited much confusion and consternation from those with whom...
This week as I was perusing my Facebook news-feed the following quote surfaced: “Humans motivated by lofty ideals are capable of inflicting great suffering with a clear conscience.” – Paul Hollander The concept intrigued me, but I was immediately curious about the original object of Hollander’s critique. Is he interested in the effects of “lofty ideals” as such, or was there something more particular that he had in mind? I was interested to find that in its...
As a good Protestant I was always taught to be grateful for, but suspicious of the first, fiercely devoted to the second, and un-threatened by the third. When Tradition is found wanting it can be remolded; it is malleable where the other two are not. Scripture is cast in stone. It does not change and therefore should not be changed. History is… history. It doesn’t exactly change either, but where its claims and interpretations run...
Major Spoilers Ahead. Do not read if you haven’t watched the Season 3 Finale. I have written before about my love for television watching, which is mostly due to the profession I have chosen. Currently I am working with patients who experience a traumatic physical event (car accident, fall, gun shot wound, etc.) from beginning to end. Unfortunately, a good portion of these patient’s do not survive, and often I am faced with the challenge...
I recently got into my first Twitter battle – and it was epic. Sometimes, when I am done pouring through old books and ancient citations, I do searches in Twitter for various subjects that I had been reading about. A few days ago that subject was Apollonius of Tyana. I quickly found a tweet that simply read: “Jesus = Apollonius of Tyana” I decided that I would start a conversation. I don’t know about the...
This year on the 24th of April, Armenia remembers the 97th anniversary of the displacing of 250 influential Armenian citizens from the Ottoman capital city in 1915. This event was the pivotal beginnings of what would be later called the Armenian Genocide. During the Genocide, which took place from 1915 to 1923, Turks massacred two thirds of the Armenian population. That was nearly one and a half million Armenians. These murders were implemented through the...
My friend, Aaron, and I walked into a Mosque on a Sunday afternoon looking for a fight. Or at least I was. Aaron was just being nice by going with me. I was in a class that required me to dialogue with Muslims about their faith and my faith with a slant towards apologetics. As an American, my first thought was a real live Muslim? If you’re not from here (America) you probably don’t know...
It’s 62 A.D. and James “the Just” (the brother of Jesus), stands atop the parapet[1] of the Temple. Festus, the Roman provincial governor, has just died and his replacement, Albinus, has yet to arrive in Jerusalem to restore order. The Jewish Sanhedrin seize this opportune time to strike against its enemies. As James is forced to stand on this dangerous ledge overlooking the crowded courtyard below, the Jewish leaders say: “We call on you to...
A few weeks back, my fellow blogger, John Dunne, posted an article in which he critiqued his Amillenial[1] beliefs. I too am an Amillenialist and became one around the same time as John. I think we both read the same book (A Case for Amillenialism by Kim Riddlebarger) within a few months of each other. We also regularly attended Friday night lectures with Dr. Riddlebarger at Christ Reformed Church in Anaheim. As time has passed,...
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