Faithlife TV has created a feature film documentary on New Testament manuscripts and textual criticism. It's hosted by Dr. Craig Evans. The visuals are stunning. The content takes on folks like Bart Ehrman (Dr. Evans has debated him a number of times) and their claims...
Text Criticism & Canon
Audio from the ETS Session on New Testament Textual Criticism
The Evangelical Textual Criticism blog has a link to the audio files of the presentations in the ETS session devoted to NT Textual criticism. As the ETC blog notes: The session was titled “Growing Up in the Ehrman Era: Retrospect and Prospect on Our Text-Critical...
Were the Gospels Originally Written in Aramaic or Hebrew?
I'm often asked this question, so it was nice to come across this paper by Jan Joosten online. Joosten Aramaic or Hebrew behind_the_Gospels Joosten is an excellent scholar in Aramaic, Syriac, Greek, and Hebrew. This is a worthwhile (and sane) introduction to the...
New Testament Textual Criticism: Search for Manuscripts Goes On
For those interested in NT textual criticism, here's a nice piece on Dan Wallace and the work of the CSNTM (Center for the Study of NT Manuscripts). Hard to believe Dan is sixty!
What To Me And To You?
While doing some reverse interlinear work a few days ago, I came across Josh 15:18. The verse concerns Caleb's newly-won bride: 18 When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she got off her donkey, and Caleb said to her, What do you want?...
Mosaic Authorship of the Torah: Problems with the Documentary Hypothesis (JEDP), Part 2
I am presuming that most of you have given Friedman's Chapter 2 (from Who Wrote the Bible?) a read-through by now. I wanted to post a couple quick thoughts on why his description, though accurately describing the theory, actually makes me suspicious of the approach....
Mosaic Authorship of the Torah: Problems with the Documentary Hypothesis (JEDP), Part 1
In my last several posts on this topic, I have tried to demonstrate via the data of the text of the Hebrew Bible why it is reasonable to argue (from the text) that Moses did not write all or perhaps even most of the Pentateuch (Torah). I have made it clear, though,...
The Law of Moses: Does It Read Like Moses Wrote It? Part 2
In my last post on the Mosaic authorship issue, my goal was to produce data from the text that explains why the idea that Moses may not have written all or even most of the Pentateuch could be coherent. I haven't laid out my thoughts on Mosaic authorship yet; I'm just...
Another Bart-Sequitur
Well, Bart Ehrman is at it again. Not content with his all-or-nothing illogic concerning the transmission of the text (and so the concepts) of the New Testament, professor Ehrman is once again coming to a Barnes and Noble near you (and maybe a Fantasy Channel ... er,...
My Take on Matthew’s Use of Hosea 11:1
In addition to the good thoughts in the comments on the previous post, I thought I should chime in here. In a nutshell, I think we need to consider Matthew's real world setting. Matthew's gospel was written decades after Jesus' death and resurrection. Why is this...
The OT Used in the NT: Hosea 11:1 in Matthew 2:15
On to another famous passage for how the NT writers use the OT. Matthew 2:13-15 (key verse: v. 15) reads: 13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and...
Mark Goodacre Podcast on Q
Here's a treat--Mark Goodacre's summative thoughts on Q (a hypothetical source behind the Synoptic gospels of Matthew and Luke). Mark is skeptical of Q and has written much on the subject.
Clarification from John Hobbins on Canonicity
John is apparently following my re-posting (and that of Ros Clarke) of his canonicity discussions, and posted a clarification/answer to my question this morning on his own blog. He says: My wording, "establishing a direction of thought or action," was not meant to set...
Bart Ehrman On Coast to Coast AM Tomorrow Night
In case you like late-night talk radio, you might want to tune in. The C2C site has a list of affiliates by state to catch the show. I've been on C2C many times. The host for this one will be Ian Punnett. Ian is a seminary grad (went to both Univ of Chicago Div school...
Review of Important New Scholarly Book on Matthew
The most recent issue of Themelios, the academic journal of the Gospel Coalition, contains a review of Matthew's Theological Grammar: The Father and the Son. This is an important work that argues that "προσκυνέω [proskuneō] in Matthew means worship and its use...