I often get asked about the Book of Jasher. Here’s the recent Fringepop321 episode on the topic as well as the episode web page.
canon
Should the Book of Enoch be in the Bible?
Should the Book of Enoch be in the Bible?
Was there a “Septuagint Canon”?
That’s an important question — and the title of this post by John Meade over at the Logos Academic blog. It’s worth a read, so check it out!
New Book: The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity
This book looks like an excellent reference for anyone interested in the study of the biblical canon: The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity: Texts and Analysis . A brief discussion of the book by one of its authors can be found here. The book will ship in...
Book of Jasher, Chronicles of Gad the Seer
I am frequently asked for my opinion on the Book of Jasher and the Book of Gad the Seer (more properly called the Chronicles of Gad the Seer, per 1 Chron 29:29). There are books by both titles floating around (typically on the internet) that purport to be these...
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 104 – How We Got the Old Testament
The episode is live. Naked Bible Podcast Episode 104 offers a clear and myth-busting exploration of how the Old Testament—or Hebrew Bible—came to be recognized as authoritative Scripture. Dr. Michael Heiser carefully walks through the Jewish historical context,...
Naked Bible 93: The Book of Enoch in the Early Church
The book we know as 1 Enoch was well known to early Christians. Its importance produced an understandable question among some influential early Christian writers and, one may presume, Christians in general: Should 1 Enoch be considered inspired and thus “Scripture” in...
Gospel of Jesus’ Wife Forgery Subject of Latest NTS Journal – Free Access
Thanks to Mark Goodacre for the the notice on this. The latest issue of the scholarly journal New Testament Studies is dedicated to exposing the fraudulent nature of the so-called “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife.” The editors have granted free access to the...
The Mysterious Book of Jasher
That’s the title of this scholarly article by rabbi Arthur Chiel I recently found in an old issue of the journal Judaism: Chiel-The-Mysterious-Book-of-Jasher The article is a very good survey of the history of what some folks (even today) tout as a lost biblical...
Review of Recent Symposium Volume on the Debate over “Secret Mark”
Secret Mark (not to be confused with “Archaic Mark”) is an alleged ancient text that a number of modern scholars consider a forged hoax. (See the description of the document below). Recently a group of scholars with expertise in the pertinent matters met...
The Old Testament Canon(s)
John Hobbins has a succinct note on why “To this day, therefore, among Christians an Old Testament canon shared by all does not exist.” His post includes a link to an illustrative PDF on the various Old Testament canons embraced within Christianity...
Heiser and deSilva: Apocrypha, Septuagint, and Some Wisdom Christology
Dr. David deSilva spent the last week here in Bellingham, WA at Logos. He’s part of our Mobile Ed faculty. He gave us a introductory course on the Apocrypha. David has authored what I think is the best introduction to the Apocrypha (Introducing the Apocrypha:...
Mythical Canon Fodder on Bible Secrets Revealed
Hope you caught the pun. Except for football, I don’t watch TV, so I sadly (!) missed this latest round of Bible secrets nonsense. I let others suffer in my place, like the author of “Bible Secrets Revealed?: A Response to the New History Channel Series...
Should the Septuagint be Considered Inspired?
That’s the question proposed for consideration in a post by a friend of mine, Gabe Martini (“Is the Septuagint a Divinely Inspired Translation?“). Nothing like a provocative headline! I thought you Septuagint fans out there would like it. Gabe is...
Survey on “What Troubles You About Inspiration?” And a Rant
Thanks to all of you (nearly 50) who responded to my survey. It’s still open so that others can chime in. I’ll be using these thoughts as fodder for my trip to Nashville this week, as its goal is to experiment with creating some content / teaching videos...