You can read the short post on the Evangelical Textual Criticism blog here. I recommend clicking through to the links, especially to April DeConick's blog. April, as readers may recall, is strongly opposed (for very coherent reasons) to the notion that the Gospel of...
textual criticism
University of Chicago Analysis: Archaic Mark is a Forgery
Looks like Stephen Carlson was right.[Carlson has also charged that a text known as "Secret Mark" is a forgery - see here.] From this article: The Divinity School’s Margaret M. Mitchell, together with experts in micro-chemical analysis and medieval bookmaking, has...
Virtual Manuscript Room of Münster
I thought some academic relief from the paleobabble might be in order. As a brief respite from the nonsense, check out the Virtual Manuscript Room at Münster. You can view ancient papyri and other manuscripts of the New Testament on the site (nice high resolution...
Another Great Moment in Pulpit PaleoBabble
Just when you think preaching can't get any more insipid, you find yet another logic-defying sermon out there on the web. "Thanks" to the person who sent this to me. Some surface observations on the problems with this "Bible lesson": 1. Since the NIV *printed* the...
Secret Gospel of Mark Paper at International SBL
For those interested in the Secret Gospel of Mark (SGM; blogged on this before), check out this link. The remarks are technical, since the blog source is a group of professional New Testament textual critics. But it's useful to show that there are MANY textual...
Hieroglyphics and the “Symbolic” Meanings as “Translated” by Esotericists
It's quite common online to run across people who claim to be Egyptologists arguing for "metaphysical" meanings of hieroglyphs. I'm thinking of people like John Anthony West, who by his own admission cannot read Egyptian. But in his mind, he doesn't need to -- since...
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...
How Did the Early Church Fathers Cite Scripture?
Is this cool or what? Click here for a free searchable database of "Biblical Quotations and Allusions in Early Christian Literature." The project is now in financial limbo, but as it is, you can still search the corpus for its database of 400,000 biblical references....
Item of Interest on the Jesus Seminar
My thanks to my friend Mark Goodacre, NT professor at Duke, for blogging this. I get asked about the Jesus Seminary from time to time. Mark writes: Bruce Chilton offers reflection on the Jesus Seminar and the Jesus Project in an article over on Bible and...
Peter Williams (New Testament Textual Critic) Debates Bart Ehrman On British Radio
In case you thought otherwise, Bart Ehrman's idea have not gone un-protested in the field of textual criticism. You just never hear that in the popular media. Bart Ehrman of the University of North Carolina and Peter J. Williams of Tyndale House, Cambridge...
Accounting for Rare Instances of Dictation (Response)
I'm back - with thanks to all of you for your patience and input on the first of what will be many statements for the "Bellingham Statement" on inspiration and inerrancy. I think I can manage my schedule now - which means posting at least once a week on each of my...
One Last Illustrative Problem for Inerrancy and its Literary-Critical Solution
One more item to throw out for illustrative purposes. After this, I'm going back to inspiration and begin to produce my own statement (I'm calling it "The Bellingham Statement" since I work in Bellingham, WA). Posts will be much shorter, as my goal is to produce...
Another Consideration for Inerrancy: The NT Author’s Quotation of (or Alteration of) the OT
In three previous posts I sketched out three principles I think are important to keep in mind for an accurate and honest statement of inerrancy. I list them here for review: 1. Taking the Bible on its own terms. 2. The idea of divine accommodation. 3. Distinguishing...