Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

And knowing the identity of the sower unlocks the rest of the parable. It is simply that there are different kinds of people just as there are different kinds of soil. One kind can be fruitful, the other kinds can’t. There is no exhortation to the other kinds to try to become the fruitful kind. No....

...then the time has really come to recognize that your case for the historical Jesus is really the best case raised until today. I don’t think mine was the best case. I was leaning historical, but thought that Jesus was probably pretty much just another believer in John the Baptist’s message. His ...

But don't feel convinced the Saturnil/Cerdo types were properly Simonian... There may not even have been a historical Simon. But that is really kind of beside the point for, as Richard Carrier, puts it: “The historicity of this Simon has been questioned, but the historicity of his worship as a divi...

Continuing: Hence I invite you to consider again the question: do you agree with Maccoby and Bermejo-Rubio that Jesus mixed violence and apocalypticism in the last moment of the his life? Giuseppe, I find Maccoby’s proposal plausible that Jesus had the prophecy of Zechariah in view. And that prophe...

To your second question: I think Jesus expected, based on either on some Scriptural prophecy and/or a personal revelation to himself, that God was going to intervene on the Mount of Olives to get rid of the Romans. Something along the lines of Hyam Maccoby’s proposal that Jesus had in view a prophe...

Perhaps for the historical Jesus it was a matter of interpretation. But I suspect that the author of GMark was Simonian and that, for him, it went far beyond that. Sabbath Law interpretation might be ok for showing your opponents that they don’t even understand their own law, but it is hardly neces...

To your second question: I think Jesus expected, based on either on some Scriptural prophecy and/or a personal revelation to himself, that God was going to intervene on the Mount of Olives to get rid of the Romans. Something along the lines of Hyam Maccoby’s proposal that Jesus had in view a prophe...

But really, isn't saying that all the Basilidean smoking guns have been edited out tantamount to saying that the text as we have it doesn't show much unambiguous connection to Basilides? Part of the problem is that we know so little about the Simonians and their teaching. And what little we know co...

Basilides is said to have held that Simon was “an incorporeal power and the ‘Nous’ (Mind) of the unborn Father.” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 1.23.4). That’s not complimentary enough? He appeared, then, on earth as a man, to the nations of these powers, and wrought miracles. Wherefore he did not hi...

I think its interesting how similar the issues are in claiming that Basilides wrote Mark, as there are for claiming that Marcion wrote his gospel. No, I don’t think the issues are similar at all. Basilides loved secrecy and enigma. I think he got a kick out of the fact that his gospel would only be...