Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

I forgot to add to the list of things it is hard to imagine the proto-Fourth Philosophy Pharisees doing, and that would be praising king Herod Agrippa and telling him, "You are our brother! You are our brother! You are our brother!" in M. Sotah 7:8.

Steven, I appreciate your response. Concerning Ant. 15.1.1 and the short-lived goodwill that Pollio and Sameus may have had for Herod, it is worth pointing out that the oath to Herod that they objected to was not something unique to them or the Pharisees. Everyone objected to it, and many of people ...

Robert J,

What difference would it make if Paul and Josephus were only nominally Pharisees?

Bernard, I look at the issue of whether James was a Christian the same way I do the issue of whether Paul was a Pharisee. That Paul says he had been "as to the law, a Pharisee" in Php. 3:5, that he zealously followed "the traditions of my fathers" in Gal. 1:14 (an expression used...

Charles Wilson,

Regardless of how people may have felt about the Pharisees at any time in history, I cited Ant. 13.16.2 only to make the point that the Pharisees had practices "according to the traditions of their forefathers" and that they weren't observed by everyone.

Robert J, Regarding your statement: "Pharisaic leaders likely endured extensive Pharisaic education and initiation, but many others, like the young Paul and Josephus, probably just preferred the Pharisaic oral traditions and on-going interpretation of the Mosaic laws and followed, to varying de...

Bernard, I've digested what you said regarding the issue of door vs. doors, and I think the difference doesn't matter much. If Mk. 13:29 should be translated as doors instead of door, and "What is at the doors (plural) is the advent of the Kingdom with many signs, which includes more than the c...

Thanks, Bernard. I had noticed these "doors" but didn't know what to make of them given that I don't know Greek and so many translations put them as "door." I'm going to chew on what you've said here and look at everything with fresh eyes.

Bernard wrote: "And the usages of the word "door" in other Christian writings are not necessarily clues on how to interpret "the door of Jesus" in Hegesippus' writings. I do not see any connection." In the sources I cited (James 5:8-9, Mark 13:29/Matthew 24:33, Revelati...

John 10 is actually a lot more complicated than I thought. 10:2 says that "the one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep," so Jesus comes through the "door" in John and leads believers back through it. But Jesus also *is* the door, because he says, "I am the ga...