Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

Wow. Is that it? I always assumed that there was something in the NT that said everyone had to go back to the place of their ancestors for the census. But really, it just says "Joseph went back to HIS city which was Bethlehem". The "because he was of the lineage of David" part r...

Anyway, just my 2 cents. I'd be interested to understand why people have taken the passage to mean that everyone had to go back to the place of their ancestors. It's because that's what it says. "...because he was of the House and lineage of David." That's it. Couple other things - Joseph...

Hi res images of Chester Beatty Papyri with interactive viewing tools.

Yeah, only "Aretas the King" need be interpolated and that can be an accident. I was answering the question of why somebody would add it. It wouldn't have to be intentional, just a speculative marginal note accidentally stacked into the text.

It would be fun to see a more detailed analysis. E.g. why would anyone want to put this in the text? Why put it at that point in the text? Marginal note by a speculating copyist? Hyothesis: Paul writes "Governor," copyist writes "Aretas?" in a marginal note. Next copyists incorp...

It's not the Paul Seminar, it's the Acts Seminar. It's specifically about the book of Acts, not about the historicity of Paul. For the purposes of analyzing Acts. it doesn't matter who actually wrote the Pauline letters anymore than it matters who wrote the Iliad. If the author of Acts used them as ...

Point #10 in the introduction in interesting: No longer can Acts be assumed to be historical unless proven otherwise. Rather, the burden of proof has shifted. Acts must be considered non-historical unless proven otherwise. This is the cumulative result of the accomplishments noted above. One is tem...

I certainly don't like the tone of the review writer on Amazon, E.M. Cooper, who starts of with saying the book is appalling. Cooper points out the blunder where Tiberius was stated when Claudius was needed. Most of us make the occasional brain fart and in the old days the publisher would pick up o...

Couple tidbits from the introduction: Acts cannot be classified as an independent corroboration for Paul. Its only source for information about Paul is Paul's letters. The rest is invention from other Classical sources (named so far are LXX, Homer, Josephus and Vergil - no surprises there). The Chri...

Conclusion is that it's 2nd Century and virtually pure fiction The dominant view in Acts scholarship places Acts around 85 CE, not because of any special event linking the book of Acts to that date but as a compromise between scholars who believe it was written by an eye-witness to the early Jesus ...