r/AcademicBiblical 21h ago

Luke

3 Upvotes

Is it accepted Luke wrote Acts but did not write the Gospel of Luke?


r/AcademicBiblical 21h ago

Question Did the historical Jesus ever refer to himself as the "Son of God" or that "God is my Father"?

17 Upvotes

In the Bible itself, it's straight forward and all over the place.

I'm just wondering if there's any non-Biblical historically accepted evidence of him establish a Father-Son relation between him and God.

What's the bulk of what we can trace back to him establishing a Father-Son relationship with God without relying on quoting the Bible itself?


r/AcademicBiblical 22h ago

How did Daniel become popular?

21 Upvotes

I remember reading a thread here about Daniel 12 and someone cited John Collins and the quote was something like "Early readers would have seen the earlier prophesies come 'true' and thus expected the last 2 would happen." So when the last ones never happened, why did they still read and continue to use Daniel?


r/AcademicBiblical 21h ago

Question Any consensus changing works of the last decade?

32 Upvotes

Have there been any notable works by scholars that have managed to change the consensus on any issue relating to Bibical Studies in the last decade? If there hasn’t been any, what was the last major work that had large impact on the field or any specific topic in Biblical Studies.


r/AcademicBiblical 7h ago

Is the transition in Marcion's Evangelion strange?

7 Upvotes

I don't know Greek(maybe it can help), but I have read Dr.Litwa's translation of Marcion's Evangelion, in chapters 4:28-40, Jesus was said to have escaped the people of Nazareth, who were planning to throw him off the cliff, then the scene immediately transitioned to Jesus healing some people and casting out demons. It may be that some parts are unattested, but usually Dr.Litwa would write "..." to signify that there are possibly some unattested material.


r/AcademicBiblical 21h ago

Relation between Paul, James and Peter

8 Upvotes

What exactly was the relationship between Paul, James and Peter? Were they historically connected to each other or were they isolated? What were the disputes in the early community really about? Did James, Peter and Paul disagree on Jewish law and Gentile Salvation? What does scholarship argue?


r/AcademicBiblical 2h ago

Books that go over archeological finds of the Bible?

3 Upvotes

I’m looking for something that would go over pieces of (primarily New Testament) scripture that has been found prior to the Middle Ages when there was more copying (although the Middle Ages is interesting).

So for example, something that would say James 1:7 has been found in X parchment of papyrus found in Egypt written in Greek, and comparing the raw Greek translation of the X papyrus to modern English translations of the Bible. Like a primary source/documentary collection of archaeological evidence of the Bible.

I want to know exactly how much of the New Testament, line by line and word by word has been found in archaeological digs and stuff along those lines.

Any help is appreciated!


r/AcademicBiblical 23h ago

Question Hell in Apocalyptic Judaism?

6 Upvotes

Is it known when the concept of conscious postmortem punishment became a prominent aspect of apocalyptic Jewish thought? Any academic citations would be very welcome.


r/AcademicBiblical 3h ago

Question Heaven: The Sky, or Elsewhere?

9 Upvotes

Hey, I've got a quick question:

From what I've heard, "Heaven" as it's rendered in both Hebrew and Koine Greek, simply means "sky." As in, the space above our heads.

Nowadays, when people talk about Heaven, it seemingly takes on the attributes of something like a pocket dimension, or some other plane of existence.

What I want to know: when did this shift occur? Was there a specific point in time, like after some great council, where Heaven came to mean "outside of our reality?" And what might have influenced this alteration?


r/AcademicBiblical 3h ago

Who first lists Baruch in an “only to be read but not for doctrine” category?

2 Upvotes

My question is specific to the Book of Baruch, and I am not looking for discussions of the conceptual idea of a third category (the three categories being full canonical Scripture, not canonical Scripture, and something in between = Ecclesiastical, or “only to be read and not to be used to confirm doctrine,” etc.).  I am simply trying to determine when is the first time that someone says that the Book of Baruch is in such a third category.  (Or perhaps there is a surviving Bible that was clearly divided into sections, with Baruch in a third category section).

 

From my own research it was not done before 450 AD - Baruch is either listed as full canonical Scripture or it is not specifically mentioned on the list, including by Athanasius, Rufinus, Jerome, Epiphanius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory of Nazianzus, Amphilochius of Iconium, or the Apostolic Canons (the canon lists cited as support for a third category, let alone the canon lists without such a category).

 

I have been asking this question nonstop for a year, including asking Professors who teach the canon.  No one ever knows, which at this point leads me to guess that it was in the Reformation that Baruch is first listed as part of a third category.  But it is an uncomfortable guess, since it only takes one earlier example to prove me wrong. Does anyone know of such?

 

Sources presenting all the canon lists before 450 AD are numerous, and include The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity by Edmon L. Gallagher and John D. Meade, Oxford University Press, first paperback edition, 2019.  Gallagher and Meade discuss Jerome’s lists and their lack of mention of Baruch on page 198, Rufinus’ list and its lack of mention of Baruch on page 216, etc.  There is no list before 450 AD that claims Baruch is in a third category, it is either full canon by name (e.g., Athanasius page 123) or not mentioned (and thus arguable whether it is part of the list’s Jeremiah or simply excluded).  I am looking for any list before the Reformation that does name Baruch as third category. 


r/AcademicBiblical 6h ago

Does 2 Esdras 6:7-24 help make sense of Thomas 12?

12 Upvotes

Esdras 6:9 says "Esau is the end of this age, and Jacob is the beginning of the age that follows."

Jacob (James) "the Just" was the first leader of the Jesus movement after Jesus died. I wonder whether early Christians would have interpreted this verse from Esdras as indicating that Christianity, led by James the Just, was the beginning of the new age and new creation.

If so, it may help make sense of saying 12 from The Gospel of Thomas:

The disciples said to Jesus, "We are aware that you will depart from us. Who will be our leader?" Jesus said to him, "No matter where you come it is to James the Just that you shall go, for whose sake heaven and earth have come to exist."