Da Vinci Code Madness

It's coming...

And as I'm currently writing my lecture on The Da Vinci Code, it's with great pleasure that Ben Witherington alerts us to a discussion between Bart Ehrman and Richard Hays on this very issue. It's an Mp3 file, so make sure you've got broadband and listen to it!

There is an An excerpt of the discussion (6 min)or The entire Beyond the Da Vinci Code event (1 hour, 45). Hays is a master NT exegete and I'm sure this will be well worth our time and effort.

I'm still hoping a resident Bird will drop off an email of a certain lecture that he may have written on this very topic... Hint, Hint, nudge, nudge, Wink, Wink... :)

While I'm asking for favours, does anyone know where I can get a photo of the Gospel of Philip? I'd like to have a look at the actual fragments that were found at Nag Hammadi. Any help here would be much appreciated.

Back to Colossians

Well, after a much needed holiday and finishing off some other important projects, let me take a tour back into the world that is Colossians...

Colossians 1 1-2 Paul, an apostle of King Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

This letter, which I tend towards being authored by Paul (written by Tim?), begins with a characteristic introduction about Paul’s calling and authority. Paul labels himself an ‘apostle of Christ’ and this is ‘by the will of God.’ Apostolic ministry is rather vague in scholarly writing. I don’t think that the western world has quite grasped what it is that Paul and other apostles did. Paul was a massive pioneer, much like Bill Gates with Microsoft. His aim was to make Jesus a household name, and quite frankly [with a little help from friends and GOD], he did a pretty good job. So when Paul writes Colossians we must not forget that Paul is on a massive mission and he never loses sight of that mission. With that in mind, Paul reminds this congregation that he has authority over them, despite this church not being specifically birthed by himself. The church is united and working together, and apostolic leadership sets the tone and the pace of early Christianity. Paul is concerned here to instruct them, and they must heed his message as one sent by ‘the will of God.’

Paul writes, not just to the leaders of this community of faith, but to the whole church. In a stunning phrase that could possible be the big idea that Paul will spend unpacking in this epistle, Paul notes that they are ‘in Christ and in Colossae.’ This is a loaded statement. I suggest that if the Colossians, and us, would fully grasp this statement, then problems and issues, such as the one’s the Colossians faced and the one’s we face, would be aided and helped along because of the freedom and joy that it brings. To live in Christ is to live the life of Christ in relationship with Christ. Christians first live in the sphere of King Jesus, and then in the geographical sphere of their respective localities. If this pivotal truth can be grasped from the start of reading this letter, one shall already have grasped one of the central arguments it proposes: Christ is enough. You don’t need anything else.

A formal benediction, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father” ends off this opening remark and “indicates a prayerful concern for the readers.”[1] If this is the case, then Paul wants his readers to be aware that this is not an imposition of authority but the heart of a true pastor ‘at large’ who is taking time to care for this specific flock by sending them a letter that will aid their spiritual journey through fierce terrain. ‘Peace’ must be seen as the contrast of ‘pax’ the peace which Rome provides. But this will be explicated later in this letter. For now, we must merely alert the readers that Paul’s opening quotation of this benediction, sets the atmosphere for what will follow. Just as God is their Father, in an intimate and personal relationship, so Paul’s concern for them imitates that closeness of relationship. Both grace and peace are gifts from an almighty God who cares deeply for his people. And it is God’s care for his people that has lead Paul to write this letter with an imitated concern.

Paul’s character in this letter will strive to be both gracious and peaceful so that they may follow Jesus faithfully and remain true to their identity as ‘saints’ of the most High.

[1] O’Brien, Colossians and Philemon, pg. 5

Pre & Post Easter..

If belief in the resurrection is to be more than a glossing over of facts which hare otherwise thought to be depressing, if it is to be a real endorsement of Jesus as the Messiah and as one who achieved what he set out to do, then it must uphold both the Jesus of faith and the Jesus of History. It must be able to confirm not only Christian convictions about God’s eternal plan of salvation in his “only begotten Son,” but also the purposes and expectations of the country carpenter from Galilee who was crushed by a power-hungry Jerusalem aristocracy in co-operation with the flawless machinery of the Roman imperial occupation forces. The resurrection can only establish that Jesus succeeded if it also confirms that the pre-Easter Jesus fulfilled his purposes.

- M. Bockmuehl, This Jesus, pg. 96-97

I'm with Mike!

I am definitely siding with Mike on this one! Contra Ben Myers, I think that the resurrection is clear in what it is, and what it means despite the fact that there is much that is mysterious. 1 Cor 15 is a difficult passage, but I think Paul is clear enough so as to communicate that there is both a clear continuity and discontinuity with regards to the resurrection body of Jesus. “The Resurrection is not simply resuscitation; it is transformation, the changing of the present mode of physicality into a new mode, of which Jesus in his risen body is the only prototype, but for which the transformation of a seed into a plant can function as a general analogy.” Wright, What Saint Paul Really Said, pg. 140. It is a transformed-physicality [to borrow Wright's language.]

I'm disappointed that Tom Wright has made these statements. I understand how he has come to this conclusion, but I think it depicts a flight from understanding the very identity of what it means to be a Christian in the 1st century and, therefore, now. The early Christians identified themselves with the crucified and risen Messiah who is Lord. To deny the resurrection, the concrete raising of Jesus of Nazareth from the grace, would have been an anathema to the early Christians.

I can't conceive of a New Testament writer who would say that one can follow Jesus, but deny the heart of the gospel, the bodily resurrection of Jesus. If Christ has not been raised, we are most of all to be pitied. And by raised, Paul - a 1st century Jewish Pharisee, has a very clear understanding that this is in direct continuity with the Jesus who died bodily, and this is also a physicality that has startling and peculiar features. Another helpful article on this is of course, R. H. Gundry, “The Essential Physicality of Jesus' Resurrection according to the New Testament” in Jesus of Nazareth, Lord and Christ eds. J.B. Green and M. Turner, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994)

The bodily resurrection of Jesus is part and parcel of the new covenant marker that followers of Jesus identify with. Deny this, and one parts ways with the 1st century Christians.

HOW SMART IS YOUR RIGHT FOOT?

THIS IS SO FUNNY THAT IT WILL BOGGLE YOUR MIND. AND YOU WILL KEEP TRYING IT AT LEAST 50 MORE TIMES TO SEE IF YOU CAN OUTSMART YOUR FOOT. BUT YOU CAN'T!!

1. WHILE SITTING AT YOUR DESK, LIFT YOUR RIGHT FOOT OFF THE FLOOR AND MAKE CLOCKWISE CIRCLES WITH IT.

2. NOW, WHILE DOING THIS, DRAW THE NUMBER "6" IN THE AIR WITH YOUR RIGHT HAND.

YOUR FOOT WILL CHANGE DIRECTION!!!

I TOLD YOU SO... AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT.

HAHAHAHAHAHAH... :-)

So how does this compare with that tricky Pauline passage you've been attempting to exegete?

The Enigma of Devotion...

Early Christian devotion to Jesus certainly justifies attention, for it is remarkable in a number of respects. First, this high reverence for Jesus in early Christian circles contrasts strongly with the very negative treatment of him by others, both during his historic lifetime and thereafter. Initially, Jesus was probably a follower of the fiery contemporary prophet of national repentance known as John “the Baptiser,” but after John’s arrest and execution by Herod Antipas (the Roman client-ruler of Galilee), Jesus emerged more saliently as a prophet-like figure in his own right. He clearly and quickly became a controversial and polarizing figure for many, perhaps most, who had occasion to consider him seriously, and he remains so today.

By all indications, during his own historic lifetime Jesus became known in at least parts of Roman Judea through the proclaiming the immanent arrival of God’s “Kingdom.” To judge from many of the sayings attributed to Jesus in the New Testament Gospels, the coming of God’s kingdom would comprise a genuine “regime change,” and it represented values and purposes significantly different from those dominant in the religious and social structures of his day. In addiction to proclaiming and teaching about God’s kingdom, Jesus also seems to have engaged in other activities that had the effect of drawing further attention to him but were primarily intended to demonstrate something of the power and purposes of the divine kingdom that he announced. These other actions included calling a band of followers, pursuing an itinerant teaching activity, and taking controversial positions on some matters of religious practice. Both followers and opponents perceived Jesus as being able to perform miraculous healings and other deeds of supernatural power.

In view of the nearness of God’s kingdom and the radical differences that it represented, Jesus seems to have urged his hearers to commence re-ordering their attitudes and behaviour accordingly, and immediately: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15). The were to live their lives in the “now” with a view toward, and their conduct shaped by, the future (but imminent) full manifestation of God’s rule.

…Jesus activities clearly generated responses that ranged from a devoted following to mortal opposition, and these reactions to him became much more significant than was probably realised at first. The mortal opposition was manifest in Jesus’ arrest, his denunciation by the Jerusalem Temple authorities, and his brutal execution under the authority of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. In the Roman arsenal of execution measures, crucifixion was the particular option for those of lower social orders, especially those deemed guilty of threatening Roman rule. The aim was not simply to terminate an offender’s life; it was a public degradation and humiliation of the victim, and was intended to exhibit to all onlookers (and it was conducted as public spectacle) the consequences of daring to challenge Roman authority.

But against all odds, as it must have seemed at the time, in Jesus’ case crucifixion did not have the result intended by his executioners. The form of his execution certainly indicated that he had generated severe hostility. But his grisly death did not by any means end the controversy that he had ignited over what to make of him and his message. Instead, with surprising rapidity, the controversy only became greater, and his followers exhibited a much more startling level of devotion to him. Perhaps within only a few days or weeks of his crucifixion, Jesus followers were circulating the astonishing claim that God had raised him from death and had installed him in heavenly glory as Messiah and the appointed vehicle of redemption. Moreover, and still more astonishing, these claims were accompanied by an emerging patter of devotional practices in which Jesus figured with an unprecedented centrality. For example, Jesus’ name was invoked as part of the process of initiation into the early circles of those who identified themselves with reference to Jesus. In short, from a surprisingly early point after his death, Jesus’ followers were according to him at a level of devotion that far exceeded their own prior and impressive commitment to him during his lifetime.

- Larry Hurtado, How on Earth did Jesus Become a God?, pg. 3-5

Journal Updates...

The Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism has been updated, with these two articles:

Craig Evans: Messianic Hopes and Messianic Figures in Late Antiquity

Richard Van Egmond: The Messianic ‘Son of David’ in Matthew

The Journal, Biblica has also been updated: NT articles include,

Christian Stettler: The 'Command of the Lord' in 1 Cor 14,37 – a Saying of Jesus?» , Vol. 87(2006) 42-51.

Thomas B. SLATER, «Translating αγιος in Col 1,2 and Eph 1,1» , Vol. 87(2006) 52-54.

Quote + Article...

Doctrine that does not lead to doxology is demonic (Jas. 2:19).

Well, that's what: R. Paul Stevens, "Living Theologically: Toward a Theology of Christian Practice," Themelios 20.3 (1995): 4-8. has to say...

Very good... (HT: Rob Bradshaw)

Rabbi Evans

Craig A. Evans has just launched his new website. He is a first rate NT scholar with a very impressive list of publications (you can download some of his articles under the studies tab).

Hat tip to Alan Bandy...

Fraud?

[P]roposing, as a historical statement, that the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth was empty because his body had been transformed into a new mode of physicality...will of course evoke howls of protest from those for whom the closed world of Enlightenment theory renders any such thing impossible from the start. But if Christianity is only going to be allowed to rent an apartment in the Enlightenment's housing scheme, and on its terms, we are, to borrow Paul's phrase, of all people the most to be pitied--especially as the Enlightenment itself is rumoured to be bankrupt and to be facing serious charges of fraud.

N. T. Wright, The Meaning of Jesus, pg. 124