Chapter 1 Randel lays out the thesis of his book right at the start: “The Gospels…are largely fictional accounts concerning an historical figure, Jesus of Nazareth, intended to create a life-enhancing understanding of his nature” (10). According to Helms, the Gospels are basically works of art, specifically, works of literature. The Gospel’s authors, like all…More
Xenophanes on The Gods
“Mortals consider that the gods are born and that they have clothes and speech and bodies like their own. The Ethiopians say that their gods are snub-nosed and black, the Thracians that theirs have light blue eyes and red hair. But if cattle and horses or lions had hands or were able to draw, horses…More
Brief Survey of The East – West Schism
Two of Christianity’s oldest traditions are the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, known officially as the Orthodox Catholic Church. Both teach that they are the “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church” based on the 381 C.E. version of the Nicene Creed. Both teach that their bishops are the direct successors to Jesus’…More
What Came First: The Gospels or The Epistles?
A misconception that I sometimes run into when discussing the New Testament (hereafter, NT) with uninformed readers is that it is presented in chronological order. Since the Gospels appear first, many, mistakenly, believe that they were also written first. They would, however, be incorrect. The order of appearance that the NT documents eventually took is an interesting subject for sure, but one that has nothing to do with the order in which it was written.More
