Some of the most vivid details in Christmas carols that describe Jesus’ birth cannot be found in the canonical texts.
(Why) Did Jews Hate Tax Collectors–Or Did They? The Evolution of a Modern Stereotype in Biblical Studies
The popular image of tax collectors ostracized from Jewish society demands a second look.
The Desert: Waiting for God
The desert is about feeling frustrated and helpless, realizing we can do nothing on our own. It’s about total surrender of our will to God.
The Apostolic Decree and the Noahide Commandments
Jerusalem Perspective is pleased to make available to the English-speaking world this important article written originally in German by David Flusser and Shmuel Safrai: “Das Aposteldekret und die Noachitischen Gebote,” in Wer Tora mehrt, mehrt Leben: Festgabe fur Heinz Kremers (ed. E. Brocke and H.-J. Borkenings; Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1986), 173-192.
The “King James Only” Debate
Have you read a book called New Age Bible Versions by Gail Riplinger? She claims that the only reliable translation of the Bible is the King James Version.
The Surprise of Finding Anti-Semitism in the Heart of the Early Church Fathers
“The other disease which my tongue is called to cure is the most difficult… And what is the disease? The festivals of the pitiful and miserable Jews which are soon approaching.” — Saint John Chrysostom (349-407)
A New Perspectivist Response to Simon Gathercole’s Christianity Today Article
How do the results of a debate that raged more than three centuries after the New Testament was written affect the way most Westerners read Paul’s theology? Put briefly, Augustine effected a revolution in understanding what the human predicament is, how Christ saves us from it, and what the role of justification is within the larger understanding of salvation.
A Theology of Jewish-Christian Relations
Still today a famous German New Testament professor can say (as he did) to his students: “If you want to be a good Christian, you must kill the Jew in your heart.” I quote this professor’s words not because I am a Jew, but because he used the word “kill” as if it were a Christian virtue. Furthermore, the opinion that “you have to kill the Jew in your heart” is not unconnected with an important trend that existed in Christianity from its beginnings.
The Western Captivity of the Apostle Paul
It is now a commonplace observation among scholars that Paul’s most basic convictions were misrepresented by the most dominant streams of Western theology.
The Central Text in the Original Sin Controversy
Diverging views on the doctrine of original sin represent a great chasm fixed between scholars and theologians today.