History in the Bible

Paul wrote three letters during his third and final mission: two to the Corinthians, and one to the Romans.

In his final mission, Paul travels from Antioch through his earlier foundations in Asia Minor, Macedonia and Greece. His attacks on the goddess Artemis at Ephesus in Asia Minor do not go down well. As he wends his way back Jerusalem, Paul's mood darkens. He delivers dark and melancholy speeches to his old clubs. I discuss one of the three letters he wrote at this time, the angry letter to the Galatians.

The three synoptic gospels are markedly different from John. It is clear that both Matthew and Luke used Mark. But Matthew and Luke have much material in common. Most scholars think they have a common source, the mysterious "Q". Others think one evangelist copied the other. Steve Guerra of the History of the Papacy podcast and I tackle the issue.

This is an addendum to episode 2.54, Paul's Second Mission: To The Greeks. It is a repeat of part of an earlier episode. I imagine a curious pagan's reaction to hearing Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians.

Paul starts from his base in Antioch. Before he even begins, Paul has a face-off with Peter in Antioch, and Paul’s first backer and friend Barnabas. Paul acquires Timothy as a companion. He then gallivants across the province of Asia. Paul takes ship to Thrace in Europe, where he establishes a church at Philippi. After an unfortunate misunderstanding with the local authorities, he treks down through Macedonia, where he establishes a church at the capital of the province, Thessalonica.

Paul's letters say that he spent 17 years in Arabia Nabatea, in Damascus, and in what is now southern Turkey. In all those long years, he met the disciples precisely once, and then only Peter and James the brother of Jesus. I call this Paul's lost mission. The Book Acts ignores it. The chronology of Acts is impossible to reconcile with Paul's letters.

Paul's letters are puzzles. Why do we have so few? Paul loved to write. We should have 90 or more letters, not the scant dozen we have. And why don't we have letters from Paul's contemporary missionaries? How do we reconcile the vast differences between the three Pauls shown in his letters?

Paul is the first to launch a systematic campaign to bring Jesus to the pagans, in the face of opposition from the Jerusalem Jesus club. Paul accidentally constructs a theology of sin and death, and invents the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist. Yet Paul seems to know almost nothing about the life of Jesus. What gives?

The Jerusalem Jesus club is beset by tribulations. Deacon Stephen is the first to die for his faith after Jesus. Peter converts a pagan Roman, is arrested, then disappears. The disciple James the son of Zebedee is killed by Herod Agrippa. James the brother of Jesus joins senior management.

I introduce the book of Acts. The book tries to harmonise the deeds of the two great apostles: the pro-Jewish Peter and the pro-gentile Paul. Paul's letters say that Acts is telling porkies. The first third of the book is centred on the Jerusalem Jesus club. The book of Acts describes the disciples' earliest Jesus club as a golden age, a hippie commune, but a commune with a dark side.

What solid statements can we make about the life of Jesus? Who did Jesus think he was? We can never know, but we can make some guesses. Certainly, he thought he was like an Old Testament prophet. He believed that God's kingly rule was about to intervene. Jesus believed that his mission was to prepare the Jews for God’s imminent intervention in the world. Did Jesus intend to found a new religion? I doubt it.

None of the gospels recount the resurrection. They tell of the discovery of the empty by Mary Magdalene and some other women, and then move to Jesus post-resurrection appearances. The resurrection happens off stage. The Gospel of Peter is the only document that describes the actual moment of resurrection. The gospels present differing accounts of Jesus' appearances after his death. Did he appear in spirit, like an angel, or as real fleshly human? How many people did he appear to, and when, and where?

This is a bonus episode for season two. Steve Guerra and I tackle the the book of Daniel. We all know the book's stories of Daniel: the lion's den, the fiery furnace, and the writing on the wall. We discover a book of two parts, one of which claims to be a reliable history of Babylonian times. Spoiler: It's not. The second half is the only apocalypse in the Old Testament.

Jesus' death is the supreme sacrifice. The Son of God takes upon himself the sins of the world to redeem all of mankind. From the disparate gospel accounts of Jesus' death, what can we actually say is dependable evidence? We are uncertain as to what provoked Jesus’ condemnation, on what grounds he was executed, and who executed him. The gospels give us two surprise cameo appearances: Simon of Cyrene, and Joseph of Arimathea.

Did Jesus accept his coming death serenely, as the gospel of John says? Or did he beg his Father to be saved, as the other gospels hold? The gospels disagree about that, and who tried and interrogated Jesus. Only on one thing do the gospels furiously agree: no blame lies upon the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate. Only the Jews are to blame.