James D Tabor

Distinguished Fellow, Humanities, Hebrew University

[James D Tabor @Jamesdtabor]

https://t.co/bKP10swqrJ

[James D Tabor @Jamesdtabor]

In this video I situate my work on the "Quest for the Historical Mary--Mother of Jesus," in the broader shift in the Hellenistic world, in which a "Great Reversal" took place. Humans began to look to the heavenly world above as their true Home, whereas the earth was seen as a dark lower world into which we have fallen--strangers in a strange land. Extra-biblical, Un-biblical, and Non-biblical...but an idea that billions find irresistible. Transcendence does not require either "another world," "death as a friend," or a quasi-gnostic diagnosis of the human condition.

https://t.co/Zz7O7AgHkA

[James D Tabor @Jamesdtabor]

In this short podcast I reflect on my own Quest for the Historical Jesus, as reflected through my book, The Jesus Dynasty, and what difference it has made in my own research. This is a Jesus both before and without the Christianity that developed in his name. If the Proclaimer became the Proclaimed--then what was the original message OF Jesus--not about Jesus? What did he teach and preach and life and die for? Here are my thoughts.

https://t.co/ff9bGeoVK7

[James D Tabor @Jamesdtabor]

In this illustrated reading of the Preface to my book Paul and Jesus: How the Apostle Transformed Christianity (Simon & Schuster 2012) I present a very personal overview of how I view and understand "The Thirteenth Apostle" since I first encountered him at age 17 in my Testament Greek course with the late Professor Abraham Malherbe. He was one of the towering scholars of his generation. I was "hooked" for life and have continued to think about Paul, his ideas, and his relationship to Jesus and his message, ever since.

https://t.co/gxSP9TZ3Il

[James D Tabor @Jamesdtabor]

In this video I invite you to join me in an interactive test of when and how AI can go wrong when dealing with Historical Research. If you give it a try PLEASE POST YOUR RESULTS IN THE COMMENTS ON YOUTUBE
You can also download a PDF with the Notes you see in the video so you can have your own copy.
https://t.co/MrAQ5R5Atm

[James D Tabor @Jamesdtabor]

Here is an interesting question to contemplate as we move on into April post-Easter Sunday.

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[James D Tabor @Jamesdtabor]

As we move from Thursday through Sunday morning, observed as Easter tomorrow, this 30 minute overview of the events surrounding Jesus's crucifixion and burial takes you on the ground with plenty of archaeological evidence. I wanted to share it with you all this Saturday night--when I think Jesus' corpse was most likely moved from the temporary unfinished tomb near the site of Crucifixion to Joseph Arimathea's estate.

https://t.co/JPNCcbz2SV

[James D Tabor @Jamesdtabor]

In this long form interview with notes and maps I discuss who were the Ebionites? Were John the Baptist, Jesus, and James part of a "stream" of faith and piety that traced back to the Dead Sea Scroll group, and down through a so-called "Christianity," before, during, in contrast to the message of the apostle Paul? I explore what they believed, how it differed from later mainstream Roman Christianity, and what happened to them, down into the later centuries, including their influence on earliest Islam.

https://t.co/JZubaYubXz

[James D Tabor @Jamesdtabor]

As we move along into what Christians traditionally call "Holy Week"--with both Passover and Easter ahead, I wanted to share a blog post I did back in 2022-- with links to just about every aspect of the main events from Palm Sunday through Easter--and thereafter. Here is the main link to that main post, with many more links embedded:

https://t.co/2uKChClH8G

[James D Tabor @Jamesdtabor]

In this extended interview with Johnny Ova, Pastor of the "Sound of Heaven" Church and host of the "Dig In" Podcast @thejohnnyova. We explore some of the key issues in any quest for the Historical Mary. I think this might be my first interview with a Pastor about my new book, The Lost Mary: Rediscovering the Mother of Jesus.

https://t.co/SGn9MusDsk

[James D Tabor @Jamesdtabor]

63 years ago today, February 17, 1963, I was baptized based on my understanding of Acts 2:38 just before I turned 17 on March 2nd. This was not into any Church or organization, but as I understood it at the time, as the manifestation of a personal response and commitment to following Jesus and way he reflected God's will in the world, as I understood it. No one could have been more sincere than I was that day. I had studied the Bible intensely over the previous six months, listening to radio ministers and reading dozens of books, articles, and reference works. I was hardly an academic at age 16, but I did know the text of the Bible exceedingly well. My first visit to Jerusalem the previous summer, July 1962, had kindled a flame in me in terms of historical and biblical studies. I relate this in the opening preface of my book The Jesus Dynasty. Including that 1st trip I have made 77 trips to Israel related to my research and teaching, for as long as a month and as short as a few days. That Fall I headed for Abilene Christian College (now University) where I majored in Biblical languages, Bible, and History. I have had many ups and downs, and taken various segmented paths along the way, and even a few detours, but there is no doubt in my mind that it was on this day that I set my life course that takes me to where I am today. My attraction to, and fascination with, Jesus and the movement he began, as part of the diverse streams of late 2nd Temple Judaism, has never waned. I am still on the same path, though I have, of course, parted ways with some of the more fundamentalist ways of looking at the Biblical texts in favor of what I hope is a more truthful philosophical, scientific, and historical approach. I do not in any way despise or dishonor these spiritual passions of my youth, and I am grateful to parents, relatives, friends, teachers, and others, who influenced me along the way. Remembering my CREATORS in the days of my youth...

[James D Tabor @Jamesdtabor]

I love this picture that Lori quickly took yesterday afternoon as Eden and I were in a deep conversation. Borderdoodles can learn up to 200 words, but they mainly communicate through their eyes...they gaze deeply and long, absorbing emotions, and through touch. This is part of my library at home, most of my thousands of research books in my field are kept at my private office. These are the books I plan to read when I "really retire" someday...history, philosophy, science, art, and literature, representing a wide spectrum of careful book buying over the past 60 years. Like my dear friend Dr. Robert L. Kuhn, I continue to try to move "Closer to Truth," not THE Truth, as he carefully points out, but what we can best discern about Cosmos, Consciousness, and Meaning (see https://t.co/jjufVubs9g).

[Closer To Truth @CloserToTruth]

Jesus’s mother Mary likely lived for over 40 years, but many believers only think of her in 2 times: the Nativity and the Crucifixion. @Jamesdtabor wants to change that. Listen to his interview on his latest book "The Lost Mary." https://t.co/pfvH4YihmI?

[James D Tabor @Jamesdtabor]

Yes, that is not a traditional Hanukkah Menorah or lampstand--which has nine candles...eight plus one to light. As the rebel and the historian, I like the idea of the Seven Branched Menorah, reflecting the one in the Temple--which is what it is all about. One each night...and on the eighth day you light all seven again to show they go for eight days. Either way, it is the festival of lights. What few realize is that nearly 500 years earlier the Prophet Haggai had marked that day--Kislev 24 on the Jewish calendar--from that day forward blessings would begin to flow (Haggai 2:6-23). before Hanukkah, the feast of re-dedication by the victorious Judas Maccabee and his brothers after the defeat of Antiochus Epiphanes in 165 BCE. (1 Maccabees 4:59) Jesus is in Jerusalem for this festival, called the "feast of Dedication," according to John 10:22, But best of all names I think--which gives Hanukkah an amazing meaning, is the Festival of FREEDOM--from all oppression--economic, religious, cultural, personal! It is enshrined in our Constitution and the United Nations Charter! It is breaking away from every kind of Despot and despotism--of whatever label. "Let freedom ring!" But let's extend it to the animals also! A truly peaceable kingdom!

[James D Tabor @Jamesdtabor]

What was the Jesus movement like before Paul and the later doctrines that came to define Christianity?

My new online course, Christianity Before Paul, explores the earliest forms of the Jesus movement within its Jewish context—focusing on John the Baptizer, Jesus, James the brother of Jesus, and the Twelve.

The course is fully online and self-paced, with no required meetings. It includes ten recorded lectures plus optional Zoom sessions (all recorded and added to the course).

Details and enrollment:
https://t.co/z3nEAOb1lQ

[James D Tabor @Jamesdtabor]

Don't miss this one. Come Time Travel with me. I wanted to share this podcast interview I did recently with Professors Helen Bond and Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones on their amazing show "Biblical Time Machine." They asked me to take them back to the first century CE, the time of Jesus, and to explore the the historical Mary --not the ransformed Perpetual Virgin, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven of much later Christian Theology. Enjoy the trip!

https://t.co/js96RkPdID

[James D Tabor @Jamesdtabor]

https://t.co/JjNVMZXJsy

[James D Tabor @Jamesdtabor]

Don't miss this one! My first interview on the Lost Mary with a woman and a scholar--Megan Lewis! I am going to really push this one, as it is one academic with another--touching across fields of expertise, as well as with a woman and a mother. Some of you know Megan is the host of Bart Ehrman's podcast "Misquoting Jesus." She is a great interviewer, she is prepared, comes up with really good questions, and reacts back to guests, in ways that further enrich things toward a kind of "conversation."

https://t.co/RyC7rdNiIS

[James D Tabor @Jamesdtabor]

Is "Marian Devotion" Historically Viable?