The best
New Testament Biographies:
Reddit reviews
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
The best of New Testament Biographies by number of unique Reddit comments:
Top Reddit reviews mentioning New Testament Biographies:
I have always been attracted to Robert Eisenmann's view that James was the real heir to the Jesus movement. His James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls (1998) was a good read, even if I am less than convinced Paul mucked up the whole Jesus thing. I realize it is not as fringy as Buddhist Jesus.
Paul (also known by his Hebrew name, Saul of Tarsus) was a Pharisee - a member of the political pressure group that opposed Jesus. The Pharisees were known for their strict (and often hypocritical) adherence to the Jewish Law.
The Pharisees were largely responsible for Jesus' crucifixion. After the events of Easter, Paul continued to hunt down followers of Jesus, finding them and stoning them to death.
> As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!
Paul had a vision/encounter with the risen Jesus, subsequently repented, and became a Christian. (The other Christians, naturally, were hesitant to accept him at first.)
Paul was the first great evangelist and theologian. He went on a series of missionary journeys around the Roman Empire, sharing Christianity (a Jewish movement) to the Gentiles (non-Jews.) You can often find a map of Paul's missionary journeys in the back of some Bibles.
He then wrote letters to the communities that he helped to establish, teaching the first churches the meaning of the "good news" and how to live in response. These letters became much of what we now call the New Testament.
In the end, after enduring much opposition and persecution, but also after much success in building up the early Church, Paul was arrested and brought to trial in Rome. He was found guilty, and killed by being fed to lions in the Colosseum.
The best ever book about Paul is the Biography by Tom Wright, which I have linked if anyone is interested in further reading.
Here is a cool discussion on Paul by a non-Christian historian and a Christian one.
> It is harder to say positively what Jesus meant by 'kingdom of God'. Intensive efforts over the last hundred years to define the phrase have left the issue more confused rather than clearer. There are, however, two meanings that would have been more or less self evident given standard Jewish views. One is that God reigns in heaven; the 'kingdom of God' or 'kingdom of heaven' exists eternally there. God occasionally acts in history, but he completely and consistently governs only heaven. The second is that in the future God will rule the earth. He has chosen to allow human history to run on with relatively little interference, but someday he will bring normal history to an end and govern the world perfectly. Briefly put: the kingdom of God always exists there; in the future it will exist here. These two meanings are perfectly compatible with each other. Anyone could maintain both at the same time, and in fact millions still do.
So... the bible was written hundreds of years after Jesus. It's fan fic.
Most of this picture is pretty OK if you want to interpret it historically.
If you want to rage-type about fan fiction written 1800 years ago, then, go ahead. You're just as guilty of bullshit interpretations of the bible as mormons and evangelicals - note: they're all bullshit.
Congratulations on your engagement.
> 4 Views on the Book of Revelation
On that subject, I recommend "Revelation - Four Views, A Parallel Commentary" (revised updated edition) by Steve Gregg. Here's the Amazon link (to see reviews there) and here's the page at christianbook.com.
Steve presents, in an even-handed way, how proponents of each view interpret each chapter section.
Well, that's lot of allegations. Don't see a lot of evidence to back it up, though. I'm going to chalk this post up to blind faith that atheists have.
If anyone wants to be unusually scholarly for it, NT Wright is a respected historian, and has written about this and the resurrection. He's an authority on the subject.
Nice post/comment.
I made my 4 year old daughter a rosary and put a medal on it with Saint Joseph on one side and a guardian angel on the other. Seemed like a great fit for my kiddo.
There's this book by Father Calloway on Saint Joseph that I've been meaning to pick up. Seems like the used copies are a good deal right now so I probably should hop on that.
The same goes for Jesus' family. Having read James The Brother of Jesus I'm pretty much convinced that Paul highjacked Christianity and that over the centuries the more Hellenized sect systemically erased the Jewish one.
Steve Gregg is the author of four views of Revelation. I like it and have used it to attempt to teach a balanced overview of the positions. Prefer the art on the old hardback.
Have you ever read James, Brother of Jesus by Robert Eisenman? He theorizes the the first Christians were actually the Essenes and/or a Splinter Group of Essenes lead by James The Just and that Paul was trying to co-op the movement.
It's a very good read (long af, but good) Like this guy is a scholar. He teaches early Christian history at UC Long Beach. He's gone on digs in Israel. He knows what he's talking about. He's also Jewish which I feel gives him a unique perspective (and quite frankly a better one) on the topic of early Christianity.
The Clementine Homilies are analyzed a bit in Robert Eisenman's James the Brother of Jesus. He thinks they are authentic:
I began reading them just brcause there's an amazing song lyric, "I remember meeting Clementine and weeping," where that character would be the lovely Barnabas. The singer layers past present future in his songs.
> When was Revelation written?
I'm undecided on that question. I'm a fan of Steve Gregg who wrote this highly-rated book about Revelation and four overall ways it may be interpreted.
Steve currently believes Revelation was written before AD 70 instead of sometime later.
In any case, by "soon", I think Jesus meant within a matter of years, so those early Christians could have hope that their persecutors would receive due judgment, and also He gives warning to some of the seven churches in chapters 2 and 3 that they better shape up, because he's going to discipline those churches soon as needed.
Jesus and Paul, undoubtedly the two most important men of early Christianity, both preached an apocalyptic message, that the kingdom of God was near and that the current age of evil would be destroyed. See Jesus's first saying in our earliest gospel, Mark, for an example
> “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)
I can't give a full overview of this, so if you have time read Bart Ehrman's excellent work on the subject of Jesus's apocalypticism.
As for Paul, his undisputed epistles are infused with apocalypticism as well. See, for example, 1 Thessalonians, where he describes the 'rapture':
>According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thess 4:15-17)
Both Paul and Jesus believed that the end of days was almost here, and that people must make themselves ready. The fascinating difference between Paul and Jesus is in how they believed they should do this. Jesus told people to be more righteous than the scribes and the Pharisees, the models of lawful Jewish obedience; Paul emphatically stated that those who adopted the Jewish law were cursed.
The Historical Figure of Jesus by E.P. Sanders was my first introduction to historical Jesus studies. I found it very informative, easy to read, and not overly biased in any way.
2 of my favourites
Jesus through middle eastern eyes
A book on understanding the words of Jesus in their cultural context
The Good God
a very fun intro to the trinity
I recommend the Consecration to St. Joseph. It's a book. Look into it. I'm sure you'll be able to find it at a library.
https://www.amazon.com/Consecration-St-Joseph-Wonders-Spiritual/dp/1596144319
There's a book called Revelation: Four Views, A Parallel Commentary by Steve Gregg that attempts to weighs this question through the four views of Historicism, Partial-Preterism, Futurism, and Idealism. Gregg is a partial preterist, but he seems pretty fair to the other views. I think they all have something to offer, though I lean more Futurist.
Saint Moses the Black was the leader of a band of robbers, blessed Bartolo Longo was once a satanist priest, and Saint Mary Magdalene is thought to have been a prostitute to some extent.
You can also do the converse! The holiest saints are the Blessed Virgin and Saint Joseph (traditionally referred to as the 'terror of Demons'). They helped me greatly to overcome pornography and other sins through their intercession. You can even try a 30 Day Consecration --it will change your life as it is a very powerful way in which they become more active in your life.
Revelation: Four Views by Steve Gregg is a decent way to get acquainted with the 4 main views (futurism, preterism, historicism, and idealism). For historicism I recommend Albert Barnes' Notes on whatever passage you're studying.
You should read this book
It describes the state you are experiencing in biblical language and gives insight into the proper way to maneuver through what many call the dark knight of the soul.
Ultimately you are in the position of John the Baptist when he was in prison.
Let's keep in mind work is good. We are called to work by the bible and traditionally prayer has been undestood to be a form of work (liturgy).
To avoid being self righteous, I'd suggest following the example of Mary the Mother of God and John the Baptist/Friend of the Bridegroom.
Both of them understood the notion that for Christ to become more we are to become less. They are good images for use to contemplate and lives to study to aid the task of gaining humility in life, prayer, and work.
This book is a really good study on this
Remember we are called by the bible to pray without ceasing, so our prayer is to be our work and our work should be our prayer.
The introduction will give you an idea what other books by him you might want
Well, I respect the sweet Galilean rabbi Yeshuah ben Yosef, who was probably the Ebion/Evion. You should read James, the Brother of Jesus by Robert Einsenmann (he´s got other books on this most fascinating subject too), about the original Jewish sect which had been preserved by Jesus' brother Ya'akov or James, the Just. "James, the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls" by Robert H. Eisenman, March 1, 1998 https://www.amazon.com/James-Brother-Jesus-Unlocking-Christianity/dp/014025773X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=James%2C+the+brother+of+Jesus+Robert+Eisenman&qid=1594602849&s=books&sr=1-1
I recently used an Audible credit to read N.T. Wright's Paul: A Biography. It was a very pleasant read, but not too intense for an audio book.
The three earliest gospels don't have any hint of that kind of material. Only John (coming 70 years after Jesus' death) has that kind of content. Much of the material in John is invented.
Regarding sources, there are many. Here is one:
Perhaps, start here. The first review is also particularly interesting.
Thanks, I like that :)
Bart Ehrman wrote a good book Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium which explains the mainstream view of Jesus as an apocalyptic prophet among Bible scholars.
When it became clear that Jesus wasn't actually going to come back soon, the Christian depiction of him changed. So the Gospel of John, which was written later than the others, tones down the apocalyptic message.
The view of Jesus as an apocalyptic prophet is the mainstream view among Bible scholars. The earliest Gospel, Mark, is the one where Jesus talked in the most apocalyptic terms.
The Jews were traumatized by the Roman occupation, they wanted rescue. So they hoped that God would swoop in and change everything, perhaps with Jesus as the new leader in the "Kingdom of God".
But after awhile it became clear this wasn't going to happen anytime soon. So the later Gospels toned down Jesus' apocalyptic statements, and Christianity evolved from its early apocalyptic expectations, into a religion that saw Jesus' message as a moral prescription for living in this world.
Bart Ehrman wrote a good book Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium about this.
The Native Americans similarly had a Ghost Dance religion
>The messianic religion promised an apocalypse that would destroy the earth and the white man. The earth then would be restored to the Native Americans. Salvation of individuals was to be achieved by purging oneself of the evil ways learned from the whites. The religion required frequent ceremonial cleansing, meditation, prayer, chanting and of course dancing the Ghost Dance. Each ceremony lasted for five successive days. The participants danced each night, on the last night the dance continued until morning. The ceremony was to be repeated every six weeks.
Very sad, you can see the same thing as early Christianity happening in a modern context.
There's a really interesting take on the origin of the Christ figure in the book, Jesus the Magician. It seems that if a historical Jesus existed, he was only deified during the process of consolidating many disparate beliefs into a unified religion in order to establish political and cultural solidarity.
> But eternal torment for any being is unjust.
I have the positions of annihilationism and conditional immortality rather than the 'eternal torment' position.
> Not sure who the beast and false prophet are though.
I'm a fan of Bible teacher Steve Gregg who has extensively thought about the book of Revelation and who wrote a highly-rated book about it. If I recall correctly from his radio show, he thinks the beast represents a political/economic system and the false prophet represents a religious system prevalent at the time.