There is a claim that has become quite common, especially among skeptics and, more recently, in some progressive Christian communities. The claim is that Mary was a child bride, perhaps twelve or thirteen years old, married to a much older man. If this were truly the historical reality, it would understandably raise deep moral concerns….
If you have spent any time around debates about the virgin birth, you have probably run into some version of this claim. The Hebrew word in Isaiah 7:14 is almah, which means “young woman” rather than “virgin.” If Isaiah had wanted to say virgin, he would have used bethulah. Therefore, Christianity rests on a translation…
Throughout history, some passages of Scripture have comforted readers, while others have challenged them. Romans 13 is a clear example of a passage often invoked to justify control. It has been quoted to enslaved people seeking freedom, as well as to those who sought to help them. It was used from pulpits during apartheid in…
If you have read much about sexuality in ancient Greece and Rome, you have probably run into one big idea. It goes something like this: for the Greeks and Romans, sex was not really about love or pleasure. It was about power. Who was on top, socially and literally. Who penetrated and who was penetrated….
There is a version of the Dark Ages question that deserves real respect. It usually comes from someone who has heard that professional historians now frown on the phrase, but who still suspects that a few of the old lessons must be worth keeping. Didn’t cities shrink? Didn’t reading and writing decline? Didn’t Latin splinter…
Many people imagine that the New Testament canon was decided all at once, perhaps when Athanasius of Alexandria sent out his Thirty-Ninth Festal Letter in 367 AD, listing the twenty-seven books we know today, or when the Councils of Hippo and Carthage confirmed that list in the late fourth century. According to this view, the…
If you read through the Hebrew Bible, you may notice something peculiar. Nearly every named character seems to own land, have servants, arrange marriages with significant dowries, or argue with neighbors about property. Slaves and attendants appear in the background, almost as if they are always present but rarely the focus. Many books focus on…
The question of what happened to Jesus’ body after his death is one of the most debated topics in the study of Christian origins. Most discussions tend to portray it as a choice between two options. The first is the traditional Gospel account, where Jesus is buried in a new rock-cut tomb provided by Joseph…
A major question in New Testament studies is whether the people who wrote these texts thought of them as Scripture. Put more directly: did they see their work as inspired by God and connected to the sacred writings of Israel, or did they simply think they were writing letters, stories, and advice for their own…
When we look at figures from the ancient world, our understanding depends on the surviving sources. For example, we know about Julius Caesar not because we can independently verify every detail, but because we have his own writings, accounts from contemporaries, later historians, and archaeological evidence. This is also true for people like Augustus, Cicero,…