In his book, Bauckham explains that although Mark’s Gospel bears his name, Peter is preeminent to the story as a witness, the main reason being that Peter exemplifies the experiences of the disciples as a whole, and exhibits their qualities in extremes. “He is typical of them all in his failure, but surpasses them in the manner of his failure.” Peter is the best choice, because we can all identify with him, not to mention his history with Christ and the apostles. He’s also prominent in all 4 Gospels, not just Mark. And the fact that he allows the story of his own denial to be told—that’s powerful testimony of honesty!
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Category Archives: Books
Jesus and the EyeWitnesses: A Study with a Skeptic Friend, Part 6—”From the Beginning”
We talked about inclusio.
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Jesus and the EyeWitnesses: A Study with a Skeptic Friend, Part 5—The Twelve Disciples
By far, most recent scholars accept the twelve disciples as a real group. The 12 are listed, not merely as individual sources for parts of the story, but as a singular and overall collective source of the entire story. They were people who lived on after the resurrection and continued to teach of the events they witnessed together. Most people who get into this subject, skeptic or faithful, hear often of the harmonization of the Gospels. One of the harmonies is the lists of the twelve, including their epithets.
Jesus and the EyeWitnesses: A Study with a Skeptic , Part 4—Names of Witnesses
Ever wonder why certain people are mentioned by name in the Gospels, and others not? Bauckham explains in his book how people are named because of their role as eyewitness to the story they participate in. Cleopas, for example, didn’t have to be named, but was, possibly to identify him as an eyewitness.
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Jesus and the EyeWitnesses: Study with a Skeptic, Part 3—Papias
Papias, Papias, and more Papias (continuing from our previous study)
Papias was a bishop of Hierapolis, a 3rd generation Christian who compiled oral reports of the life of Jesus. In his book, Bauckham spends a great deal of time on Papias, who naturally assumed that the elders he received his reports from had spoken with the disciples of Jesus directly.
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Jesus and the EyeWitnesses: A Study with a Skeptic, Part 2—History, Jesus, and The Holocaust
What is the difference between what the Bible says about Jesus (testimony carried on), and what history can tell us (history outside of the Bible)? It is claimed that when true scholars subject the Gospels to objective scrutiny, much doubt is cast on their storytelling. It seems legit that we believe what we see in the Bible not because it said so, but because “the historian has independently verified it.” To an extent, this is understandable, but when we refuse to treat the Gospels as historical documents themselves, we rob them of their legitimacy as witness reporting. In our study with our skeptic friend, we began to talk about why the Bible is mistrusted as a source of history.
Jesus and the EyeWitnesses: A Study with a Skeptic Friend Begins
Jesus and the EyeWitnesses: A Study with a Skeptic Friend
Part 1—The Study Begins
This past year I had the chance to do a long study with a who has lost their faith, but was willing to study. They had let many doubts pile up over the years, and chief among those doubts was in the reliability of scripture.
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In 7th Grade I Wrote a Spy Novel called “8 Ball”
I did. In 6th grade I was introduced to Goldeneye 64, which introduced me to James Bond. I recorded all the 007 films during a TV marathon and became so obsessed I began writing my own spy novel.
It was called 8 Ball. By the end of 7th Grade I had written it, and my plan was to have 25 of them total in a series. This never happened. Neither did the publication of 8 Ball.
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Why Teach Novels in High School?
“Do we have to read a book this year?” Any fool who loves literature cringes at the expression from a student who doesn’t want to read.
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Dave Eggers’ The Circle, part 3: PRIVACY=THEFT
SECRETS ARE LIES
SHARING IS CARING
PRIVACY IS THEFT
[Continued from parts 1 and 2]
The circle is about to be complete. Mae is at the center of it all. Everyone at the circle, and everyone across the world, seem to have bought into the idea that transparency of all things is best, that putting everything about yourself out there is best. Now we are on the verge of making everything mandatory. [spoilers ahead]
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CALEB COY 