Gospel of Matthew

A collection of 43 posts

David Austin

The Empty Tomb: The claim that the Bible refutes

The Empty Tomb has, for years, been a mainstay for Christian apologists, who claim Jesus rose from the dead in a glorious Resurrection. The Empty Tomb was used as one of the “minimal facts” to “prove” the resurrection of Jesus. So, what exactly is the Empty Tomb apologetic? According to

biblical contradictions

You say 'Gerasa' and I say 'Gadara'

This is a guest post by Lex Lata (prompted by Jonathan MS Pearce’s video, Biblical Contradictions: Demons and Gadara vs Gerasa). In the matter of proper names, the Greek copies are often incorrect, and in the Gospels one might be misled by their authority. The transaction about the swine,

Biblical Exegesis

Christian apologetics and defending Matthew's guards

There's something meta going on when a Christian apologist takes aim at a biblical account of mine with some typical apologetics, claiming I am making stuff up out of whole cloth when I myself accused the Gospel writers (or apologists) of making stuff up out of whole cloth

Empty tomb

Why Matthew's guards at Jesus' tomb are so important

I've written before on why the guards at the tomb of Jesus, included only in the Gospel of Matthew, are almost certainly invented by the author of that Gospel. Today I will tell you how they fit into a larger narrative construction of the Jesus story, and that

Gospel of Matthew

Matthew's Guards at the Tomb

Matthew is the only Gospel to include the story of the guards at the tomb - supposedly the only actual eyewitnesses of the Resurrection - in the Resurrection narrative. For a number of reasons discussed below, this piece of the narrative is clearly ahistorical, acting (I argue) as a counter-counter-argument

Biblical Exegesis

Jesus as the New Moses and Theology Historicised

Oddly, you might think, I will start this piece off with something commenter Cath Olic said in reply (that was in no reply at all) to a post about an interview dissecting the origins of religion in Israel and the genesis of Judaism: Today I heard part of an interview

Biblical Exegesis

Matthew's Bloopers

In the closing stages of writing my latest book, The Resurrection: A Critical Examination of the Easter Story [UK] (please grab yourself a copy!), I had a few test readers. One was David Austin, down in Australia, who has provided a few guest articles for your delectation. Here is another

Biblical Exegesis

Is the Betrayal of Jesus by Judas Historical?

In the closing stages of writing my latest book, The Resurrection: A Critical Examination of the Easter Story [UK] (please grab yourself a copy!), I had a few test readers. One was David Austin, down in Australia, who has provided a few guest articles for your delectation. Here is another

Biblical Exegesis

Exodus Sidebar: Jesus As the New Moses, Myth upon Myth

In writing the first couple of chapters for my new book project on the Exodus, I was doing some reading of Raymond Brown again, the masterful Catholic exegete who wrote the superb The Birth of the Messiah. I was reminded of the over the belief theological manipulation that we see

Biblical Exegesis

Anointing of Jesus: Fact or Fiction?

In the closing stages of writing my latest book, The Resurrection: A Critical Examination of the Easter Story [UK], I had a few test readers. One was David Austin, down in Australia, who has provided a few guest articles for your delectation. Here is another one - thanks muchly to

Biblical Exegesis

Goodacre on Markan Priority and the Gospel Datings

I listened to some Mark Goodacre some years ago and have referred to him in my own texts, and it was great to watch him here. I loved this talk. I got a lot out of this especially the talk of the destruction of the Temple and the so-called prophecies,

biblical contradictions

Gospel of Mark's Poor Jewish Knowledge

Here is a pretty extensive list of issues in the Gospel of Mark that show the authors lack of knowledge about Jewish customs in Jesus' time. This casts some doubt on the hisstorical reliability of the Gospel and how he treated his sources. The author of the Gospel of

Biblical Exegesis

My Nativity Debate with Lydia McGrew: Post-Match Analysis

I had a debate over whether the Nativity in Luke and Mark was fact or fairytale on Friday night for the Unbelievable? show on Premier Christian radio. I was warned that McGrew might try the Gish-gallup approach so I should get it in myself. I ended up being indeed fairly

Biblical Exegesis

To Bethlehem or Not to Bethlehem (II)

[A second post on Bethlehem excerpted from my book The Nativity: A Critical Examination (UK), which has just received a reprint to clear up a few bits and pieces, long overdue. Please grab a copy! It is worth reading the first post for this to make much sense.] And this

Biblical Exegesis

To Bethlehem or Not to Bethlehem (I)

[Excerpted from my book The Nativity: A Critical Examination (UK), which has just received a reprint to clear up a few bits and pieces, long overdue. Please grab a copy!] Bethlehem is a very important place for the average Christian. It is the birthplace of Jesus. But it is more

Biblical Exegesis

Easter Round-Up: Everything You Need To Know About The Resurrection (Skeptically Speaking)

Well that came around quickly. It's like I've been a little bit distracted or something! Anyway here is your annual Easter skeptical roundup of previous writings I have done on the Resurrection and other things pertaining to the Easter story. Indeed, I was thinking of turning

Biblical Exegesis

The Resurrection Debunked: The Empty Tomb

As mentioned in my two previous posts, it is that time of year again where the Resurrection of Jesus requires a thorough going over. Here it continues. There are three aspects to the debunking of the Resurrection: 1) The Gospels are not reliable sources of information; they are poor quality

Easter

The Resurrection Debunked: Extraordinary Claims

As mentioned in my previous post, someone in Malawi is about to have a debate on national TV with a Christian about the Resurrection accounts and I have been asked to help provide some ideas for the debate, so here goes. There are three aspects to the debunking of the

Biblical Exegesis

The Nativity Census Challenge: Update

For any of you who haven't been reading the threads on the census, a challenge that I set to See Noevo to answer, I would like to update you on what he has delivered by way of riposte: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIIuR-HjFho For longtime readers

Biblical Exegesis

Nativity Plays, Epistemology and Censuses

I recently had the twee pleasure of seeing my twins in their annual Nativity play at their primary school. This is something that goes on in every single primary school up and down the nation, almost without fail. As I point out in my book on the Nativity accounts and

Biblical Exegesis

When Your Everyday Catholic Doesn't Get It

See Noevo is no doubt a committed Catholic, but what he said recently really illustrated much of the problem in debating laymen. I don't mean this to be a personal attack on him and to use "laymen" pejoratively, but my point is important. My piece in

Biblical Exegesis

Responding to Criticism on the Herod/Census Problem

This is my second rebuttal to the efforts Dave Armstrong is putting in to trying to debunk my claims of contradictions in the Bible. The first rebuttal, completed yesterday, looked at his criticisms of my case that there are contradictions involved in the accounts of Jesus alighting on the shore

Biblical Exegesis

Joseph of Arimathea as Fictional

Joseph of Arimathea used to be used by William Lane Craig as a pillar of his truth claims for the Resurrection, itself one of the four cornerstones of his apology. Richard Carrier, amongst others, has provided some very interesting viewpoints on the historicity of this figure (or lack thereof). Craig

Biblical Exegesis

Easter Doubt: Matthew and the Guards at the Tomb

In this post, I am going to look at the resurrection account given by Matthew, in particular his addition found in no other Gospel account, that there were guards stationed at the tomb. According to Matthew, the chief priests were worried that the disciples might steal Jesus’ body to fake

Biblical Exegesis

Easter Doubt: On the Skepticism of the Resurrection (part 3)

As mentioned in my two previous posts, it is that time of year again where the Resurrection of Jesus requires a thorough going over. Here is continues. There are three aspects to the debunking of the Resurrection: 1) The Gospels are not reliable sources of information; they are poor quality