Biblical Heritage Center Blog

In Galatians Paul calls his gospel “ The Gospel of Christ ,” thus those who believe “ The Gospel of Christ ” were called “ Christ -ians .” Paul made it very clear that his gospel was not like any other gospel . In Galatians 1:11-12 we read: The gospel which was preached by me is not according to a man , because I neither received it from a man , nor was I taught it (by a man) , but (I received it) through a vision (revelation) of Jesus (the) Christ . Paul, unlike the Saul in Acts, does not describe that experience – so do not project Saul’s words into this story . Paul opened Galatians (1:1) with a claim that sets him apart from the other apostles -- his “apostleship” is completely different . Paul, not an apostle through men nor through a man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Jesus Christ from the dead . The other apostles received their apostleships prior to the resurrection. None of them were given “ The Gospel of Christ .” Accordi...

There has always been some confusion over whether Saul and Paul is the same person. The confusion begins in the Book of Acts. ● “Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul . . . he brought him to Antioch . . . for a whole year they taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called ‘ Christians ’ in Antioch .” ( Acts 11:25-26 ) ● “ Then Agrippa said to Paul , `You almost persuade me to become a Christian .’” ( Acts 26:28) ● “ Then Saul , who also  is called   Paul . . . ” ( Acts 13:9a ) Based on the three verses above, we would assume they are references to the same person – but is he the Paul we read about in the Epistles? The name “ Saul ” doesn’t appear in the Epistles. In order to answer that question we must examine the stories of the “ conversion experiences ” of Saul in Acts and Paul in Galatians . Pay close attention to the time periods and places mentioned in both accounts. Saul’s experience is found in Acts 9 and...

Obviously, Bibles play major roles in all “ biblical heritages ,” therefore it is essential for Biblical Heritage Explorers to include facts about Bibles in their discussions – and belief systems . This is why Explorers “ take the Pledge .” My belief system will be large enough to include all of the facts, open enough to be examined and questioned, and flexible enough to change when errors or new facts are discovered . Fact #1 The book most people call “the Bible” is a translation . As of October 2019 the full Christian Bible has been translated into 698 languages , the New Testament has been translated into an additional 1,548 languages and Bible portions or stories into 1,138 other languages . One of those languages is English, which didn’t exist until the 5 th century CE. Prior to then the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. [1] Fact #2 No Bible is a translation of original books . No original manuscript of any book of the Bible...

In my previous email, Adam Destroyed the Law But Jesus Didn’t ( click here to read ), I discussed what the words found in Matthew 5:17 meant to Yeshua, the Jesus of history . English translations have something like this: “ Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy , but to fulfill .” Here is what he actually said: Do not think that I have come to misinterpret the Torah or the Prophets. I have come to correctly interpret them! In my email, Making the Jesus of History Part of Lives and Discussions Today ! ( click here to read ), I pointed out that in the first century environment in which Yeshua lived “ correct interpretations of the Torah and the Prophets ” were a very big deal. Yeshua wasn’t the only one claiming to “ correctly interpret ” them. He was competing with the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Hellenists and Herodians . So, the Jewish people living in Galilee and Judea faced the challenge of “ choosing fro...

In my last email, “ Let’s not call him ‘The Jewish Jesus ’”, I discussed how much I appreciated Dr. David Flusser’s work on Second Temple Judaism and Early Christianity . I pointed out that Flusser called Jesus “ the Jesus of history ” and “ the historical Jesus ” – but he did not call him “ the Jewish Jesus .” Today I want to share two more things that set Flusser apart from other Jewish and Christian scholars. While Flusser understood Jesus belonged fully to the diverse and competing streams of Jewish thinking of the first century, he felt no need to deny Jesus his high self-awareness .* Flusser’s point about “ diverse and competing streams of Jewish thinking of the first century” is critical for understand the people Jesus interacted with in the Gospels: ● Pharisees ● Sadducees ● Essenes ● Hellenists ● Herodians All of the groups above had their own interpretations of Jewish Scriptures and other writings. The historical Jesus added his interpr...

“ Like research in other fields of human achievements and activities through the ages, the study of ancient Judaism and early Christianity must be done objectively, employing accepted and unbiased methods of scholarly endeavor. The starting point is a truism: Christianity arose among the Jews — it was once a part of Judaism . Therefore if you want to analyze Christian origins, you have to study ancient Judaism .” Those are the words of the scholar I place at the top of my list for knowledge about the Second Temple Period and Early Christianity -- Dr. David Flusser (b. 1917 - d. 2000). He was an Israeli professor of Early Christianity and Judaism of the Second Temple Period (538 BCE to 70 CE) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His pioneering research on Jesus and Christianity’s relationship to Judaism won him international recognition. In 1980, Flusser, who spoke nine languages fluently and could read 26 , received the Israel Prize, the country’s most prestigious h...