Epictetus

Were not the DSS full of apocalyptic stuff with the "Son of Righteousness" coming to punish the evildoers and destroy the earth? That seems to ring a bell in my memory. The Essenes were sitting in Qumran at the same time as the alleged events in the gospels. I'm sure there have been connections made between their literature and that of early Christians. Who is to say that Jesus, if he even existed, wasn't trekking out to the Dead Sea (being tempted by Satan "in the wilderness" on the way) soaking up their theology and eschatology?

Magdlyn

By that, do you imply the supposition that John, the "beloved," the apostle, wrote both the 4th gospel and Revelation? B/c that seems to be assumed as I read the beginning of your link. Odd, since I understand one is written in elegant good Greek, the other--not so much.

CJD

Yes, the authors of that project think that the son of Thunder wrote both the gospel and the Revelation (and the three letters, no doubt). This would be within the parameters of "classical Christian presuppositions." But so would thinking that while the gospel and the three letters are authored by the same person, the Revelation was not (e.g., John the seer).

I am sure they have as their reasons all the standard arguments (nothing new there). Note that single authorship is very important to their project in that their whole hermeneutic seeks to show that "like an elaborately detailed oriental tapestry, John's Gospel and Revelation are intricately interwoven to present a composite picture, epic in scope and immortal in theme" (first sentence, part 1). Like I said, they are approaching the question a little differently.

As for the possible influence of sectarian Judaism on the writing; I think that is entirely plausible. But the two are not mutually exclusive. That is, I suppose it is not unthinkable that a first-century hellenistic Jew convinced of the validity of a certain Jewish sect would employ the classical poetics of comedy.

Regards,

CJD

Toto

Chili's digression has been split off here.

This is intriguing:

Interiview with Elaine Pagels

RTS

For me personally, this webpage/website has answered most of my questions concerning this topic:

http://www.revelationjesuschrist.com/why-written.htm

Magdlyn

That was an educational article, RTS, thank you. I take it, it is just an introduction to a book?

Chili, a request. Please go back to your own split thread and don't muck this one up with your semi-theological wanderings. It gets old.

Thank you.

Casper

I think it was neo-Marcionism at the core. Written as a revelation about the destruction of Jerusalem, to showcase this event as divine proof of the inferiority of the Jewish demiurge.

Toto

Chili' diversions have been moved to the separate thread.

RTS

Yes, there are actually 2 books written by Daniel Gleason concerning Gematria/Isopsephia and Sacred Geometry in the Bible. The first book is at http://jesus8880.com/homepage.htm . I do not have either book, and I have only read the material online, but I do find his research and conclusions to be very interesting and quite compelling. The ancient royals who wrote the mind virus a.k.a. the Bible were more than just a cult of barefoot fishermen, that's obvious.