Koyaanisqatsi

Just as I'm sure your imagination will run wild with answers.

Ok, I'll bite. How could Jesus possibly be considered the fulfillment of Jewish messianic prophecy when his presence did not result in the tortured deaths of the enemies of the anointed "chosen people"--aka, the Jews--and/or the freedom of the Jews?

If you claim it garnered them a "spiritual" freedom and not a physical one, then why would Jesus resurrect bodily?

If Jesus actually is God, then that necessarily means God sacrificed himself to himself to save us all from himself. Granting you have a built in ineffable "out," why would any "intelligent" being, let alone an all-knowing being require such an illogical waste of its own time when it has the equally ineffable power and alleged ultimate reservation of granting salvation by whim alone and for no good goddamned reason, who are you to ask?

If you can't coherently answer that question, then why ask any of us to ask you any questions?

I await your tortured "born again" apologetics.

Riverwind

Well, it was a serious question, but in an effort to move on... To be honest, I think most questions (as Koy exhibits) will be asked along division lines...anyways...

Did Paul travel to Spain?

Riverwind

Perhaps, no likely, Peter is looking for something different from what has been offered so far. I can't think of anything at the moment, but perhaps someone can find some recent biblical research so that we can all have something new and interesting to address?

Currents in Biblical Research

Etc...

Peter Kirby

Perhaps there is an innate tendency to ask questions both unanswerable and divisive, but the questions I have in mind are things like...

"What is a gospel?"

"What's the difference between the synoptics and John?"

"What is redaction criticism all about?"

"What is this 'New School' on Paul I keep hearing about?"

"Why are they called catholic epistles?"

You know, the kind of shit we can answer and actually call a FAQ.

Amaleq13

I assume you mean this statement:
You think this applies to Christian scholars?

He avoided repeating his Lord's prediction about the destruction of the temple because it hadn't happened yet?

Are you suggesting the Gospel stories were written between Paul's letters and the war so he had never heard about it?

Sauron

Here's a question I'd like to see addressed, although it involves both the NT and the period in between the OT and NT:

What role did Jesus play in advancing, or creating, a belief in the resurrection and afterlife? How prevalent was that belief prior to his ministry on earth? And where did it draw inspiration from?

RED DAVE

Two questions:

1) Why are there two versions of Jesus' geneology? Since both Matthew and Luke copied from Mark, where did they get the genology material. It's similar in both books but not identical.

2) Is there any evidence, besides the alleged work of Paul, that indicates that Christians were, in fact, systematically persecuted by Jews?

RED DAVE

matthewthomas

OK. Here goes... just some random thoughts...
Who was Simon Magus, and did he have an important role in early Christianity. If not (or if he didn't exist), what is the purpose of the passage about Simon in Acts?

How quickly would a gospel written in one community become known by other communities, and how accurately? Were they sent around like the epistles (or carried with missionaries), or would transmission of gospel stories have relied on memory and retelling?

Mt

Febble

Well, mine is exactly the same as riverwind's. I simply want to know the answer. I am not a biblical scholar, and I'd like to know. Could someone briefly summarise it for me? Why could the gospels (or at least early versions of the gospels) not have been written before the fall of Jerusalem? I read John AT Robinson and I want to know why his argument is wrong.

Febble

OK, if you want FAQ questions for people like me - not biblical scholars at all, but open minded reasonably intelligent people, including Christians who want to know more from an unbiased source, here are some:

What do people think Q was?

What is the "Signs Gospel"?

What is the gospel of St Thomas?

Who wrote the gospels?

How different are different versions of the gospels?

What kind of spin did each gospel writer try to put on the story?

When/where did the empty tomb story originate?

What did Paul think that Christianity was about?

In what order were Paul's letters written?

What was the "Good news" of the gospel?


(That one is what I really want to know - each writer seems to mean something different, and all seem to assume that the second coming would be within the life time of some of their readers).


How much history is there in Acts?

What the hell is Revelation about?

And I have a special question (probably not for a FAQ) about John's gospel:

Is the literary form of the discourses a well-known one? I once "transcribed" them into blank verse and was fascinated by the formal structure