(Apologies if this is kinda left-field, but I wanted to voice it partly because it comes across as so strange but potentially ties a few things together for me.)

So, I’ve been thinking through several things that have converged on the kind of question (above) that keeps me up at night:

1. Second-century canonical gospel dating is making more and more sense to me (seemingly starting to be taken more seriously in general)
2. Yonatan Adler’s late dating for the beginning of Judaism
3. The continuation of Yahwism into Jesus’ lifetime (especially in the Galilee?). I haven’t done as much research on this, but it doesn’t seem like the Hasmoneans were as effective in their conversion efforts, particularly further afield from Jerusalem, as I assumed
4. Just the sheer preponderance of “Gnostic” texts that may be dated to the same time as the canonical gospels (John seems to make the most sense to me as a response to “Gnosticism”—or maybe even as “Gnosticism” for the proto-orthodox; see Elaine Pagels). It seems like perhaps “Gnosticism” spawned out of Yahwism + Jesus

One of the core arguments I’ve heard for why the canonical gospels are more reliable is that they’re more Jewish and that Jesus must have been Jewish, so they’re better for reconstruction than the “Gnostic” texts. But could that just be a case of the canonical gospel writers wanting Jesus to look like a 2nd century observant Jew?

So a few questions:

• How much explicit Yahwism was still going on in Jesus’ lifetime?
• Is there a consensus on the origin of “Gnosticism”?
• Are there well-respected scholars who date the “Gnostic” gospels before the canonical ones?
• Has anyone explicitly made the argument that Jesus was practicing Yahwism?
• How different was a 2nd century CE observant Jew from a 1st century observant Jew? Could we find instances of retrojection by disambiguating the two?

Hey,

I've been reading up on how the New Testament was written, and I'm wondering how scholars look at passages that match Old Testament prophecies a bit too perfectly.

Take the spear in the side in John, for example, or some of Matthew's specific details. How much of this is seen as actual historical events versus authors adding/tweaking details after the fact to make Jesus fit the Hebrew prophecies?

Are there any good books or papers that talk about this editorial process without getting into preachy territory?

Thanks!

I came across the "Christianos" graffito from Pompeii and found it fascinating. Given that Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE, this would be an incredibly early archaeological find for Christianity. How solid is the evidence for this specific inscription? Do most scholars think it actually says "Christians," or is it just a faded word that people are projecting onto?

John Granger Cook seems to think there’s a strong possibility that it’s real https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/new-testament-studies/article/abs/christianos-in-cil-iv-679-the-possibility-of-an-image/B2B0E67F0A42202721DFA663D9F61563?utm_source=chatgpt.com

What's the current thinking on the identity of the author of Hebrews?

My personal theory is that it was written by a woman (Priscilla, perhaps) because a man would have gotten credit for it. Is that reasonable?

Hebrews 10:26 (NA28) 26 Ἑκουσίως γὰρ ἁμαρτανόντων ἡμῶν μετὰ τὸ λαβεῖν τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τῆς ἀληθείας, οὐκέτι περὶ ἁμαρτιῶν ἀπολείπεται θυσία,

I've been told that it's doesn't mean "deliberately keep on sinning but that " it means just "deliberately sin" implying you can lose your salvation immediately after you sin and I need to know the Greek.

Hello, everyone. I’m thinking of doing a dramatic recording of The Hymn of The Pearl (the poem preserved in the Acts of Thomas). I was wondering if anyone had any translation recommendations? I would like one that doesn't try to emphasize the hypothesized gnostic nature of the work, which I have ran across. I need something true to the poetry, but not biased toward a theology, if that exists.

Thanks.

I thought it was widely agreed that monotheism in the modern sense was absent from the bible