True Satan from true Satan: Mirror Christology in Revelation 13

John of the Apocalypse presents the Dragon-Beast cycle (e.g. Revelation 12-13) as the diabolical inversion of the God-Christ cycle (e.g. Revelation 4-5). God and the Dragon each orchestrate sweeping collateral action through various anointed intermediaries, in particular Christ and the Beast from the sea, respectively, in order to exert their incompatible wills upon the world. … Continue reading True Satan from true Satan: Mirror Christology in Revelation 13 →

A Tale of Two Histories: The Deuteronomistic narrative as Christian scripture

Here I'd like to continue the project I began in a previous post entitled A Tale of Two Pentateuchs: Christian Appropriation of Israel's Imperial Constitution which charts out the trajectories of two divergent frameworks through which we might read Jewish scripture, the one grounded in Christian theology, the other in Israelite theo-politics. In that post … Continue reading A Tale of Two Histories: The Deuteronomistic narrative as Christian scripture →

Last days in Jerusalem: The unfortunate eschatological sin of Ananias and Sapphira

Most readers have little trouble identifying the deceptive deed committed by Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11). According to the popular reading, this Christian couple sought to obtain prestige among the apostles through an act of extraordinary and costly generosity—freely relinquishing the entirety of their property and its value for the good of the church—while at … Continue reading Last days in Jerusalem: The unfortunate eschatological sin of Ananias and Sapphira →

The word made flesh: An early daimonic christology

Nearly all interpreters take it for granted that the incarnational logos poem contained in John 1:1-18 assumes the virginal conception of Jesus that is presented by Matthew and Luke in their redactions of the Gospel of Mark. The Johannine Word becomes flesh, in this case, when the Synoptic Mary conceives a divine son by God's … Continue reading The word made flesh: An early daimonic christology →

Before men fell: Corporate sin in Paul

The logic of the Gospel, traditionally understood, proceeds from Adam's seminal act of disobedience (i.e. the myth of original sin) to Christ's seminal act of obedience (i.e. the myth of the divine savior). Accordingly, the transgression of primordial man, so it is presumed, consigned all subsequent men not just to mortality and toil, as the … Continue reading Before men fell: Corporate sin in Paul →

Nations in the hands of an angry God: The political origins of Original Sin

Most readers of the New Testament interpret its texts along individualistic and soteriological lines—assuming, as it were, that Christianity advances a particular system of personal postmortem salvation; the scriptures functioning as a kind of intimate roadmap from sin, through death, into eternal life. The individual reader (i.e. sinner) must therefore decide whether to accept or … Continue reading Nations in the hands of an angry God: The political origins of Original Sin →

The temple at time’s end: An insufficient apocalypse

Theological treasures & Apocalyptic thieves The delay of Christ's seemingly-imminent return imperils the whole of the Christian theological project. Indeed, the divine savior myth and all its concomitant parts depend upon the accuracy of Christ, his apostles, and their scriptures. Matters of eschatology are particularly vulnerable in this regard: If Jesus, Paul, and John prophesied … Continue reading The temple at time’s end: An insufficient apocalypse →

The Son of Man returns: Messianic expectations in the Apocalypse of Ezra

The Jewish Apocalypse of Ezra (also known as 4 Ezra) was written by an anonymous prophet in the wake of Israel's disastrous war with Rome—a theo-political rebellion that culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem's second temple. Around the time of much of the New Testament's composition, this Jewish seer took up the mantle and persona … Continue reading The Son of Man returns: Messianic expectations in the Apocalypse of Ezra →

Budgeting for the end: Christ’s eschatological economics

Christians typically organize Jesus' sayings on money and property in accordance with one of two models. One of these models attributes to Jesus socialistic aspirations. In this framing Jesus rails against the rich as the defender of the poor and as the prophet who calls into being a more equitable society and a more just … Continue reading Budgeting for the end: Christ’s eschatological economics →

Fire-taming child: The power of miracles in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is an anonymous1 biographical work concerning the childhood of Jesus. It is usually dated to some time in the 2nd century. Much like the Elijah-Elisha cycle or the Johannine Sign Source, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas is a collection of discrete miracle folktales interwoven with controversy stories in which the … Continue reading Fire-taming child: The power of miracles in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas →