The Gospels offer a surprisingly excusatory depiction of Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect of Judea directly responsible for Jesus’ death. While the contemporary sources do not mention Pilate’s fatal involvement Read more…
Jesus/Historical Jesus
Is it possible to identify the first-century man named Jesus behind the many stories and traditions about him that developed over 2,000 years in the Gospels and church teachings? There are many critical archaeological and Biblical issues that surround the search for the historical Jesus.
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Jesus Before Pilate
• 07/17/2017
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The Sayings of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas
• 06/04/2017
New Testament scholar Simon Gathercole examines what the sayings of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas reveal about the early Christian world in which they were written. Read more…
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The Gospel of Thomas’s 114 Sayings of Jesus
• 06/04/2017
Read the 114 sayings of Jesus from the Gospel of Thomas as translated by Stephen J. Patterson and James M. Robinson. Read more…
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How Was Jesus’ Tomb Sealed?
• 04/06/2017
Urban C. von Wahlde looks at the Gospel accounts to see how the stone that sealed the tomb of Jesus is portrayed. Read more…
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Jesus’ Last Supper Still Wasn’t a Passover Seder Meal
• 03/28/2017
Many people still assume that Jesus’ Last Supper was a Seder, a ritual meal held in celebration of the Jewish holiday of Passover. In this exclusive Bible History Daily guest Read more…
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Has the Childhood Home of Jesus Been Found?
• 03/17/2017
The childhood home of Jesus may have been found underneath the Sisters of Nazareth Convent in Nazareth, Israel, according to archaeologist Ken Dark. Read more…
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Herod’s Death, Jesus’ Birth and a Lunar Eclipse
• 03/02/2017
Read letters published in the Q&C section of BAR debating the dates of Herod’s death, Jesus’ birth and to which lunar eclipse Josephus was referring. Read more…
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Bible Scholar Brent Landau Asks “Who Were the Magi”?
• 01/27/2017
A lost Syriac manuscript, the Revelation of the Magi, translated into English by Bible scholar Brent Landau, may help answer that key question from the Christmas story: “Who were the Read more…
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Jesus Was a Refugee
• 01/15/2017
With news that over a million refugees have in the last year fled to Europe, scholar Joan E. Taylor says that it’s worth remembering that Jesus’ earliest years were, according Read more…
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Was Jesus’ Last Supper a Seder?
• 01/12/2017
Many assume that Jesus’ Last Supper was a Seder, the ritual Passover meal. Examine evidence from the synoptic Gospels with scholar Jonathan Klawans. Read more…
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The Bethesda Pool, Site of One of Jesus’ Miracles
• 12/03/2016
The Bethesda Pool, where Jesus heals the paralytic man in the Gospel of John, is a complex site. It appears to have been a mikveh, or ritual bath. As the Read more…
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Did Jesus Exist? Searching for Evidence Beyond the Bible
• 12/03/2016
Did Jesus of Nazareth, “the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5), really exist? What’s the evidence outside of the Bible? Classical and Jewish writings from the first several centuries C.E. Read more…
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How December 25 Became Christmas
• 12/02/2016
Theological scholar Andrew McGowan examines how December 25 came to be associated with the birthday of Jesus and became Christmas, a holiday celebrated by Christians around the world. Read more…
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Why Did the Magi Bring Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh?
• 12/01/2016
Were the gifts of the magi meant to save Jesus from the pain of arthritis? It’s possible, according to researchers at Cardiff University in Wales who have been studying the Read more…
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Christmas Stories in Christian Apocrypha
• 12/01/2016
The modern Christmas nativity scene is drawn from apocryphal texts in addition to the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke. Read more…
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Where Was Jesus Born?
• 11/22/2016
If Jesus was born in Bethlehem, why is he called a Nazorean and a Galilean throughout the New Testament? Philip J. King addresses this question in his Biblical Views column. Read more…
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Who Was Jesus’ Biological Father?
• 11/19/2016
Was Joseph Jesus’ biological father? If not, who was Jesus’ biological father? Andrew Lincoln examines what early Christians thought about conception and explains how views about this subject have changed Read more…
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The Parables of Jesus
• 09/26/2016
Helmut Koester suggests that the parables of Jesus did not communicate a hidden meaning when they were told by Jesus—the parables of Jesus could be understood by all. Read more…
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Tour Showcases Remains of Herod’s Jerusalem Palace—Possible Site of the Trial of Jesus
• 09/01/2016
Visitors to Jerusalem’s Old City can explore remains of King Herod’s palace, which may be where Roman governor Pontius Pilate tried and condemned Jesus of Nazareth to death. Read more…
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Jesus as Lord of the Dance
• 08/15/2016
The apocryphal Acts of John describe the dance of Jesus and the apostles. How widespread was the ritual of dance in Christian worship? Read more…
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Uncovering the Jewish Context of the New Testament
• 08/14/2016
Most Jewish readers approach the New Testament, if they approach it at all, with at best a certain unfamiliarity. This is unfortunate, according to Jewish New Testament scholar Amy-Jill Levine, Read more…
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Mark and John: A Wedding at Cana—Whose and Where?
• 11/16/2015
In a guest post republished from his blog, James Tabor discusses the wedding at Cana from the Gospels of Mark and John. Whose wedding was this and why were Jesus Read more…
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Was Jesus a Jew?
• 11/12/2015
Was Jesus a Jew? Some people claim that Jesus was a Christian. Some have claimed that he was an Aryan Christian. But in recent decades scholars have been returning to Read more…
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Where Did Jesus Turn Water into Wine?
• 10/05/2015
Where did Jesus turn water into wine? According to archaeologist Tom McCollough in “Searching for Cana: Where Jesus Turned Water into Wine” in the November/December 2015 issue of BAR, one Read more…
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The Hungry Jesus
• 03/18/2015
Andrew McGowan challenges the tradition that Jesus was a welcoming host at meals. Read more…
