Hi folks - first let me say I'm glad you're here! I'm very grateful for everyone who has had the interest and taken the time to visit and join The Original Church Community here on Locals.
This community was always meant to be a subscription platform, and I have to admit, when I started this project I had no idea it was even possible to be a "member" without being a supporter. I never wanted a stratified community with some members having more access to teaching and Q&A than others. But now we actually have more "members" (who are not supporters) than supporters.
So I've worked it out with the Locals people that from now on we have a full hour for our Bible Study, The Journey, and - for the next two Saturdays, the Journey will be open to all members, not only supporters. It's a kind of a Christmas gift to the supporter-curious. That way, everyone can join in and see what it's like, or watch the recorded livestream later, and again, you can check it out for free and see what it's all about.
So come, all ye faithful, and join us for the Christmas passages, tomorrow morning, and on the morning of the 24th (and then after Christmas we're going back to the subscription requirement). I hope many of you will decide to become supporters and join us on The Journey (and for our other regular gatherings). And I hope to see you in the livestream tomorrow morning at 11 am eastern, 10 am central. - Jim
Dear friends - Please take 10 minutes to watch this personal update from me:
I mentioned in The Journey that I wrote a song based on Isaiah 2, which is one of my favorite OT passages:
In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain, and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
I hope you like the song!
If you wanted to read the rest of the New Testament (after the gospels) in chronological order, interspersed with the book of Acts, this PDF gives you the order in which to read everything. There are a few books for which specific dates are unknown, and as you know, other scholars might have a different way of working this out - but it does work, and the math checks out (see the other PDF, the chronology of St. Paul's life, which I will post after this). And if you find any problems to be corrected or you have something to add, please let me know!
I made this during my PhD program, so about 30 years ago, but I think it holds up - still, please let me know if you see anything you want to nuance or question. I have Paul being executed in 64 or 65, but my latest research suggests that 67 or even early 68 might be more accurate. Also, to the question of whether Paul was martyred before Peter or after him, the evidence suggests Peter was martyred first, but Peter's comments about Paul's letters being Scripture feels to me like Paul was already dead when Peter wrote that. Legends that they were martyred together were created to overcome an apocryphal story that they had had a falling out, but that's not really true.
Jim
Hi everyone - well, we finished up John chapter 6, and that's going to have to be it for the foreseeable future. I do hope to get back to our journey through the Gospels, but I don't know when. If and when I do, all future episodes will be posted on my YouTube channel.
In the meantime, I encourage you to continue your study of the gospels. You don't really need my translations of the text - we've explored which translations are better than most, and with the discovery of the Ignatius Study Bible (the NRSV-2CE) that ticks all the boxes of my test verses, you're good to go. If in doubt, use that one.
As far as putting the parallel passages together, I use a couple of books to help with that. The Throckmorton book is more well known, but it doesn't include John:
https://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Parallels-Comparison-Synoptic-Standard/dp/0840774842
Here's one that includes all four gospels:
https://www.amazon.com/Synopsis-Gospels-Revised-Standard-Version/dp/1585169420
And here's the version ...
