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Urbs and Polis
United States
Приєднався 11 лис 2020
Urbs and Polis (U/P) aims to encourage and support the study of early Christianity within its Greco-Roman context from the earliest Christian communities to the Patristic period. At U/P, we intend to make content not only welcoming to the scholar and student, but also to the non-specialist. We propose to accomplish this goal by writing, recording, and filming accessible material while utilizing creative media outlets for distribution. U/P aspires to be an intellectual hub for ongoing scholarly discussion concerning the social, economic, cultural, and political context from which early Christianity originated and developed.
The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved: John, His Community, and His Sources
In this newest video, Dr. Hugo Méndez answers some pressing questions about the Gospel of John's author, audience, key themes, and sources. Dr. Méndez investigates the identity of “the disciple whom Jesus loved” in John and questions traditional views while offering new outlooks. Additionally, he identifies overarching themes in John and navigates through important questions concerning the sources John might be drawing from to compose his gospel.
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Відео
The Shepherd of Hermas: An Early Christian Fascination
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The Shepherd of Hermas enjoyed a widespread readership from early Christians since its inception. In this video, Chance Bonar (PhD Candidate, Harvard University) not only introduces the key features and themes of The Shepherd but also discusses its reception history and lingering questions about the writing still plaguing scholars today.
Titus 1:12 Through An Indigenous Lens
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In this video, Dr. Chris Hoklotubbe (Choctaw) reads and assesses Titus 1:12 through his own Choctaw lens. Dr. Hoklotubbe pushes back on scholars who have attempted to sweep the discriminatory language against the "Cretans" under the rug and offers a new way to read Titus 1:12 in light of the missionizing efforts experienced by American Indians.
Masada: A Discussion With Prof. Jodi Magness
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In this video, we sat down with Professor Jodi Magness and discussed all things Masada. Prof. Magness helpfully details why Masada remains an important archaeological site for scholars of Second-Temple Judaism and Christian origins. Prof. Magness further elaborates on the modern implications of Masada and the state of Israel; the "mythic" elements of Josephus' episode of mass suicide; and the t...
"Q" and Friends
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In our last video, Prof. Mark Goodacre took up the "Synoptic Problem" providing his reasons for the legitimacy of the Farrer Hypothesis and for dispensing with "Q". In this new video, Prof. John Kloppenborg questions the Farrer Hypothesis and whether Luke really had the literary inventiveness to account for the double tradition that proponents like Prof. Goodacre suggests. In this video, Prof. ...
The Synoptic Problem With Mark Goodacre
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In our newest video, Professor Mark Goodacre (Duke University) sat down with us to discuss some of the key issue surrounding the "Synoptic Problem." Professor Goodacre suggests that, perhaps, scholars have been too dependent upon the hypothetical source called "Q" and instead offers us a different way forward when considering the Synoptic problem.
Eric Ruins Christmas
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Does the nativity scene displayed on your mantle this Christmas season reflect the historical realities surrounding Jesus' birth? Was it three Magi who came to visit the baby Jesus or were they shepherds? Was there a guiding star in Jesus' birth story? Is Jesus born in Bethlehem for the same reasons in both Matthew and Luke's account? What are apocryphal gospels and how might they factor into t...
Profaning Paul: Livestream Promo
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This short clip introduces Profaning Paul, Prof. Cavan Conannon's new release. Here Prof. Concannon offers just one example, i.e. Paul's use of slavery, as an entry point into his larger arguments. We invite any interested folks to join our livestream event with Prof. Cavan Concannon on December 10th (12pm, PST | 3pm, EST | 8PM, BST) where he will explore some of his most important ideas set fo...
Greco-Roman Slavery
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What did it mean to be a slave in the Greco-Roman world? How did one become enslaved and what treatment might we expect them to encounter by their enslavers and the wider world? What comparisons and differences between slavery in antiquity and American slavery can be made? With the advent of Christianity and it’s communities, does slavery and it’s practices remain normalized among its members? ...
Ancient Biographies: Key Players and Future Outlook
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In this follow up video, Dr. Justin Smith details some of the key players who helped kick-start the study of ancient biographies as a means to understand the gospels. Dr. Smith further suggests some potential future avenues for ancient biography and gospel studies.
The Ethics of Citation: Sexual Abusers in Biblical Studies
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The Ethics of Citation: Sexual Abusers in Biblical Studies
The Historical Paul: The Paul of History or Faith?
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The Historical Paul: The Paul of History or Faith?
Ancient Biographies: What They Are and Why They Matter
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Ancient Biographies: What They Are and Why They Matter
Most slaves as war booty from Africa, Gaul, Greece, Asia Minor...Thank you
What are some useful sources on the Shepherd of Hermas addressing it's early Church usage?
The hypothesis that seems not to have been considered is that Jesus had a direct hand in how the Gospels were written, and that no one "copied" anybody else. This idea is supported by the possibility that Jesus' three descriptions of the Sign of Jonah are not contradictory or mutually exclusive, but, in fact, form a trinity of mutually supportive events. See "The Enigma of the Sign of Jonah," BSTS Shroud Newsletter, No. 97, Summer 2023.
“persons”. thanks, bye.
I agree. Thats the same thing i thought, no need for a Q. One of them copied Mark then was in turn copied by someone else. It even could've been the same person rewriting it, kinda like a rough draft.
Using for sermon prep! Hi, Dr. Schellenberg! Sincerely, your former student!
Wonderful. Clear. Helpful. Advancing. Thank you Urbs and Polis and that you especially, Mark Goodacre.
The horrors of slavery in the United States were greatly exaggerated for political purposes by abolitionists who wanted to end slavery completely. I do not fault them for using every means at their disposal to end slavery but if you're searching for truth, these "accounts" of abolitionists need to be taken with a grain of salt.
If you want to understand the mind of slaves, understand that most slaves who were freed purchased slaves of their own. Slaves did not view slavery as a moral evil. They simply viewed slavery as an unfortunate state to live with, such as being disabled by birth or by accident.
This guy is the new Bart Ehrman. Brilliant.
*So in plain language...are we thinking that they "copied" eachother??????*
The Romans enslaved the Greeks . The majority of Roman slaves were from Greece because of the numerous wars between the two countries and Roman victories. The first great influx of Greek slaves into Rome occurred after the defeat of the Macedonians at the battle of Pydna in 168 B.C. Contrary to popular belief a vast majority Greek slaves in Rome were used to build the temples, roads and aqueducts through the empire and were not teachers.
CE... oh dear. 🤦♂️ It was removed because it is far too long and obscurantist. The gospel is supposed to be accessible and the Shepherd fails in that sense.
Are you assuming this or do you have evidence?
@@bryanlovesjesus2204 The church fathers didn't have much time for visionary or Apocalyptic literature, or at least the New Testament variety. Revelation only narrowly made it into the canon and that book doesn't even appear on some early lists of canon. No other Apocalypses appear in the NT. You can verrify this yourself by doing your own legwork. YT doesn't like external links.
@@bryanlovesjesus2204 p.s. Assuming? Stop being such a patronising sod. I was reading printed books on the canon before you were probably born.
"Most people believe...." careful with that.
Roma caput mundi....
Thanks 👍
Another great video!! Dr. Hugo Mendez is actually a really great speaker.
Enjoyed.
Great content people. Keep it up.
Thanks for the kind words!
Thanks, Cav! This is great.
I wish that I had seen this video when it came out. I’m an atheist. I have been arguing with Christians that I have no interest in debating creation versus evolution because I’m a mechanic, not an evolutionary biologist. I don’t know boo about the Big Bang (other than that it has nothing to do with evolutionary biology) and I don’t care. I want my Christian friends to share with me why I should believe that Paul ever saw a risen Jesus while on the road to Damascus. Why should I believe that Paul was anything other than some dude who declared himself to be an apostle to the Gentiles? Without Paul’s letters, real or faked, modern Christianity ultimately rests not on whether there was ever an historical Jesus. It really comes down to who Paul was and what was in it for him. I don’t believe that Paul ever saw a risen Jesus. I believe that Acts is nothing more than a PR piece for Paul. Thank you for helping to shore up my arguments that without Paul, Christianity as we know it, never happens.
Ah yes. A zealot Jew who had lots of power and money decides to make up (lie) an encounter with Jesus so that he could lose everything, get jailed, mocked ostracized and beheaded. Classic. I know plenty of sane people who would do the same 🤦♂️🙄
Right or wrong, that is a well articulated, reasoned, and supported justification for the argument being made... unlike most competing arguments I've heard.
Robyn is a great scholar. We have the Pauline epistles but nothing written until Mark. Why? Are books, letters, just lost to time, or maybe there really is an oral Q tradition lost to antiquity?
How did people prove free status in ancient Rome? What was the green card of that era?
Land, business, citizenship, birth status. Basically caste.
Excellent and pre-ordered _The Magi_ book. Thank you!
Thank you!
@@ericvandeneykel5694 You're Welcome! You both were great and covered a lot in a short time.
Pre-ordered also. Enjoyed the conversation. Love Urbs & Polis.
Really useful, accessible classroom resource from a Q icon. Thanks, folks!
Please some thinking regarding the importance of Alexandria and cesarea in the creation and diffusion of early gospels !
Mark Goodacre FTW!
Great video - hope you persevere in bringing these important scholars to UA-cam!
It's obvious that the Gospels are written by psuedo authors other than the 4 Evangelists because it talks in an omniscient point of view like the writers knows every facts. Somehow I sense that Joseph of Arimathea most likely is also be Flavius Josephus because he easily requested Jesus' body to be taken down and buried properly? He simply have high connections. Maybe there could have been a historical Jesus but the thing is that the Koine Greek writers somehow mythologized some of the stories that's why some scholarly learned people didn't bought those stories. It maybe possible that Flavius Josephus may have something to do of the NT being written because he seems to know many things about Jerusalem and the happenings there in his timeline? I somehow treat the Bible as a controversial compilations of people who lived on the culture where they just wanna share beliefs. The Christianity we have now is a mixture of Essenism, Zoroasterism, Hinduism/Buddhism/Taoism which may have also reached the middle east and somehow influenced the writers? Platonic concepts are also obvious.
@@josemoody1743, this is just my collective opinion because the Jews were highly influenced by neighbor religions and philosophers during the Hellenistic Period, try listening to the YT Channels: Gnostic Informant and Myth Vision Podcast. Lots of Bible scholars/authors are guest speakers there.
Thanks Mark, well stated and I hope that in a future video or podcast you'll give your opinion on interpolations in the Pauline epistles, particularly Romans and 1st Cor., which have been advanced by Walker, Koester, etc.
Dr. Concannon's comments starting at 51' explains my perplexity reading the last chapter of Arlo Nau's "Peter in Matthew".
I'm playing this in the background while rearranging my bookshelf and pull one of his books, what coincidence.
Thanks Eric. Very helpful insights. I have subscribed.
Thanks, Dion!
The question that comes at 1:03:00 into the talk might be referring to Altweil's (sp?) theory that Josephus wrote Mark's gospel to pacify the rebellious Jews after the war. I think these types of theories are nonsense. So, the authorities think to themselves: "These Jews are rebellious, we need to do something". OK, that much is OK. And then their solution is: "HEY! Let's pay some guy to invent a new religion!" That is absolute nonsense. No one would ever do that. Many problems with it. The biggest problem is that just because you decide to invent a new religion, it doesn't mean you'll get people to follow it. The process of getting followers to a new religion is totally different than some guy deciding to invent a religion to bring peace to a region or people. And even if they adopt your religion, how do you know it will manipulate people in the way you think it will? Ignore all such theories is my advice, but then again, I want to create rebellion and I know that by spreading such theories it will create rebellion.
Very good. Most informative, intriguing and entertaining
Thanks, Stuart! So glad you enjoyed the livestream.
Audio keeps jumping back and forth between right and left ear. Otherwise great vid!
Thanks for the feedback. I’ve not experienced this on any set of headphones or computer on my end. I’ll continue to see if any others are having similar issues as you. Happy holidays!
I know what the title says, but I just wanna say, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone at Urbs and Polis:)
Happy holidays to you as well!
Excellent interview and I'm loving the book. I hope this opens up the field to reconsider the many interpolation hypotheses in the Pauline epistles. Too much ink has been wasted assuming the single authorship of each 'authentic' epistle and the character of Paul derived from it.
I think this is a fairly interesting video. Do you have any recommended books about this topic?
This is a very important discussion, thank you for sharing.
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you for this! It is going to be super helpful to send to all who say that slavery back then was not the same as what it was in the US! Was curious, what is the word for slaves used by Paul when he says, “Slaves, Obey your masters” and also, why and how did they consider slaves as less than humans or mere “bodies” to be exploited if they were humans captured by war? For eg: there was a time when Black people were considered to not have souls to be “saved” and therefore considered less than humans, similarly how did they come to devalue some people as less than humans back during the Greco-Roman times if it was not by race or ethnicity? I guess I am asking, What were/could’ve been the conditions for difference, if it was not race?
@jeffreyimmanuel8032 Philemon 1: _For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother-especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. 17 So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it-to say nothing of your owing me even your own self_ The Christians weren't going to enter a world dominated by the Greeks and Romans and uproot their entire foundational practices overnight. But Christians eventually did in the 4th century and again in the 19th.
I don't think Q existed (with Goodacre). But one thing that kills me is when people go on this hypothetical document... and like "identify" strata of Q, like... we don't know it existed. How can you reconstruct strata of Q development in a document you can't even demonstrate existed? Lol. Gets me every time. I'm also not sure we can say that everything Paul knows about Jesus comes from divination. For sure, he claims this as his source of authority for his "gospel", but even things like 1 Cor. 15:3f. he cites tradition passed down to him, and nowhere indicates this is from divine revelation. Furthermore, it is not even in his standard writing style, and I would say this is still probably a case of him using a previous tradition. I would also argue his claim of getting "acquainted with Cephas," (Gal. 1:18) and that he met James the Brother of Jesus at least should give us some pretty great pause before saying his information of Christ solely derived from divination experiences. Anyways, with regard to everything else, I'm excited to see how Dr. Walsh's work is used and influences the direction of NT scholarship! Side note, it really bothers me how much we infantilize ancient authors acting like "well, this can't possibly be fiction, it must be oral tradition." Like, no one credibly thinks that Atlantis was real. It was just something that Plato made up. We have actual fictive novels from the ancient world. They were inventors and such, so I just think it is really infantilizing and a case of major protectionism of the NT. The appeal to "oral tradition" is just to save the historicity of the Gospels. It is really strange in self-validating the existence of the quest of the historical Jesus as well, which I think is just something that shouldn't exist anymore.
It makes total sense that people would pass down traditions from a person they’re literally worshipping. I don’t see how you can chalk that assumption up to “agenda”.
Waste of time
We’d be happy for you to make a productive and helpful comment that critiques Prof. Concannon if you disagree with him…this is how scholarly discussion works.
Excellent interview! Dr. Zeichmann is amazing. I picked up his book last year, and it has been a favorite of mine! If only I had the time to read everything Dr. Zeichmann writes, but it seems like he publishes faster than I can read even get my hands on the papers haha. I'll be really interested to see how Marxist Bible scholars go about using Dr. Zeichmann's work as a new foundation to study class in the NT, given the Roman Army is going to be really important for understanding class dynamics.
Hi Chris, thanks so much! I published a short piece in an edited book about this - it's in a book edited by Robert Myles, called Class Struggle in the New Testament. A few other U&P folks (Robyn Walsh and Sarah Rollens, off the top of my head) contributed to the book as well!
I’ve long wondered about the ethics of citing someone like P*rvo. I refuse to give their work and legacy any airtime. Thank you so much for giving light to this.
Agreed! Thanks so much for checking out our work. Cheers!
Gracias Urbs and Polis por acercarnos a estos temas, ese libro se ve genial. ¡Esperamos ganar el concurso! - Thanks Urbs and Polish for approaching these topics, that book looks great. We hope to win the giveaway!