A note on the Toldoth Yeshu

A New Account of Christian Origins / pt. 21 I have been studying the Toldoth Yeshu (Hebrew: “Generations of Yeshu”) for several weeks in the hope that this unusual work might shed some light on Christian origins. However, I have been disappointed and conclude that the TY is a rather poorly-written, scurrilous, and late anti-gospel composed, I suspect, by a disenchanted rabbi in distant Babylonia. Here is some of what the insightful Robert M. Price writes concerning the work: The Toledoth Jeshu (Generations of Jesus) is the title of several variants of an anti-gospel text portraying Jesus as a false prophet and magician… The wide distribution of various language versions and manuscript fragments, together with the numerous parallels with second-century Jewish-Christian polemic … Continue reading

Some questions for readers…

This is an experiment… I just received an awfully long comment (below) from one Peter Koerber, an informed reader who presents with a host of good questions that, unfortunately, I simply don’t have the time to answer. But they do deserve answers, and so I’m passing Peter’s questions on to readers—you. Please help us all out by responding to one or more of Peter’s queries, which I’ve numbered 1–7 below. Send your comment to this blog and please put the number of the question/paragraph that you’re addressing in your comment. That will help orient us readers. This might be quite informative… And thanks in advance!–René I don’t know exactly where I should put this, but thank you for your insights … Continue reading

The Hermann Detering Legacy/5—Curriculum Vitae 2015–16

Detering: Augustine’s Confessions are a medieval forgery! 2015. Publication of Detering’s book, O du lieber Augustin—Falsche Bekenntnisse? The title is a double pun in German. “O du lieber Augustin” [“O you dear Augustine”] is an iconic children’s tune dating from the late Middle Ages. It has nothing to do with St. Augustine but originated when the plague ravaged Vienna (see here). The second part of the book’s title can be translated “False Confessions?” This is a pun on Augustine’s famous tome, which is appropriate for in his book Detering argues that Augustine never wrote the Confessions–it is a medieval forgery by the hand of Anselm of Canterbury. From the back cover: Augustine (354-430) was arguably the most important Church Father … Continue reading