Phronesis

MythVision's Derek Lambert has once again collaborated with Dr's Joshua Bowen and Kipp Davis on the topic of problems with Christian apologetics in a new video . I have a few brief things to say about the video and it's implications. For those of you reading this, please keep in mind that I am an agnostic bordering on atheist; I have no stake to defend apologetic methodologies or the people who engage with them. That does not, however, mean that Lambert and his guests get a free pass. No one is above scrutiny and there is indeed much that I have to say about what they have asserted in this video. Even When They're Right... To keep things constructive, let's start with some of the things that I agree with Lambert, Davis, and Bowen on. I appreciated Bowen's observation (one that I’ve made elsewhere in discussing the relevancy of Lambert's work on MythVision) that most laypeople do not have the time or money to delve deep into the subjects of biblical studies ...

I recently came across a very insightful article published in the Currents in Biblical Research journal by Travis B. Williams of Tusculum University entitled 'The Amanuensis Hypothesis in New Testament Scholarship: Its Origin, Evidential Basis, and Application.' As the more perceptive can probably guess, Williams addresses the "secretary" defence that is often mustered to exonerate the authorship of the disputed New Testament letters. Published in October of last year, it is well worth us looking at what Williams has to say given the relevance of this discussion to apologetic defences of New Testament authorship. The Origins of Amanuensis Hypotheses The entire thing is a weighty 76 pages, with nearly half of it dedicated to an exhaustive bibliography. Williams begins by tackling the issue of whether Jerome is the earliest witness to the secretary defence and concludes that he was rather speaking about translation as opposed to transcription (pp. 9-12) . Instead, Willi...