- New Testament scholar, archaeology aficionado, and student of cultural anthropology. I like writing on the convergence of these three disciplines.edit
Have you ever wondered what it was like to live in the past? Did they experience reality in a much different way than we do now with our media, our fast travel, our fast food, and our leisure. How would you have made a living? What kind... more
Have you ever wondered what it was like to live in the past? Did they experience reality in a much different way than we do now with our media, our fast travel, our fast food, and our leisure. How would you have made a living? What kind of house would you have lived in? What diseases might you have contracted? This book takes you on a journey into the past to view daily life through the lenses of not o nly texts but archaeological finds.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Galilee has fascinated historians for the last 150 years. Ernest Renan, the nineteenth-century biographer of Jesus, thought that ancient Galilee must have been a paradise. He referred to the area around Nazareth as “This enchanted... more
Galilee has fascinated historians for the last 150 years. Ernest Renan, the nineteenth-century biographer of Jesus, thought that ancient Galilee must have been a paradise. He referred to the area around Nazareth as “This enchanted circle.” Galilee was “charming and idyllic” and was characterized by green, shade, beautiful flowers, and small, gentle animals. “In no country in the world do the mountains spread themselves out with more harmony.” Galilee, he thought, “spiritualised itself in ethereal dreams—in a kind of poetic mysticism, blending heaven and earth.”1 It was here in Renan’s dreamlike never-never land that he pictured Jesus’ youth. What we need is a more sober appraisal of ancient Galilee. The research in the last thirty years has sought to do that, but, nevertheless, the current study of Galilee is fraught with conflicting conclusions. If the Sermon on the Mount is known for its six antitheses (Matt. 5:2148), scholars may look back on this period of research as the antith...
Research Interests:
This book presents an introduction to the ministry and message of Jesus by combining topical and chronological approaches. Topics discussed include: highlights of the words and teachings of Jesus and the main events of his ministry;... more
This book presents an introduction to the ministry and message of Jesus by combining topical and chronological approaches. Topics discussed include: highlights of the words and teachings of Jesus and the main events of his ministry; background information on Judaism to aid in understanding the context of Jesus' words and actions; main issues and debates in the research of the historical Jesus; the most important ancient documents that help in understanding the Gospels (the Dead Sea Scrolls, Nag Hammadi Scrolls, Talmud, and Josephus).
A study of land ownership in first-century Palestine with emphasis on the Little Tradition vis-a-vis the Great Tradition. Under the former, land was viewed in a somewhat traditional and egalitarian sense as a gift of God; in the latter,... more
A study of land ownership in first-century Palestine with emphasis on the Little Tradition vis-a-vis the Great Tradition. Under the former, land was viewed in a somewhat traditional and egalitarian sense as a gift of God; in the latter, land was seen in an entrepreneurial, capitalistic light. The concepts of the Great Tradition led the Ptolemies, Seleucids, Herods, and Romans to form large estates - this movement cost many peasants their patrimonial farm plots, reducing them to day labourers and tenants and causing deterioration of the extended family. This study seeks to show that Palestine in the Herodian period was a typically agrarian ancient society with a very small group of wealthy and powerful aristocrats and rural masses that barely achieved subsistence.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In the discussions on the economy of Galilee in the time of Jesus, the presence or absence of large land-estates must play a significant role. Based on a reading of the parables attributed to Jesus, one could conclude that there were many... more
In the discussions on the economy of Galilee in the time of Jesus, the presence or absence of large land-estates must play a significant role. Based on a reading of the parables attributed to Jesus, one could conclude that there were many estates of significantly large size and that they contributed to the economic conditions of Galilee causing loss of land and a growing rural proletariat. This paper will argue that the estates of Galilee were of modest size and had no significant economic impact. The argument will focus on the Bet Netofa Valley, and especially on the village of Shikhin, as the location for the medium-sized estates of the elites of Sepphoris.
Research Interests:
... Journal for the Study of the New Testament David Fiensy Movement Leaders of Mass Movements and the Leader of the Jesus Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com ... 3-LEADERS OF MASS MOVEMENTS AND THE LEADER OF THE JESUS MOVEMENT... more
... Journal for the Study of the New Testament David Fiensy Movement Leaders of Mass Movements and the Leader of the Jesus Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com ... 3-LEADERS OF MASS MOVEMENTS AND THE LEADER OF THE JESUS MOVEMENT David Fiensy ...
Research Interests:
The Ethiopic text of the second-century Apocalypse of Peter may be divided into two parts. The first section (chaps. 1–6) begins with aprediction by Jesus while on the Mount of Olives about the coming of false Christs and is evidently... more
The Ethiopic text of the second-century Apocalypse of Peter may be divided into two parts. The first section (chaps. 1–6) begins with aprediction by Jesus while on the Mount of Olives about the coming of false Christs and is evidently based on Matthew 24. Next, Jesus shows his disciples the future in the palm of his right hand, revealing events typical of Jewish eschatology: resurrection, judgment, and eschatological woes.