James D Tabor

When many first begin to play around with one of the more popular large language models (LLMs)—whether ChatGPT, which many first experienced, or Grok, Claude, or Gemini—it can be quite a rush. youtu.be/nO_JlNPdgno?si=cy26…

In this dialogue between filmmaker Kameron Waters and me, we delve into the idea of a singular underground stream or thread, rooted in the Hebrew Bible, centered on the Utopian vision of the future of this world, that links together a range of Jewish/Jewish-Christian ideas with those of the Enochian and Essene/Qumran traditions. We want to thank Jacob Berman for hosting our discussion. Check out his channel @History-Valley and be sure and subscribe. youtu.be/j3dNbmYfmgI

Happy 4th and the underlying promise for our planet of our inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...free press, no State sponsored or favored religions...the best system of self-government in existence, "if we can keep it." Thank you Ralph Buntyn for these thoughts and this bit of near forgotten history. blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-…

Dr. James McGrath and I got together on Zoom recently with my "Tabor Research Community," on Patreon to talk about John the Baptist and Jesus--what can we say historically? youtu.be/BjZxx-10etU

In this interview with Jacob Berman, host of the YouTube channel "History Valley," we talk about the confusing mix of names used for various Jewish and Jewish-Christian groups from the Dead Sea Scroll group to those oriented around James the brother of Jesus and his successors in the first and second centuries BCE and CE. youtu.be/XwgDxnkod9A

In this video I situate my work on the "Quest for the Historical Mary--Mother of Jesus," in the broader shift in the Hellenistic world, in which a "Great Reversal" took place. Humans began to look to the heavenly world above as their true Home, whereas the earth was seen as a dark lower world into which we have fallen--strangers in a strange land. Extra-biblical, Un-biblical, and Non-biblical...but an idea that billions find irresistible. Transcendence does not require either "another world," "death as a friend," or a quasi-gnostic diagnosis of the human condition. youtu.be/5l-aa6zNO1w

In this short podcast I reflect on my own Quest for the Historical Jesus, as reflected through my book, The Jesus Dynasty, and what difference it has made in my own research. This is a Jesus both before and without the Christianity that developed in his name. If the Proclaimer became the Proclaimed--then what was the original message OF Jesus--not about Jesus? What did he teach and preach and life and die for? Here are my thoughts. youtu.be/wtvi1BciqoI?si=u3qL…

In this illustrated reading of the Preface to my book Paul and Jesus: How the Apostle Transformed Christianity (Simon & Schuster 2012) I present a very personal overview of how I view and understand "The Thirteenth Apostle" since I first encountered him at age 17 in my Testament Greek course with the late Professor Abraham Malherbe. He was one of the towering scholars of his generation. I was "hooked" for life and have continued to think about Paul, his ideas, and his relationship to Jesus and his message, ever since. youtu.be/xDIXGLsogds

In this video I invite you to join me in an interactive test of when and how AI can go wrong when dealing with Historical Research. If you give it a try PLEASE POST YOUR RESULTS IN THE COMMENTS ON YOUTUBE You can also download a PDF with the Notes you see in the video so you can have your own copy. youtu.be/NaeQm2KYjac

Here is an interesting question to contemplate as we move on into April post-Easter Sunday. youtu.be/fx4CBugxIHk

As we move from Thursday through Sunday morning, observed as Easter tomorrow, this 30 minute overview of the events surrounding Jesus's crucifixion and burial takes you on the ground with plenty of archaeological evidence. I wanted to share it with you all this Saturday night--when I think Jesus' corpse was most likely moved from the temporary unfinished tomb near the site of Crucifixion to Joseph Arimathea's estate. youtu.be/8p0fD6BS27g?si=1FZj…

In this long form interview with notes and maps I discuss who were the Ebionites? Were John the Baptist, Jesus, and James part of a "stream" of faith and piety that traced back to the Dead Sea Scroll group, and down through a so-called "Christianity," before, during, in contrast to the message of the apostle Paul? I explore what they believed, how it differed from later mainstream Roman Christianity, and what happened to them, down into the later centuries, including their influence on earliest Islam. youtu.be/Ac_Z7VCfsS4

As we move along into what Christians traditionally call "Holy Week"--with both Passover and Easter ahead, I wanted to share a blog post I did back in 2022-- with links to just about every aspect of the main events from Palm Sunday through Easter--and thereafter. Here is the main link to that main post, with many more links embedded: jamestabor.com/jesus-final-w…

In this extended interview with Johnny Ova, Pastor of the "Sound of Heaven" Church and host of the "Dig In" Podcast @thejohnnyova. We explore some of the key issues in any quest for the Historical Mary. I think this might be my first interview with a Pastor about my new book, The Lost Mary: Rediscovering the Mother of Jesus. youtu.be/E0YKcNuBc0o

63 years ago today, February 17, 1963, I was baptized based on my understanding of Acts 2:38 just before I turned 17 on March 2nd. This was not into any Church or organization, but as I understood it at the time, as the manifestation of a personal response and commitment to following Jesus and way he reflected God's will in the world, as I understood it. No one could have been more sincere than I was that day. I had studied the Bible intensely over the previous six months, listening to radio ministers and reading dozens of books, articles, and reference works. I was hardly an academic at age 16, but I did know the text of the Bible exceedingly well. My first visit to Jerusalem the previous summer, July 1962, had kindled a flame in me in terms of historical and biblical studies. I relate this in the opening preface of my book The Jesus Dynasty. Including that 1st trip I have made 77 trips to Israel related to my research and teaching, for as long as a month and as short as a few days. That Fall I headed for Abilene Christian College (now University) where I majored in Biblical languages, Bible, and History. I have had many ups and downs, and taken various segmented paths along the way, and even a few detours, but there is no doubt in my mind that it was on this day that I set my life course that takes me to where I am today. My attraction to, and fascination with, Jesus and the movement he began, as part of the diverse streams of late 2nd Temple Judaism, has never waned. I am still on the same path, though I have, of course, parted ways with some of the more fundamentalist ways of looking at the Biblical texts in favor of what I hope is a more truthful philosophical, scientific, and historical approach. I do not in any way despise or dishonor these spiritual passions of my youth, and I am grateful to parents, relatives, friends, teachers, and others, who influenced me along the way. Remembering my CREATORS in the days of my youth...