A press conference and Memorial is being held today as I update this blog post. Charlotte, North Carolina. Cosmos, Consciousness, Meaning: Explore the fundamental questions of existence. He contradicted their message with his rejection of the Torah and his lack of emphasis on works. Why is this so? Who Was the Mysterious Disciple Whom Jesus Loved?. These are but two of many such examples throughout the book that make it worth reading. James does not set himself up as the dynastic leader of the faith, but as part of a group of followers who all are subordinate to the Lord Jesus Christ. Even Josephus's description of John treats him as a prophetic exhorter. The Fathers of the Church distinguished between the Ebionites and the Nazarenes, another early sect of Jewish followers that thrived from around 30 to 70 C.E. Before we try to redefine modern dialogue, it is important to see if the reconfiguration is credible. the best reading of the historical accounts we have as they developed and evolved through the decades following Jesus death, as I lay out below. It looks as if the "Jewish" Christianity that Tabor claims has a message but does not focus on Jesus, in fact, does focus on the Son in ways that parallel its so-called Pauline opponents. This eventually won out and became known as orthodox Christianity. Reason, March, 1996, Jacob Sullum, review of Why Waco?, p. 46. Review of Politics, fall, 1999, Nancy T. Ammerman, "Moloch's Revenge," review of Why Waco?, p. 755. Believers exhort that miracles are real and evince the existence of a supernatural being. Dr. James D. Tabor is a retired Professor and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He now devotes himself full-time to research, archaeological field work, and publishing. He was a consultant for the film, The Lost Tomb of Jesus produced by James Cameron and Simcha Jacobovici and shown in March 2007. Last of All He Appeared Also to Me. The Historical Truth About the Last Supperat Last! Was Mary Magdalene the same person as Mary of Bethany? Zion,, Francois Viljoen, Jesus' Teaching on the Torah in the Sermon on the Mount,, Schlomo Pines, The Jewish Christians Of The Early Centuries Of Christianity According To A New Source,, Shemayah Phillips, Messianic Jews: Jewish Idolatry Revisited,, R. Blackhirst, Barnabas and the Gospels: Was There an Early Gospel of Barnabas?. His summary on pages 308 to 314 outlines his thesis about a thoroughly human story (emphasis his). Tabor has written extensively on both ancient religion and the modern approach to religious practices and faith. [1] Furthermore, Ebionites denounced Paul as an apostate from the Law and a false apostle. University of North Carolina at Charlotte Department of Religious Studies Web site,http://www.religiousstudies.uncc.edu/ (December 2, 2006), faculty biography of James D. Tabor. Tabor often heads off these discussions by ending paragraphs with a series of "perhaps" sentences designed to redirect one's view. Paul says that the gospel he preached is something he received just as those in Corinth did. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly nevertheless called Tabor's work "a bold and sometimes speculative interpretation of the historical Jesus and his family.".