Canon Fodder https://michaeljkruger.com/ Mon, 21 Sep 2026 15:48:26 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.5 https://5mt.michaeljkruger.com/2016/10/cropped-cropped-favicon-Michael-Kruger-512-32x32.png Canon Fodder https://michaeljkruger.com/ 32 32 32870701 The End of the End https://michaeljkruger.com/the-end-of-the-end/ Mon, 21 Sep 2026 13:50:06 +0000 https://michaeljkruger.com/?p=16742 Pepuza.

That’s not a name that probably means anything to modern ears. In the late the second century, a radical self-proclaimed prophet named Montanus declared that Pepuza—a remote village in Phrygia (modern date Turkey)—would be the location of the second coming.  

His prophecies were accompanied by ecstatic experiences and strange utterances, thought by his followers to be evidence he was filled with the Holy Spirit. So convincing were his prophecies about the second coming that people began to move to Pepuza, leaving their livelihoods behind. They expected, at any moment, a new Jerusalem to descend on that location, followed by a 1000-year reign of Jesus on earth.

Of … Continue reading...

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]]> 16742 Do the Gospels Contain Eyewitness Testimony? An Overlooked Aspect of the Debate https://michaeljkruger.com/do-the-gospels-contain-eyewitness-testimony-an-overlooked-aspect-of-the-debate/ Tue, 14 Jul 2026 17:23:58 +0000 https://michaeljkruger.com/?p=16696 Since the Gospels are Greco-Roman biographies, we should not be surprised that their authors would want to include eyewitness testimony. After all, the principle that historical accounts should be based on eyewitness reports (either directly indirectly) was an established value among all the ancient historians ranging from Herodotus to Thucydides to Polybius and even to Josephus.

But the issue isn’t just whether they would have wanted to include such testimony, but whether reliable eyewitness testimony was readily available. Put in the form of a question, were there named individuals in the early Christian movement who were understood to have witnessed the events related to Jesus of Nazareth and were actively … Continue reading...

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]]> 16696 Two Resources for Your High School Graduate https://michaeljkruger.com/two-resources-for-your-high-school-graduate/ Wed, 13 May 2026 13:47:54 +0000 https://michaeljkruger.com/?p=16639 High school graduation is almost here. I know what that’s like, because I’ve been through it three times. As parents, we have one simple question on our mind: Have I done a good job preparing my child for college?

Every Christian parent wonders this. We pray that we’ve adequately prepared our high school graduate to enter into the fray of college life: intellectually, spiritually, and morally. But, in the end, we must leave their future in the hands of the only person that controls it, God himself.

Even so, that doesn’t mean we can’t give them some resources to help them along the way—resources that can express our deepest hopes … Continue reading...

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]]> 16639 A New Academic Volume on the Origins of the New Testament Canon https://michaeljkruger.com/a-new-academic-volume-on-the-origins-of-the-new-testament-canon/ Fri, 01 May 2026 15:18:25 +0000 https://michaeljkruger.com/?p=16578 It goes without saying that not all academic sub-disciplines (especially in the field of biblical studies) generate the same level of scholarly interest. Some fields are more active; others less so. And it can change from generation to generation.

When I was doing my work with Larry Hurtado years ago at the University of Edinburgh, I always wondered if my sub-discipline of New Testament canon (and sub-sub-disciplines of NT text and apocryphal writings) would continue to generate academic discussion and interest in the years ahead.

Looking back, I can say that I am grateful that field of New Testament canon (and text) has continued to produce a lot of academic … Continue reading...

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]]> 16578 Can You Have Christian Ethics without Christianity? A Response to Bart Ehrman https://michaeljkruger.com/can-you-have-christian-ethics-without-christianity-a-response-to-bart-ehrman-2/ Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:50:25 +0000 https://michaeljkruger.com/?p=16562 As you might have noticed, Bart Ehrman has been making the rounds again this recent Easter season regarding his new book, Love Thy Stranger: How the Teachings of Jesus Transformed the Moral Conscience of the West.  Most notable was his appearance on the podcast of New York Time’s columnist, Ross Douthat.

In this new book, Ehrman argues that Christian teachings about helping others in need—especially those we don’t know—was genuinely distinctive in the ancient Greco-Roman world. Altruism was not a value of the polytheistic religions nor the philosophical systems of the time. It was ultimately the influence of Christianity that led to the building of hospitals and orphanages and systems … Continue reading...

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