In this informal unedited presentation to my "Rresearch Community" I discusses a major religious idea that took over most of the religions of the world--including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. I draw from the work of the late great Jonathan Z. Smith, University of Chicago., with whom I studied for my Ph.D. This ideat became so influential that most now identify it as the heart and essence of religion itself--but it only begins to spread in around 400 BCE in the Mediterranean world--but was unknown to the ancient cultures of Israel, Old Babylon, Egypt, or Greece...

Here is a link to Jonathan Z. Smith's presentation on "Hellenistic Religion" for those viewers who do not know Smith's work and ideas:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hell...

Tabor's "Research Community,” is intended as a way of identifying a group of engaged folk, self-selected by paid membership, with whom I can deal more directly. I post several things a week related to my own research and the field in general, whether breaking news, book recommendations, videos, and articles. For 2024 I have created a Weekly Q & A Dialogue Space paid members can use for personal exchange where I will respond to messages directly and members can have exchanges among themselves. We also meet monthly in a live Zoom session, considering all sorts of special topics and inside information, which is recorded and uploaded to the site. If you take a look at the various membership tiers at my site, you will see that all levels of membership ($5-$500) receive the same benefits—so my site is not a “pay to play” approach to raise maximum funds from people. Contributions go into a research fund—so you are advancing scholarship. You can check it out here:

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On-line Courses:
"Jesus & Dead Sea Scrolls”
https://jamestabor.com/JesusandDSS

Creating Jesus: Gospel of Mark
https://jamestabor.com/MarkCourse

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Retired Prof. of Religious Studies/Christian Origins
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte

About Dr. James D. Tabor: https://jamestabor.com/about-dr-tabor/

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