LM Barré

In the first part of A Brilliant Deceit and Other Essays, the author offers fresh evidence to support a thesis put forward by the famous New Testament scholar Hermann Samuel Reimarus (1694-1768) that the disciples of Jesus perpetrated a resurrection farce or hoax. That evidence is presented in a series of short essays that contain references to overlapping observations made by Reimarus.  The thesis is of course very unpopular to the point where it is last referenced by Albert Schweitzer.  One of the most telling pieces of evidence is the it provides an adequate and even compelling explanation of the curious ending to Mark's gospel.  According to my thesis, G-Mark ended with the centurion's testimony that Jesus died as one who truly was uiou theon, or son of God.  This would be the earliest interpretation of the essential meaning of the life and death of Jesus.  By God's sovereignty, God established Pauline theology as the major paradigm.

The second part of the book isolates socio-religious trajectories in ancient Israelite religion. The author’s fundamental findings challenge the widespread notion that ancient Israel was a homogeneous culture united under the worship of the high god Yahweh Sabaoth. Instead, he argues that the Old Testament traditions are not the product of one people but two, originally and distinctly worshipping the high gods El and Yahweh.

Dr. Barré received his doctorate in religion from Vanderbilt University in 1986. His writings have been published in such scholarly journals as the Catholic Biblical Quarterly,  Vetus Testamentum, Zeitschrift für die alttestamentlische Wissenschaft, and the Journal for the Study of the Old Testament. He has contributed articles to the Mercer Dictionary of the Bible and his dissertation was published under the title, The Rhetoric of Political Persuasion: The Narrative Artistry and Political Intentions of 2 Kings 9-11. Professor Barré taught at Vanderbilt University and at the Southern Methodist University. He is noted in the 56th edition of Who’s Who in America for his efforts towards the betterment of society.