James Daniel Tabor (born 1946) is an AmericanBiblical scholar and retired Professor ofAncient Judaism andEarly Christianity in the Department ofReligious Studies at theUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he taught from 1989 until 2022 and was chair from 2004 to 2014. He previously held positions atAmbassador College (1968–70 while a student atPepperdine University), theUniversity of Notre Dame (1979–85), and theCollege of William and Mary (1985–89). Tabor is the founder and director of theOriginal Bible Project, a non-profit organization aimed to produce a re-ordered new translation of the Bible in English.
Tabor was born inTexas and lived all over the world as the son of anAir Force officer. He was raised in theChurches of Christ and attendedAbilene Christian University, where he earned hisBA degree inKoine Greek and Bible. While earning hisMA fromPepperdine University he taught Greek andHebrew part-time atAmbassador College, founded byHerbert W. Armstrong, founder and president of theWorldwide Church of God.
Tabor earned hisPhD at theUniversity of Chicago in 1981 in New Testament andEarly Christian literature, with an emphasis on theorigins of Christianity andancient Judaism, including theDead Sea Scrolls,John the Baptist,Jesus,James the Just, andPaul the Apostle. The author of six books and over 50 articles, Tabor is frequently consulted by the media on these topics and has appeared on numerous television and radio programs.[This paragraph needs citation(s)]
During theBranch Davidiansiege inWaco, Texas in 1993, Tabor and fellow religion scholar J. Phillip Arnold "realized that in order to deal withDavid Koresh, and to have any chance for a peaceful resolution of the Waco situation, one would have to understand and make use of these biblical texts." After contacting the FBI, they sent Koresh an alternative interpretation of theBook of Revelation which persuaded Koresh to leave the compound when he had finished a document on "the seven seals", but left the FBI skeptical, and had the compound stormed by Federal forces.[1]
His first book was a study of themysticism of the apostle Paul titledThings Unutterable (1986), based on his University of Chicago dissertation.
In 1992 Tabor turned to an analysis of attitudes toward religioussuicide andmartyrdom in the ancient world, the results of which appeared asA Noble Death, published by HarperSanFrancisco in 1992 (co-authored with Arthur Droge).
In 1995, he publishedWhy Waco? Cults and the Battle for Religious Freedom in America (University of California Press), which he co-authored withEugene Gallagher, which explored what had actually happened during theWaco siege. In 1995 he testified before Congress as an expert witness on the siege.[2]
In 2006 Tabor publishedThe Jesus Dynasty, which interpretsJesus as an apocalyptic Messiah whoseextended family founded a royal dynasty in the days before thedestruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The form of Christianity that grew out of this movement, led by the apostle Paul, was, according to Tabor, a decisive break with theEbionite-like original teachings ofJohn the Baptist and Jesus.
Richard Wightman Fox, professor of history at the University of Southern California, writing inSlate (April 2006) said, "Ultimately Tabor leaves the reader confused about whether he thinks the Jesus dynasty is a historical fact or merely an intriguing conjecture," and that "Tabor seems stuck in an endless loop, squinting across thesands of time as much as the terrain of Galilee and Judea, holding out for some imagined 'real' contact with the historical Jesus".[3]
An extensive popular review by Jay Tolson appeared in the April 9, 2006, issue ofU.S. News & World Report.[4]
Bert Jan Lietaert Peerbolte from theTheological University of Kampen writing in theSociety of Biblical LiteratureReview of Biblical Literature (June 2007) was highly critical of the book saying, "Some books are written to spread knowledge, others to generate controversy. This book falls into the latter category. In his Jesus Dynasty James Tabor presents a reconstruction of the Jesus movement from a perspective that purports to be a neutral view at the facts. Unfortunately, Tabor's view is not neutral and his 'facts' are not facts."[5]
New Age author Jeffrey Bütz inThe Secret Legacy of Jesus (2010), says thatThe Jesus Dynasty is "a long overdue and most welcome addition to our knowledge of the historical Jesus, which has, not surprisingly, been widely denigrated by conservative scholars."[6]
Bart Ehrman finds his views "overly speculative".[7]
Tabor is chief editor of theOriginal Bible Project, an effort to produce a historical-linguistic translation of the Bible with notes.
Tabor has been involved in research ona tomb found in 1980 in Jerusalem in the area ofEast Talpiot. It contained ossuaries with the namesJesus son of Joseph, two Marys, Joseph, Matthew, and Jude son of Jesus. In the book,The Jesus Dynasty, Tabor had discussed the possibilities that this tomb might be linked to Jesus of Nazareth and his family. He was a consultant for the film,TheLost Tomb of Jesus produced byJames Cameron andSimcha Jacobovici and shown in March 2007. In 2012 Tabor published, with co-author Simcha Jacobovici,The Jesus Discovery: The New Archaeological Find That Reveals the Birth of Christianity, which documented the exploration of a sealed tomb inArmon Hanatziv by remote robotic cameras, less than 200 feet from the first tomb. They claimed that the 2,000-year-old cave might be the burial site of Jesus's disciples—a claim which the majority of scholars reject.[8][9]
Tabor has also appeared in all three seasons ofThe Naked Archaeologist, with Simcha Jacobovici. Tabor's works are promoted by the educational charity United Israel World Union. He co-hosts tours of the Holy Land which are conducted by this organization.[10]
