Professor Tabor, we have two questions for you.

First question:

Your profile states that you received your Ph.D. from the "University of Chicago in the field of Biblical Studies, with an emphasis on Christian Origins and ancient Judaism". Wouldn't it have been more accurate to say that you received your degree from the department of New Testament and Christian Literature, and that the title of your dissertation was "Things Unalterable: Paul's Ascent to Paradise"?

Second question:

Professor Jim Davila's blog (March 6, 2007) http://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/ quotes you as asserting to him (and others) in an email: "I have never excavated even one tomb, and I am not even an archaeologist and have never claimed to be such."

Yet, in an article you wrote a year ago, published in the Charlotte Observer and excerpted on the same paleojudaica blog on February 13, 2006, you said:

"As an archaeologist, I have long observed and experienced the thrill that ancient discoveries cause in all of us. The look on the faces of my students as we uncover ancient ruins from the time of Jesus ... is unmistakable."

So please tell us, Professor Tabor, do you or do you not claim to be an archaeologist, and if not, why did you use the words "as an archaeologist," etc., in your article?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: critical-reader,