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Barrie Wilson

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Aug 4, 2026, 8:45 PM

The Trojan Horse of Antisemitism

A blockbuster revives an ancient warning. It's one we still haven't learned. Christopher Nolan's blockbuster film The Odyssey has catapulted one of Western civilization's most enduring images back into the public imagination: the Trojan horse. It was a ruse that accomplished in...

Aug 9, 2021, 7:13 PM

Antisemitism, QAnon, and the Bogeyman

The Three Weapons of Antisemitism, Part 2. Dividing Jews – from Israel, from each other, from other progressives -- was weapon #1. Now, weapon #2. Growing up, most kids on my street were petrified of the Oxford Street Gang. We...

Aug 8, 2021, 9:15 AM

The Three Weapons of Antisemitism, Part One

Jew-haters employ 3 weapons to hurt Jews. An ancient writing provides valuable clues. Antisemitism is an attack on Jews as Jews, focusing either on Jews individually, the Jewish religion or collectively on the Jewish nation-state. Jew-hatred is not new and,...

Jun 5, 2021, 11:32 PM

Jews and the New Ghetto

We fool ourselves if we think the era of Jewish ghettos has come and gone. There’s a new Jewish ghetto forming and it is worldwide. In 1555 Pope Paul IV issued a far-reaching papal proclamation, “Cum Nimis Absurdum.” It is...

May 30, 2021, 7:47 AM

Reversing the Narrative

Defending Israel on a playing field created by its enemies is a foolhardy game. Would you consider playing soccer on a hockey rink? And would you consider doing so time and time again when results prove dismal? Playing a land sport...

Jan 4, 2021, 6:51 PM

How to recognize a Messiah — should one appear

A neglected 1st century BCE Jewish writing tells us. Written just a few decades before the birth of Jesus, we now know what Jews meant by “a messiah” prior to the Common Era. This important break-through reverses the usual...

Oct 14, 2020, 3:22 AM

What’s a Messiah?

Suppose a person were to walk down a street in Jerusalem, or Miami or London, claiming to be a messiah -- how could we tell if that individual was a genuine messiah? What’s the job description for a messiah? Many...

Aug 2, 2020, 10:41 PM

Netflix’s Messiah — could Al-Masih really be the one?

There’s more in the Bible on how to diagnose skin diseases than how to identify a messiah. The Netflix series Messiah has it all: intrigue, mystery and strange characters, and a plot that unfolds against Middle Eastern and American settings....

Jul 28, 2020, 7:25 AM

The Temple, the messiah and Jesus

'Distruzione del tempio di Gerusalemme' by Francesco Hayez (PD-US-expired via Wikipedia)

Depicting the Temple's destruction as punishment for the death of Christ has no grounding in Hebrew scriptures' ideas on messiah

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About Me

An award-winning educator, Barrie Wilson, PhD, is Professor Emeritus & Senior Scholar, Religious Studies, York University, Toronto. A Jewish Canadian historian, he specializes in Early Christianity. Publications include How Jesus Became Christian (2008) awarded the Tanenbaum Prize for History at the Canadian Jewish Book Awards (2009); The Lost Gospel (2014) co-authored with the Emmy-award winning Canadian-Israeli film director and producer Simcha Jacobovici; Paul vs James (2018); Searching for the Messiah (2020).