Terry Ball's chapter in New Testament History, Culture, and Society, published by the Religious Studies Center at Brigham Young University in 2019, examines the plants named in the New Testament, including a discussion of the krinon, or lily, of the Sermon on the Mount, arguing the term likely names a general wildflower such as the crown anemone rather than either true lily species native to the region, which are rare and confined to mountains. Its strength is that Ball draws on botanical distribution evidence alongside the text itself. Its limit is that it is one chapter in an edited volume aimed at a general readership rather than a specialist botanical monograph, so a claim resting on a contested identification should be checked against the wider literature on New Testament flora.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier2
Terry Ball's chapter in New Testament History, Culture, and Society, published by the Religious Studies Center at Brigham Young University in 2019, is a denominational university press publication rather than an independent secular academic press, hence the middle tier. NotesChapter in New Testament History, Culture, and Society: A Background to the Texts of the New Testament, edited by Lincoln H. Blumell. Treats the krinon of the Sermon on the Mount as likely a general term for several species of wild flower, with the crown anemone the leading candidate and the two true lilies of the region unlikely because they are rare and confined to mountains.
Citation
AuthorTerry B. Ball
PublisherReligious Studies Center, Brigham Young University
Publication Year2019
URLhttps://rsc.byu.edu/new-testament-history-culture-society/plants-new-testament
Source TypeEdited volume
Claims Backed By This Source (22 claims)
This source backs 22 claims across the atlas. As facts: 16 well-attested, 1 open question. As cited relationships: 3 connected. Plus 2 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Open Questions, 12 claims: 8 well-attested, 3 connected, 1 general references.
- Sources, 8 claims: 8 well-attested.
- Plants, 2 claims: 1 open question, 1 general references.
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