Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
Questioning the historical existence of Jesus attracts something other than mere curiosity or intellectual debate among many biblical scholars and some of the public who don’t even have any personal interest in religion. I can understand people with a personal faith in Jesus either simply ignoring the question with disdain or amusement or responding with … Continue reading “Understanding the Hostility to the Christ Myth Theory”
I thought Tom Holland was a historian. I am talking about the author of In the Shadow of the Sword, a history of the seventh century Arab conquests and emergence of Islam which I posted about three times in 2013. I had read the book after a fascinating interview with Holland on Australia’s Radio National’s … Continue reading “Well, I Sure Got That Wrong”
Three posts will be enough. The first one responding to Tim O’Neill’s Jesus the Apocalyptic Prophet on his History for Atheists site is Examining the Evidence for Jesus as an Apocalyptic Prophet The second is Response #2 to History for Atheists’ “JESUS THE APOCALYPTIC PROPHET” In the first post we presented a case that there is no evidence to … Continue reading “Final (#3) post responding to O’Neill’s Jesus the Apocalyptic Prophet“
On History for Atheists Tim O’Neill has set out the standard reasons for the view that Jesus was an apocalyptic prophet. He concludes that this particular portrayal of Jesus stands against what conservative and liberal Christians, and even “fringe Jesus Mythicists”, and “many people” generally “would like Jesus to be.” Put that way, one wonders why anyone … Continue reading “Examining the Evidence for Jesus as an Apocalyptic Prophet”
PZ Myers: A consensus doesn’t necessarily mean anything. 200 years ago there was a consensus phlogiston existed. The key thing is: show me the chain of evidence and the logic that you use to derive this. (From video discussion with Eddie Marcus; see also transcript/paraphrase.) …. Tim O’Neill: If we look at relevant non-Christian scholars, … Continue reading “The Phlogiston Jesus”
Varieties of Atheism has rekindled my interest in atheism as an identity and as a question for wider social consideration. One can take one’s identity for granted and risk becoming stale, ossified, a life that is lived the same day after day without any further inward understanding or self-awareness. So it’s good to read the … Continue reading “Varieties of Atheism # 4 – Deeper than Reason”
Having posted here often enough about my explorations into religion it is about time I investigated what atheism is all about. So many thanks to the University of Chicago Press for allowing me access to a review copy of Varieties of Atheism : Connecting Religion and its Critics compiled and edited by David Newheiser. David … Continue reading “Varieties of Atheism # 3”
Here’s another interview with David Newheiser (personal webpage). This one goes into more depth on the philosophical history and “varieties” of atheism. See the New Books Network – The Varieties of Atheism: connecting religion and its critics. I loved the books by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, even some parts of Sam Harris, when … Continue reading “Varieties of Atheism #2”
183 IV. The House of Flavia and Judaism. I. The Invasion of the West by the East. Rome was not able to enjoy its power, at its peak, with a joyful heart. In the rising and setting of the sun, there were images of terror and danger that it did not feel capable of facing … Continue reading “BRUNO BAUER: Christ and the Caesars – IV. The House of Flavia and Judaism”
If you are looking for a serious, easy-to-read and up-to-date study of the question of how the gospels came to be written, what sources their authors used, what their authors were trying to achieve, and for the most part is delivered in conversational style, then you will have found it in Rhetoric and the Synoptic … Continue reading “A Brilliant New Book on Gospel Origins”
In his review of the GRC eConference on the historicity of Jesus Richard Carrier wrote with respect to the claim that the town of Nazareth did not exist in the early first century CE There is no good case to be made that Nazareth did not exist as a town in the early first century, … Continue reading “Is the Nazareth Question Important? A Response to Richard Carrier”
Responses to some points made in a larger argument for the historicity of Jesus, Another Jesus Mythicism Discussion (I posted then soon deleted much of what follows about three weeks ago. My initial post was couched in a misunderstanding about the background to the original post.) I did return to the original site to continue … Continue reading ““Another Mythicist Discussion” Revisited”
This post follows on from Historical Background to President Trump – the Republican Party’s Shift . . . Enter the Christian Right The Christian right . . . . . . was the term widely used during the 1980s to describe a religious social movement, while today the operative term in both self-presentation and in … Continue reading “The Historical Road Leading Fundamentalist Christians to Trump”
Not as a rule. Look at the Who’s Who Page in the right-hand column here and you will see that only a minority of mythicist authors or sympathizers come from a fundamentalist background. If you want to put fundamentalist Christians on some sort of ideological continuum then their polar opposite would be liberal Christian. In … Continue reading “Fundamentalists Don’t Become Mythicists”