Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
I am now able to add more information to a month-old post, Medieval “Christ Mythicists” and the Ascension of Isaiah. In that post we saw how Peter of Les Vaux-De-Cernay documented in his history of the Albigensian Crusade against certain “heretics” in southern France known as Cathars Further, in their secret meetings they said that … Continue reading “Further Details on those Medieval “Christ Mythicists””
Continuing from Ascension of Isaiah: More Questions. . . . . . . In these posts I am reexamining the place that the Ascension of Isaiah has in those “Christ myth” arguments that use it as supporting evidence for an early Christian belief, perhaps even a pre-Pauline belief, that Jesus was crucified in a celestial world … Continue reading “Ascension of Isaiah: Continuing Questions”
Continuing from Ascension of Isaiah: Other Questions. . . . . . . In this post I address what some will consider is the strongest reason for doubting that the pocket gospel (11:2-22) portraying the birth of Jesus, his miracle working and crucifixion) was part of the original text. If it had not been part of … Continue reading “Ascension of Isaiah: More Questions”
Some Jesus mythicists, following Earl Doherty and Richard Carrier, have taken a special interest in the Ascension of Isaiah [Asc. Isa.], an early Christian text that has been used to support (not establish, as some critics have asserted) the argument that Jesus was in an early stage of tradition believed to have been crucified by … Continue reading “Ascension of Isaiah: Questions”
M. David Litwa declared at the outset of his book How the Gospels Became History Whether or not the evangelists did report actual events is a separate question and is not my concern. (p.3) So I remain mystified by his decision to make his first chapter entirely about the “Jesus Myth Theory”. It adds nothing … Continue reading “Review, part 2 (Damnation upon that Christ Myth Theory!) : How the Gospels Became History / Litwa”
Definitions, a necessary complement to the previous post and clarification for future posts. . . . Raphael Lataster asserts that he is “not a mythicist per se”, with the term “mythicist” meaning, in this context, “the view that Jesus did not exist.” He explains, I do not assert that Jesus did not exist. I am … Continue reading “Review part 2: Questioning the Historicity of Jesus / Lataster – Some Definitions”
The following appeared on Religion Prof’s blog today: I discovered that [Polish scholar Anna] Oracz has written a review of Rene Salm’s denialist take on the village of Nazareth. Her conclusion is summed up well in this sentence: “anybody seeking an honest evaluation of the evidence in “The Myth of Nazareth” will be disappointed.” I’ve read The Myth of Nazareth … Continue reading “Religion Prof Watch (Quote Mining a Review on Nazareth)”
My routine was interrupted this week with the arrival of a new book in the mail, Jésus-Christ, Sublime Figure de Papier by Nanine Charbonnel. Nanine Charbonnel is an emeritus professor of philosophy who describes herself as a specialist in hermeneutics. The publisher of her new book has given prominence to the fact that it contains … Continue reading “New French Mythicist Book”
Vridar’s first post on a Hermann Detering work was in February 2007: Little Apocalypse and the Bar Kochba Revolt The next “mention” of Hermann Detering was subtle. It was hidden as a link in the last sentence — But that leads us to a new set of questions about dates and identities that will have to be addressed … Continue reading “Remembering”
A spirit of obsession these past few days has possessed me with an intent to find something good and positive among mainstream biblical scholars of the historical Jesus and Christian origins. I fear I have proven to be a leaky and soon sunk vessel. All I discovered this past week was a post titled Revision … Continue reading “The Poverty of Jesus Historicism (sorry, Popper)”
See the Ascension of Isaiah archive for other posts on this source. I am sure over time more will be added and views will change. Roger Parvus posted comments relating to the relationship between Paul’s letters and some things we read in the Ascension of Isaiah. (Recall that the Ascension of Isaiah is a two … Continue reading “Paul’s and Isaiah’s Visions — A Possible Connection”
To state the argument against one hypothesis using the presuppositions and terminology of the competing hypothesis involves a circularity that undermines any hope for a fair assessment of the evidence. — Mark Goodacre, 2002 (82) Simon Gathercole has had an article published behind the paywall of the Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus opposing … Continue reading “Addressing Simon Gathercole’s “Historical and Human Existence of Jesus” (#1)”
When did Peter first see the resurrected Jesus? 2007-09-16 The Emmaus road narrative features as a core part of an attempt to explain the mixed messages given the role of Peter in the post-resurrection narratives of the canonical gospels. It argues that Peter first met the resurrected Jesus, as per 1 Corinthians 15:5, some time after … Continue reading “Emmaus Road / Cleopas Posts“
After Tim’s recent post Unclear Origins and Etymology of Kleopas and noticing readers’ interest related to the subject I thought some of us might be interested in a complete list of Vridar posts on the Emmaus Road narrative. Here they are, all 18 of them, annotated. When did Peter first see the resurrected Jesus? 2007-09-16 The Emmaus … Continue reading “18 Vridar Posts on the Gospel of Luke’s Emmaus Road / Cleopas Narrative”