Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
Richard Carrier addresses the question of the historicity of Jesus in On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt in the following order: First, he defines the points that will identify a historical Jesus and those that will be signs of a mythical one. Second, he set out 48 elements that make up all … Continue reading “Ten Elements of Christian Origin”
Ananus [the high priest] . . . thought he had now a proper opportunity. Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled the sanhedrin of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others; and when he had … Continue reading “Why Historicist/Mythicist Arguments Often Fail — & a Test Case for a Better Way”
This continues the little “It’s absurd to suggest that most historians have not considered the strongest case for mythicism” series inspired by the unbearable lightness of the wisdom of Professor James McGrath. The previous post saw how Professor Larry Hurtado’s source for the comprehensive rebuttal to all arguments mythicist, H.G. Wood’s Did Christ Really Live?, in … Continue reading ““It is absurd to suggest. . . “: The Overlooked Critic of Mythicism (+ A Catalog of Early Mythicists and Their Critics)”
Passages that for modern fundamentalist readers refer doctrinally to Jesus’ death and some imaginary “end time” in some indefinite future: Luke 12:49-53 49 I came to cast fire upon the earth; and what do I desire, if it is already kindled? 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I … Continue reading “Constructing Jesus and the Gospels: Apocalyptic Prophecy”
Once Clarke W. Owens extracts the Gospels from the Bible and studies them as literary creations on their historical context something most interesting happens. (Owens, I should point out, is not a mythicist. I believe on the basis of his entry in the Christian Alternative website that he is a Christian though one with a … Continue reading “Constructing Jesus and the Gospels: How and Why”
–o0o– All posts in this series are archived in the O’Neill-Fitzgerald Debate –o0o– Tim O’Neill (TO) rightly says of some of the evidence for the historical existence of Jesus: After all, no-one except a fundamentalist apologist would pretend that the evidence about Jesus is not ambiguous and often difficult to interpret with any certainty, and … Continue reading “O’Neill-Fitzgerald “Christ Myth” Debate, #10: Josephus as Evidence & the Arabic Version of the Testimonium”
Recently I was playing with the time capsule button of WordPress and managed to accidentally relocate an old July 2010 post to today. Since trying to undo and relocate events in time is forbidden by the Time Lords of the universe I quickly deleted it. But a few quick ones did see it and commented … Continue reading “Tom Verenna Debates James McGrath”
Continuing from Part 6 . . . . The preceding posts have outlined Matthew Novenson’s argument that Paul’s concept of Christ (as expressed throughout his epistles) was entirely consistent with “the formal conventions of ancient Jewish Messiah language” that we would expect in any messianic literature of his era. There are a few passages, however, … Continue reading “Christ among the Messiahs — Part 7”
The previous post surveyed the range of arguments over whether Paul uses the word “Christ” (χριστός) as a personal name for Jesus or as a title. The answer to the question has implications for Paul’s Christology and theology. (Did he view Jesus as a messianic figure in the traditional Jewish sense or not?) I also … Continue reading “Christ among the Messiahs — Part 3b”
What “Messiah” meant at the time of Paul and the earliest Christians Continuing with notes from Christ among the Messiahs: Christ Language in Paul and Messiah Language in Ancient Judaism by Matthew V. Novenson . The messianic idea We saw in Part 1 that interpreters of Paul have confidently concluded that whatever Paul meant by … Continue reading “Christ among the Messiahs — Part 2”
What did Paul — or any of the earliest Christians — mean when they called Jesus “Christ”? I mean before the Gospels were written. If the idea of Christ for earliest Christians and Jews of their day meant a conquering Davidic king, how do we explain why early Christians referred to Jesus as “Christ” and … Continue reading “Christ among the Messiahs — Part 1”
* Earl Doherty’s Response to Bart Ehrman’s Case Against Mythicism – Pt.6 What Did Jews Have to Say? . COVERED IN THIS POST: Philo of Alexandria Josephus the Testimonium: entirely interpolation or an authentic residue? is an authentic residue “neutral”? is the Testimonium intrusive or a digression? silence of Christian commentators on Testimonium before Eusebius … Continue reading “6. Earl Doherty’s Response to Bart Ehrman’s Case Against Mythicism: Jewish Sources”
Biblical Israel, as an element of tradition and story, such as the Israel of the murmuring stories in the wilderness, or the people of the stories of II Kings who are faithless as their kings are faithless, or the lost Israel, which is the object of prophetic diatribe in Isaiah and Amos, is a theological … Continue reading “Biblical Israel as Fiction”
This continues from Part 2 where I continued discussing what Richard Horsley has to say about popular messianic movements in Israel up to the time of Jesus in Bandits, Prophets & Messiahs. In the last post I covered “social banditry” in Palestine (especially Galilee) and those who were looked upon as rightful kings in the … Continue reading “Popular Messianic(?) Movements Up To The Time Of Jesus and Beyond – Part 3”