Search Results for: Messiah

Continuing Earl Doherty’s antidotes for James McGrath’s Menu Items 7 to 12

This post is a continuation of Earl Doherty’s responses to James McGrath’s Menu of Answers to Mythicists. The first installment, items 1 to 6, was posted here. Earl Doherty continues with menu item #7, preceding each of his responses with McGrath’s description in bold italics. Menu Entrée #7: “Demonstrating the likelihood that someone existed means … Continue reading “Continuing Earl Doherty’s antidotes for James McGrath’s Menu Items 7 to 12”

Strengthening April DeConick’s Case that John’s Gospel Opposed Vision Mystics; and another word for John knowing Mark

In my posts last month addressing mystical visionary ascents into heaven among Second Temple Jews and early Christians, I made passing references to April DeConick’s Voices of the Mystics. In this book DeConick argues a case that the school responsible for the Fourth Gospel was writing in some form of dialogue with those following the … Continue reading “Strengthening April DeConick’s Case that John’s Gospel Opposed Vision Mystics; and another word for John knowing Mark”

They saw Jesus alive! — But does that mean I will be happy to die too?

I was led to this comment on the blog of Joel Watts (whose comments I have in the past filtered as spam on this blog because of his childish “nyaa nyaa” tripe that he once posted here) When I was going through my confrontation with Atheism and doubt 20 years ago, “More than a carpenter” … Continue reading “They saw Jesus alive! — But does that mean I will be happy to die too?”

Christianity and the “let’s turn the world upside down” bandwagon

While one sometimes hears it said that the gospel message when first heard in the early Roman empire was “shocking” and “turned the world upside down”, it is in fact more correct to say that the gospel message was a product of its age. In the century or so leading up to the common era … Continue reading “Christianity and the “let’s turn the world upside down” bandwagon”

Don’t forget Plato’s Cave: It helps explain the invention and reception of the Gospel

One might encounter the suggestion among biblical scholars that it is highly unlikely that anyone would invent the idea of a saviour figure who is rejected by his own people and is killed at their hands — and especially if that saviour figure is in a Jewish context said to be a Son of David. … Continue reading “Don’t forget Plato’s Cave: It helps explain the invention and reception of the Gospel”

Ascents to the Celestial Temple and Heavenly Descents, and what any of this has to do with early Christianity

One of the reasons I am interested in this topic of visionary experiences is that they help flesh out a tangible environment, on the basis of concrete evidence, from which Christianity emerged. This is in contrast to the model of “oral traditions” being the roots of the canonical gospel narratives. The gospel narratives stand at … Continue reading “Ascents to the Celestial Temple and Heavenly Descents, and what any of this has to do with early Christianity”

Visions that laid a foundation for Christianity?

Following the publication of Alan F. Segal’s recent book, it is clear that Jewish mysticism must occupy a more central place than has previously been the case in any construction of the matrices of Paul’s experience and thought. (Morray-Jones, C. R. A. 1993, “Paradise Revisited (2 Cor 12:1-12): The Jewish Mystical Background of Paul’s Apostolate. … Continue reading “Visions that laid a foundation for Christianity?”

Did Paul receive the gospel the same way the other apostles did?

Not long ago I skimmed through an online discussion over whether or not Paul learned about the gospel of Jesus from other apostles like Peter and James, or whether he relied entirely on direct revelation from the spiritual Lord. One side pointed to the letter to the Galatians where Paul said that he was not … Continue reading “Did Paul receive the gospel the same way the other apostles did?”

Miracles as symbol, not history or biography

This post continues from earlier ones on Spong’s discussion of the meaning and nonhistoricity of miracles in the gospels. See the link above to Spong: Jesus for the Non Religious for these earlier posts. In discussing the miraculous cure of the blind man in the Gospel of John, John Spong makes a point that I … Continue reading “Miracles as symbol, not history or biography”

Response to McGrath’s circularity and avoidance of the methodological argument

In a “response” to a recent post of mine about historical method, James McGrath illustrates well the very problem and question-begging that my post was intended to highlight. McGrath’s opening statement affirms that he simply fails to grasp the argument I am presenting. [Neil Godfrey’s] post begins by stating and commenting on the principle which … Continue reading “Response to McGrath’s circularity and avoidance of the methodological argument”

Bartimaeus continued: If the disciples be fictional, what be their leader?

There are two accounts in Mark’s Gospel of restoring the sight of blind men. The first one, two-staged healing that took place at Bethsaida, was discussed here. Much of the following is owed to the discussion by Vernon K. Robbins in that linked post, even at points where I do not explicitly state this. In … Continue reading “Bartimaeus continued: If the disciples be fictional, what be their leader?”

Jesus was not a healer (2)

Following on here from my earlier post. As noted in my previous post, Matthew and Luke inform us directly that the miracles of Jesus were for the purpose of identifying Jesus as the Messiah in accordance with the prophecies in Isaiah. We may, if we wish, speculate that there really were a set of healings … Continue reading “Jesus was not a healer (2)”

Jesus was not a healer (1)

Jesus no more healed people than he was born of a virgin or walked on water or rose from the dead. The Gospels do not portray Jesus as a physician or literal healer of some sort. They portray him as the Christ, or Messiah, and they introduce stories of healings only in order to portray … Continue reading “Jesus was not a healer (1)”

How many stories in the gospels are “purely metaphorical”?

Dale Allison concludes his book Constructing Jesus with a discussion of the intent of the gospel authors. Did the gospel authors themselves think that they were writing real history or did they think they were writing metaphorical narratives, parables or allegories? Allison refers to Marcus Borg and others (e.g. Robert Gundry, John Dominic Crossan, Robert … Continue reading “How many stories in the gospels are “purely metaphorical”?”