Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science
If you follow the “it is ignorant to say there is no evidence for the HJ” discussion on Debunking Christianity you have already read most of what I post here. John Loftus kicks things off with his OP in which he says: I want to put to rest the ignorant claim that “There is no … Continue reading “Who says, “There is no evidence for the historical Jesus” ?”
Updated with NT passages for reference This follows my previous post that set me thinking along a related line. The verse for the day is Horsley’s sentence that I quoted there: It would thus appear that the supposedly standard Jewish ideas or expectations of the messiah are a flimsy foundation indeed from which to explain … Continue reading ““Son of David” as an anachronism (or metaphor?) in the Gospels, Paul and Acts?”
Here I look at the argument that the inscription (bytdwd) apparently referring to David (dwd) or the “house of David” in the Tel Dan Inscription is best explained as a reference to an epithet (meaning “beloved”) for the god Yahweh. This post is related to another about a week ago, The Tel Dan inscription: the … Continue reading “Does the Tel Dan Inscription ‘Prove’ David to Be a Historical Person?”
11 am 18th July 2011, Revised the section “What the Chapter is about” James McGrath begins his review of chapter 8 protesting that Doherty is placing a different interpretation on some known and agreed facts in order to argue a mythicist case. The chapter gets several things right and mentions important information about the context … Continue reading “Doherty’s Chapter 8 in outline & Review of McGrath’s review”
Is this story a unique historical event that was related by eyewitnesses or do we have evidence that the author was basing this narrative on a similar story or stories well known to him? What is the more rational belief: that the dead rise or that authors imitate and adapt stories well known to them? … Continue reading “Reasons to entertain a smidgen of doubt about Jesus raising the daughter of Jairus”
In Chapter 7, I give reasons why there should be no doubt that the whole of this healing narrative [the raising of the daughter of Jairus in Mark 5] is literally true, and that it is dependent ultimately on an eyewitness account by one of the inner circle of the three of the Twelve, who … Continue reading “Reasons not to doubt the historicity of Jesus raising the daughter of Jairus”
It has been seriously asserted (mainstream biblical scholars should be taken seriously) that it would be “a miracle” if an ancient author, not living in Palestine, ever wrote a nonhistorical narrative about a nonhistorical Jesus that was set in real Palestinian towns and with characters bearing the names common among Palestinians. Mind you, the same intellectual … Continue reading “An even worse worst argument for the historicity of Jesus”
Here is another snippet here from classicist scholar John Taylor’s book, Classics and the Bible: Hospitality and Recognition. This time it is from a decontextualized comparison between Jesus and Socrates. I have only extracted those elements that relate most directly to Jesus as found in the Gospels themselves, and left behind those that relate to … Continue reading “Jesus and Socrates”
This post begins a collection of quotations from ancient Jewish literature illustrating the a form of Jewish thought not so familiar with those of us whose knowledge has rarely extended beyond the canonical literature. Divine figures bearing the name of God appeared in human form on chariot thrones, and holy men of old like Adam, … Continue reading “Divinities appearing like men and men appearing like gods”
Richard Carrier is well known for his advocacy of the use of the Bayes’ theorem in historical Jesus studies. (Find the link to Bayes’ Theorem for Beginners here or go direct to the pdf article here.) Carrier has enumerated its advantages, and I highlight the ones that are my own personal favourites (all quotations are … Continue reading “Bayes’ theorem and the Jesus mythicism-historicity conflict”
Continuing here my reviews of Jesus Potter Harry Christ by Derek Murphy. All reviews are archived here, and on the Jesus Mysteries discussion group. In this chapter Derek Murphy offers an explanation for how and why the original teachings of Christianity, and Paul in particular, were lost and replaced by the narrative we are familiar … Continue reading “Jesus Potter Harry Christ, ch. 9: “Stupid Galatians and Resurrection of the Flesh””
Continuing from the previous post, addressing McGrath’s comments on Doherty’s chapter 7. I have so often heard scholars repeat, as if it were a truism, that in pre-modern cultures that relied more on oral traditions and story-telling than on stick-it notes people had trained themselves to have remarkable memories. But I was obviously mistaken. McGrath … Continue reading “Doherty’s chapter 7 (2): reviewing McGrath’s review”
The complete set of reviews to date is archived on this blog here and also on the Jesus Mysteries Yahoo Discussion Group. In this chapter of Jesus Potter Harry Christ Derek Murphy argues that Christianity began as a mystery religion formed as a Jewish synthesis of Greek and Egyptian mystery cult traditions. It had different … Continue reading “Jesus Potter Harry Christ – chapter 8. Did Christianity begin as a Mystery Religion?”
Added two concluding paragraphs 2 hours after original posting, along with typo corrections. In the first section of the Jesus Neither God Nor Man Earl Doherty had in part argued that the early Christian correspondence is silent on ethical teachings from Jesus, Jesus’ apocalyptic predictions and Jesus’ calling of apostles during an earthly ministry. In … Continue reading “Jesus’ life in eclipse: Reviewing chapter 6 of Doherty’s Jesus Neither God Nor Man”