Search Results for: The Acts Seminar

28. Earl Doherty’s Response to Bart Ehrman’s Case Against Mythicism – Part 28 (G. A. Wells)

* 1. Did Jewish Personified Wisdom generate Paul’s Christ Jesus? 2. Was Jesus an Unknown Jew Who Lived a Century Before Paul? . COVERED IN THIS POST: The (partial) mythicism of G. A. Wells The problems in Wells’ interpretation of Paul Jewish personified Wisdom as inspiration for Paul’s Christ Hellenistic Judaism and the Wisdom of … Continue reading “28. Earl Doherty’s Response to Bart Ehrman’s Case Against Mythicism – Part 28 (G. A. Wells)”

A Profession of Faith — The Historical Jesus Creed

Presumably as a lead-up to the publishing of Is This Not the Carpenter? Thomas L. Thompson (as we mentioned earlier on Vridar) has published a rebuttal to Ehrman’s misleading statements in Did Jesus Exist? You’ve probably already read Thompson’s piece, “Is This Not the Carpenter’s Son? — A Response to Bart Ehrman,” but you may … Continue reading “A Profession of Faith — The Historical Jesus Creed”

Hoffmann’s Ersatz Response to Mythicism

The opening publication of R. Joseph Hoffmann, the leader of “The Jesus Process: A Consultation on the Historical Jesus”, is a curious puzzle of blended words and concepts that have the power to overwhelm his choir with the sense that they are listening to a view so original, unique and erudite that they are bound … Continue reading “Hoffmann’s Ersatz Response to Mythicism”

The Three Brusque-Fakirs — The Jesus Process© Hits the Web

Welcome to the Blogosphere! I like mass-marketed, heavily processed food. Gosh, I do love it. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a huge fan of Velveeta®, Cheez Whiz®, etc., so R. Joseph Hoffmann’s announcement about a blog dedicated to . . . Huh? What’s that? Oh. Processed Jesus. Well, that’s very different. First … Continue reading “The Three Brusque-Fakirs — The Jesus Process© Hits the Web”

Fight Club! Historical Jesus Scholars Take On the Christ Mythicists!

Here they come. The advance warning was R. Joseph Hoffmann‘s Mythtic Pizza and Cold-cocked Scholars. He promises that within a week (apocalypse coming!) we will see on his blog “three essay-length responses to Richard C. Carrier’s ideas: The first by [R. Joseph Hoffmann], the second by Professor Maurice Casey of the University of Nottingham, and … Continue reading “Fight Club! Historical Jesus Scholars Take On the Christ Mythicists!”

Dave Fitzgerald sequel: Is the “Jesus of History” any more real than the “Jesus of Faith”?

The following post by David Fitzgerald is posted here with DF’s permission; the original is at freethoughtblogs.com. Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up? Is the “Jesus of History” any more real than the “Jesus of Faith”? (From the upcoming book, Jesus: Mything in Action, by David Fitzgerald)  Christianity had a good, long run. But … Continue reading “Dave Fitzgerald sequel: Is the “Jesus of History” any more real than the “Jesus of Faith”?”

David Fitzgerald responds to Tim O’Neill’s review of Nailed

David Fitzgerald‘s essay, Ten Beautiful Lies About Jesus, that received an Honorable Mention in the 2010 Mythicist Prize contest has been expanded into a book, Nailed: Ten Christian Myths That Showed Jesus Never Existed At All. The book is clearly a hit: Nailed continues to garner more fans and accolades, and generate cranky hate mail. … Continue reading “David Fitzgerald responds to Tim O’Neill’s review of Nailed”

Oral History does NOT support “criterion of embarrassment”

Contrary to the understanding of a few theologians oral historian Jan Vansina does NOT use the “criterion of embarrassment” in the same way as a number of historical Jesus scholars do. His discussion of embarrassment in fact supports the arguments of those scholars who argue the criterion is invalid! I asked Dr McGrath for a … Continue reading “Oral History does NOT support “criterion of embarrassment””

Was Jesus not a teacher after all?

Every scholar engaged in Jesus research is by profession a teacher and so every construction of Jesus the Teacher is formulated by a teacher. These teachers, professors by trade, should wonder if there is not a bit of a Jesus-Like-Us in their constructions. (Stevan L. Davies in Jesus the Healer, 1995) Most of the Jesus … Continue reading “Was Jesus not a teacher after all?”

Essential Guide to the Historical Jesus: Introduction (James H. Charlesworth)

“This book is an essential guide to the life and thought of Jesus . . . “ That’s James H. Charlesworth’s opening line in the preface to The Historical Jesus: An Essential Guide, one title in Abingdon Press’s Essential Guide series. James H. Charlesworth is George L. Collord Professor of New Testament Language and Literature … Continue reading “Essential Guide to the Historical Jesus: Introduction (James H. Charlesworth)”

How modern historians use myths as historical sources – or, Can Hobsbawm recover the historical Robin Hood?

Can criteria used by New Testament scholars to uncover the historical Jesus (i.e., it is probably true if it is embarrassing, multiply attested, etc etc.) also be used on early ballads to see if we can know anything “probable” about the historical Robin Hood? Some people have “entertained reasonable doubts” about Robin Hood’s historicity, but at … Continue reading “How modern historians use myths as historical sources – or, Can Hobsbawm recover the historical Robin Hood?”

Doherty’s chapter 7 (2): reviewing McGrath’s review

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”

Scholars addressing Jesus Myth studies: Richard Carrier’s reviews

Thanks to Richard Carrier for his review of Sources of the Jesus Tradition, and for his earlier coverage of the conference that preceded this book. Having read most of the book I can concur with many of Carrier’s assessments of its (very mixed) quality. R. Joseph Hoffmann, the editor of the book, has written a … Continue reading “Scholars addressing Jesus Myth studies: Richard Carrier’s reviews”

Why Is McGrath Spending Time on Doherty’s Book?

James McGrath once “reviewed” a chapter by Robert M. Price in The Historical Jesus: Five Views. In my estimation at that time, one for which I was censured by several people, was that McGrath was being blatantly dishonest in his reading and presentation of Price’s chapter. McGrath has said on several occasions that mythicists should … Continue reading “Why Is McGrath Spending Time on Doherty’s Book?”