This post addresses an argument that is found well beyond the covers of Eddy and Boyd. Nevertheless, I have been discussing in this blog bits of Eddy’s and Boyd’s case for refuting what they label the “‘legendary Jesus’ thesis” and defending the historicity of Jesus, and to mention them here seems an appropriate anchor. One … Continue reading “Paul’s understanding of the Earthly Leprechaun (not necessarily Historical) Jesus”
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Dontcha love the patronizing tone of the header? “Five Reasons Why Mythicism is Disappointing”. Our author was SO hoping for such good things to emerge from mythicism, now, wasn’t he. How mythicism has disappointed him! The post is a response to Valerie Tarico’s Here are 5 reasons to suspect Jesus never existed Our disappointed scholar explains why Valerie … Continue reading ““Five Reasons Why Mythicism is Disappointing””
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Good old reliable Professor James McGrath and a few of his peers*, blissfully unaware of some of the highly respected names both within and outside New Testament scholarship who have happened to be bold enough to declare their maverick suspicions that there was no historical Jesus, make it clear that if you come out as … Continue reading ““It is absurd to suggest. . . . ” (A rare bird among the anti-mythicists)”
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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”
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Previous posts in this series: Jesus Mythicism and Historical Knowledge, Part 1: Historical Facts and Probability Jesus Mythicism and Historical Knowledge, Part 2: Certainty and Uncertainty in History Jesus Mythicism and Historical Knowledge, Part 3: Prediction and History * For an excellent introduction to Bayes‘ approach to problem solving read Sharon McGrayne’s The Theory That … Continue reading “Jesus Mythicism and Historical Knowledge, Part 4: Did Jesus Exist?”
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I am continuing here with my responses to criticisms raised on the earlywritings forum against the proposal that the first biblical texts were composed as late as around 270 years before Christ. (I had looked forward to continuing the discussion on that forum until I lost confidence in the sub-forum’s promise to be an “academic … Continue reading “Questioning the Hellenistic Date for the Hebrew Bible: Elephantine ‘Jews’”
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Continuing from Why Josiah’s Reforms “Must Have Happened” – part 2 The Deuteronomistic History (DH) is a modern theoretical construct holding that behind the present forms of the books of Deuteronomy and Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings (the Former Prophets in the Hebrew canon) there was a single literary work. In the late 19th century, … Continue reading “Why Josiah’s Reforms “Must Have Happened” – part 3 (conclusion)”
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Here is one more passage from Couchoud’s Théophile. What I like about Couchoud’s expressed sentiments is his sympathy, his compassion for humanity, his tolerance (in a positive sense of that word) and understanding. The New Atheists like Richard Dawkins, Chris Hitchens, Sam Harris were angry, bitter, intolerant — and, I had to conclude, fundamentally ignorant … Continue reading “REASONS NOT TO BELIEVE — P-L Couchoud”
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Theological Explanation of the Gospels Die theologische Erklärung der Evangelien by Bruno Bauer 1852 II. Strauss’ tradition hypothesis. Topic headings in the text below are my additions to Bauer’s text. 68 The proposition that language is the man and the word is the thing remains valid even when the language of a point of view … Continue reading “BRUNO BAUER: Theological Explanation of the Gospels – II. Strauss’s tradition hypothesis”
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Critique of the Gospel of John by Bruno Bauer —o0o— 336 § 15. The second Sabbath violation. 9:1 – 10:21. ——– 1) The situation. 9:1-2. Nowhere has the fourth evangelist produced a greater impression of the vividness of his narrative on the apologists than in the account of the healing of a man born blind … Continue reading “§ 15. The second Sabbath violation”
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Critique of the Gospel of John by Bruno Bauer —o0o— 185 §. 10 The first Sabbath violation. 5:2-47. ———- 1) The pool of Bethesda. 5:2-4. The Lord heals a sick man by His word, who could not have been healed in the pool of Bethesda. If the natural explanation otherwise always knows how to eliminate … Continue reading “§ 10. The first Sabbath violation”
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Critique of the Gospel of John by Bruno Bauer —o0o— 10 §. 2. The circle of expectation 1:19-52 1) The mission of the priests to “the” Baptist. 1:19-28 If it is detrimental to a report and must make us cautious about it from the outset if it betrays an agenda, we have every reason … Continue reading “§ 2. The circle of expectation (John 1:19-52)”
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Critique of the Gospel History of the Synoptics by Bruno Bauer Volume 2 —o0o— 206 § 44. The Instructional Speech. Matth. 10, 5-42. If Jesus neither called nor ever sent the Twelve, then he did not give them a special speech at their departure. We could therefore be very brief if asked whether Jesus actually … Continue reading “§ 44. The Instructional Speech”
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Critique of the Gospel History of the Synoptics by Bruno Bauer Volume 1 —o0o— 322 §20. The New Law. Matth. 5, 17—48. In an almost completed, only interrupted at a few points, context, Jesus explains how his relationship to the law should be understood. Firstly, the question arises whether this fairly long explanation is connected … Continue reading “§ 20. The New Law”
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