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Author : Raphael Lataster
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 508 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2019-07-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9789004408784
This volume explains the inadequacy of the sources and methods used to establish Jesus’ historicity, and how agnosticism can reasonably be upgraded to theorising about ahistoricity when reconsidering Christian origins.
Author : Richard Carrier
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2023-05-05
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1914490231
The assumption that Jesus existed as a historical person has occasionally been questioned in the course of the last hundred years or so, but any doubts that have been raised have usually been put to rest in favor of imagining a blend of the historical, the mythical and the theological in the surviving records of Jesus. Carrier re-examines the whole question and finds compelling reasons to suspect the more daring assumption is correct. He lays out extensive research on the evidence for Jesus and the origins of Christianity and poses the key questions that must now be answered if the historicity of Jesus is to survive as a dominant paradigm. Carrier contrasts the most credible reconstruction of a historical Jesus with the most credible theory of Christian origins if a historical Jesus did not exist. Such a theory would posit that the Jesus figure was originally conceived of as a celestial being known only through private revelations and hidden messages in scripture; then stories placing this being in earth history were crafted to communicate the claims of the gospel allegorically; such stories eventually came to be believed or promoted in the struggle for control of the Christian churches that survived the tribulations of the first century. Carrier finds the latter theory more credible than has been previously imagined. He explains why it offers a better explanation for all the disparate evidence surviving from the first two centuries of the Christian era. He argues that we need a more careful and robust theory of cultural syncretism between Jewish theology and politics of the second-temple period and the most popular features of pagan religion and philosophy of the time. For anyone intent on defending a historical Jesus, this is the book to challenge.
Author : G. A. Wells
Publisher : Prometheus Books
Page : 258 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2010-11-02
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781615923809
Professor Wells argues that there was no historical Jesus, and in thus arguing he deals with the many recent writers who have interpreted the historical Jesus as some kind of political figure in the struggle against Rome, and calls in evidence the many contemporary theologians who agree with some of his arguments about early Christianity. The question at issue is what all the evidence adds up to. Does it establish that Jesus did or did not exist? Professor Wells concludes that the latter is the more likely hypothesis. This challenge to received thinking by both Christians and non-Christians is supported by much documentary evidence, and Professor Wells carefully examines all the relevant problems and answers all the relevant questions. He deliberately avoids polemic and speculation, and sticks so far as possible to the known facts and to rational inferences from the facts.
Author : Gary R. Habermas
Publisher : College Press
Page : 308 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 1996
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0899007325
Rev. ed. of: Ancient evidence for the life of Jesus. Includes bibliographical references and index.
Author : Thomas L. Thompson,Thomas S. Verenna
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 314 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2017-09-19
Category : History
ISBN : 9781134946143
The historicity of Jesus is now widely accepted and hardly questioned by most scholars. But this assumption disarms biblical texts of much of their power by privileging an historical interpretation which effectively sweeps aside much theological speculation and allusion. Furthermore, the assumption of historicity gathers further assumptions to it, shaping the interpretation of texts, both denying and adding subtext. Scholars are now faced with an endless array of works on the historical Jesus and few question what has been lost through this wide-spread assumption of historicity. Is This Not the Carpenter? presents a very valuable corrective: a literary rereading of the New Testament.
Author : Bill Zuersher
Publisher : Xlibris Corporation
Page : 317 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2014-06-20
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9781499018493
The only book you'll ever need to read about Christianity. This remarkable book provides a critical overview of Christian beliefs and the evidence for them. Where did these beliefs come from? Are there good reasons to believe Christianity is true? Bill Zuersher clearly explains each of Christianity's major beliefs. He then proceeds to demonstrate significant difficulties with each of them. The book tackles these beliefs in a logical order, beginning with the problems at the root of virtually all religions, suffering and death, and culminating in their supposed resolution through Jesus. Mr. Zuersher also examines the evidence for Christianity, namely religious writings and the historical fact of the early Jesus movement. He makes the case that this evidence does not support the religion's claims and he provides naturalistic alternative explanations for how its core beliefs arose. In these pages we see the coalescence of Jewish and Zoroastrian religious ideas with those of Greek philosophy and mystery cults, to form the belief system we recognize as Christianity today. The result, Mr. Zuersher argues, is not revealed truth, but rather a human patchwork which contains unwarranted assumptions and logical flaws, all founded upon questionable evidence. Entertaining throughout, it is must-reading for skeptics, apologists, and anyone interested the world's largest religion or the culture wars behind today's politics -- an invaluable resource for students and teachers, writers and debaters.
Author : Bart D. Ehrman,Craig A. Evans,Robert B. Stewart
Publisher : Westminster John Knox Press
Page : 114 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2020-09-22
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781646980017
This book features a learned and fascinating debate between two great Bible scholars about the New Testament as a reliable source on the historical Jesus. Bart Ehrman, an agnostic New Testament scholar, debates Craig Evans, an evangelical New Testament scholar, about the historical Jesus and what constitutes "history." Their interaction includes such compelling questions as: What are sound methods of historical investigation? What are reliable criteria for determining the authenticity of an ancient text? What roles do reason and inference play? And, of course, interpretation? Readers of this debate—regardless of their interpretive inclinations and biases—are sure to find some confirmation of their existing beliefs, but they will surely also find an honest and well-informed challenge to the way they think about the historical Jesus. The result? A more open, better informed, and questioning mind, which is better prepared for discovering both truth and contrivance. The debate between Ehrman and Evans along with Stewart's introductory framework make this book an excellent primer to the study of the historical Jesus, and readers will come away with a deeper appreciation for the ongoing quest for the historical Jesus.
Author : Larry W. Hurtado
Publisher : Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Page : 293 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2005-11-02
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781467425049
In How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? Larry Hurtado investigates the intense devotion to Jesus that emerged with surprising speed after his death. Reverence for Jesus among early Christians, notes Hurtado, included both grand claims about Jesus' significance and a pattern of devotional practices that effectively treated him as divine. This book argues that whatever one makes of such devotion to Jesus, the subject deserves serious historical consideration. Mapping out the lively current debate about Jesus, Hurtado explains the evidence, issues, and positions at stake. He goes on to treat the opposition to -- and severe costs of -- worshiping Jesus, the history of incorporating such devotion into Jewish monotheism, and the role of religious experience in Christianity's development out of Judaism. The follow-up to Hurtado's award-winningLord Jesus Christ (2003), this book provides compelling answers to queries about the development of the church's belief in the divinity of Jesus.
Author : Raphael Lataster
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2015-11-12
Category : Atheism
ISBN : 1514814420
For a lay audience, and with help from historian Richard Carrier, religious studies scholar Raphael Lataster considers the best arguments for and against the existence of the so-called Historical Jesus; the Jesus of atheists. Parts 1 & 2 analyse the cases made by Bart Ehrman and Maurice Casey, who assert that Jesus definitely existed. Their arguments are found to be riddled with errors, and dependent on unreliable, and even non-existing, sources. Parts 3 & 4 discuss the more sceptical work of Lataster and Carrier, who conclude that Christianity probably began not with a humble carpenter, but with 'visions' of a heavenly Messiah. This exciting collaboration makes it very clear why the Historical Jesus might not have existed after all, and, to those willing to adopt a commonsensical probabilistic approach, Jesus Did Not Exist.
Author : Bart D. Ehrman
Publisher : Harper Collins
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2012-03-20
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780062089946
In Did Jesus Exist? historian and Bible expert Bart Ehrman confronts the question, "Did Jesus exist at all?" Ehrman vigorously defends the historical Jesus, identifies the most historically reliable sources for best understanding Jesus’ mission and message, and offers a compelling portrait of the person at the heart of the Christian tradition. Known as a master explainer with deep knowledge of the field, Bart Ehrman methodically demolishes both the scholarly and popular “mythicist” arguments against the existence of Jesus. Marshaling evidence from within the Bible and the wider historical record of the ancient world, Ehrman tackles the key issues that surround the mythologies associated with Jesus and the early Christian movement. In Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth, Ehrman establishes the criterion for any genuine historical investigation and provides a robust defense of the methods required to discover the Jesus of history.
Author : Michael F. Bird
Publisher : Baker Academic
Page : 208 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2009-08-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781441205964
Did Jesus claim to be the long-awaited "messiah"? Going against much contemporary scholarship, Australian scholar Michael Bird argues that he did. He begins by exploring the messianic expectations in the Old Testament and Second Temple Jewish literature. Next, Bird points out weaknesses in current arguments that "Messiah," or "Christ," was a title given to Jesus by the early church but not used by Jesus himself. Bird then examines the Gospels and related literature, finding in Jesus's words and actions evidence that he saw himself as the messiah described in the Scriptures of Israel and believed that Israel's restoration hinged on the outcome of his ministry.
Author : Darrell L. Bock
Publisher : Baker Academic
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2002-07
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780801024511
Introduces the sources of our knowledge about Jesus, surveying the history and culture of his times, and presents some of the methods used to study the Gospels, including historical, redaction, and narrative criticism.
Author : Gary R. Habermas
Publisher : Christian Publishing House
Page : 110 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2020-11-28
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781949586671
The search for the historical Jesus is a hot topic in both popular and academic circles today and has drawn a lot of attention from national magazines, such as Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report. Further, the media has given an undue amount of attention to the Jesus Seminar's outlandish statements, a self-selected liberal group representing a tiny percentage of New Testament scholarship. Dr. Gary Habermas will address the questions surrounding the debate over the historical Jesus and show a significant number of historical facts about Jesus in secular and non-New Testament sources that prove that the Jesus of history is the same Jesus of the Christian faith. The author of EVIDENCE FOR THE HISTORICAL JESUS is Dr. Gary Habermas, author of the book, The Historical Jesus and about twenty other volumes. He received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University. Dr. Habermas is chairman of the Department of Philosophy at Liberty University. He has written more than 100 articles, mostly on the life of Jesus, which have appeared in scholarly journals and elsewhere. Herein you will learn why Jesus is one of the most historically verified lives of ancient times.
Author : Albert Schweitzer
Publisher : DigiCat
Page : 473 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2023-11-26
Category : Religion
ISBN : EAN:8596547733461
The Quest of the Historical Jesus is a review of all prior work on the question of the "historical Jesus" starting with the late 18th century. The author points out how Jesus' image has changed with the times and with the personal proclivities of the various authors. He concludes with his own synopsis and interpretation of what had been learned over the course of the previous century. The author takes the position that the life and thinking of Jesus must be interpreted in the light of Jesus' own convictions, which he characterizes as those of "late Jewish eschatology", and that Jesus defies any attempt at understanding him by making parallels to the ways of thinking or feeling of modern men. In Schweitzer's view, Jesus genuinely believed that his ministry would bring about the end of history and did not see any prolonged period elapsing between his time on earth and God's final judgment. Contents: The Problem Hermann Samuel Reimarus The Lives Of Jesus Of The Earlier Rationalism The Earliest Fictitious Lives Of Jesus Fully Developed Rationalism—Paulus The Last Phase Of Rationalism—Hase And Schleiermacher David Friedrich Strauss—The Man And His Fate Strauss's First "Life Of Jesus" Strauss's Opponents And Supporters The Marcan Hypothesis Bruno Bauer. The First Sceptical Life Of Jesus Further Imaginative Lives Of Jesus Renan The "Liberal" Lives Of Jesus The Eschatological Question The Struggle Against Eschatology Questions Regarding The Aramaic Language, Rabbinic Parallels, And Buddhistic Influence The Position Of The Subject At The Close Of The Nineteenth Century Thoroughgoing Scepticism And Thoroughgoing Eschatology Results
Author : Richard C. Carrier
Publisher : Prometheus Books
Page : 254 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2012-04-03
Category : History
ISBN : 9781616145606
This in-depth discussion of New Testament scholarship and the challenges of history as a whole proposes Bayes’s Theorem, which deals with probabilities under conditions of uncertainty, as a solution to the problem of establishing reliable historical criteria. The author demonstrates that valid historical methods—not only in the study of Christian origins but in any historical study—can be described by, and reduced to, the logic of Bayes’s Theorem. Conversely, he argues that any method that cannot be reduced to this theorem is invalid and should be abandoned. Writing with thoroughness and clarity, the author explains Bayes’s Theorem in terms that are easily understandable to professional historians and laypeople alike, employing nothing more than well-known primary school math. He then explores precisely how the theorem can be applied to history and addresses numerous challenges to and criticisms of its use in testing or justifying the conclusions that historians make about the important persons and events of the past. The traditional and established methods of historians are analyzed using the theorem, as well as all the major "historicity criteria" employed in the latest quest to establish the historicity of Jesus. The author demonstrates not only the deficiencies of these approaches but also ways to rehabilitate them using Bayes’s Theorem. Anyone with an interest in historical methods, how historical knowledge can be justified, new applications of Bayes’s Theorem, or the study of the historical Jesus will find this book to be essential reading.