RE: Read any good books lately? Rate them here
August 17, 2015 at 12:55 am
(This post was last modified: August 17, 2015 at 12:55 am by Justtristo.)
Recently I read On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt by Richard Carrier. While it is a massive work, it is a very well researched and argued (with a huge amount of references) case for Jesus of Nazareth being a wholly mythical character.
Carrier’s Christ Myth hypothesis is broadly similar to Earl Doherty’s and the one I subscribe to. Essentially that the first Christians including Paul or whoever wrote the epistles attributed to him, believed that Jesus existed in outer space, was crucified by demons and was resurrected. Also that the apostles got their revelations from visions they experienced of the risen Jesus. Only later on (probably in the middle of the 2nd century) Jesus was made into a historical figure with an earthly life by the Gospel writers.
Overall the book is a must read for anybody wondering wither or not Jesus actually based on a real person. Although I have to admit Carriers use of Bayes theorem to prove his hypothesis was a little over the top of my head. Since even without using mathematical equations, Carrier's Christ Myth hypothesis puts the onus on those who argue for a historical Jesus to disprove it.
Carrier’s Christ Myth hypothesis is broadly similar to Earl Doherty’s and the one I subscribe to. Essentially that the first Christians including Paul or whoever wrote the epistles attributed to him, believed that Jesus existed in outer space, was crucified by demons and was resurrected. Also that the apostles got their revelations from visions they experienced of the risen Jesus. Only later on (probably in the middle of the 2nd century) Jesus was made into a historical figure with an earthly life by the Gospel writers.
Overall the book is a must read for anybody wondering wither or not Jesus actually based on a real person. Although I have to admit Carriers use of Bayes theorem to prove his hypothesis was a little over the top of my head. Since even without using mathematical equations, Carrier's Christ Myth hypothesis puts the onus on those who argue for a historical Jesus to disprove it.
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