Christians - What would you do if it were discovered Jesus never existed?

[GrandizerII]

Not a plausible theory. The Pauline Epistles several times imply Jesus walking the earth at one point in time.

Keep in mind most mythicist views are based on not applying good critical thinking skills and favoring ad hoc over parsimonious interpretations.

And most non-mythicist views are based on appeals to authority, pre-supposition, and special pleading.


There are only about 6 Pauline Epistles that are not hotly disputed, and in those Epistles Paul consistently refers to the idea that his and others' knowledge of Christ comes from scripture and personal revelation. Some people will say there are references to his earthly family, but the term there is "brothers of the Lord" which is a nick-name for Christians TO THIS DAY. There are a few other passages that challenge this theory, but Carrier deals with those nicely in his talks. I'd have to look some of it up to go much further. The point is, Carrier sounds like he's interpreting historical evidence and drawing conclusions when he discusses this stuff, whereas non-mythicists just cry "There's so much EVIDENCE! Are you going to disagree with MAINSTREAM SCHOLARSHIP? You're an IDIOT!"


In my observation, this has been how ALL pro-historicists make their case (regardless of religious affiliation). They appeal to authority, they appeal to disputed texts and act as if they're only disputed by crazies, and they call names when you won't listen to their favorite historian. If they had a case as reasonable as Carrier's, they would just make it without having to resort to all that nonsense. Claims of historicity will turn an atheist into a Christ apologist faster than anything I've ever seen. It's kind of sad to watch, honestly.

You demonstrate my point. What you are doing is relying on ad hoc rather than on more parsimonious interpretations. Nevermind the fact that you 're also relying on strawman as well. When did I ever appeal to authority?

If you think "brother of the Lord" or "in the flesh" or "descendant of David" or "born of a woman" and so on do not indicate earthly life, that's fine. But you'll need to demonstrate that this is what Paul really meant by looking to the other stuff he may have said that elaborates on those meanings. Otherwise, all this is telling me is that such mythicist interpretations are not falsifiable.