RE: Evidence: The Gathering
September 23, 2015 at 7:35 pm
(This post was last modified: September 23, 2015 at 7:49 pm by TheRocketSurgeon.)
(September 23, 2015 at 6:51 pm)Randy Carson Wrote:(September 22, 2015 at 7:26 pm)TheRocketSurgeon Wrote:
TL;dr version - Nothing Tacitus wrote indicates what O'Neill speculates about in his writing, regarding the source of the side-note about executed Christians and/or the historicity of the source of their religious beliefs, in that passage. It does lend credence to the idea that Jesus was a living person, and that his second- and third-generation worshipers at least believed that he was executed by Pilate, but nothing else.
Bart Ehrman discusses Tacitus at length in this post in which he destroys mythicist Richard Carrier:
http://ehrmanblog.org/fuller-reply-to-richard-carrier/
He also discusses the "dying and rising gods" theory.
Let me know what you think.
I read the whole section on Tacitus, and I can't find where he says one thing I disagree with, or that isn't the position I hold (except to note that he seems to have shifted in my direction a little bit, since writing his book). I have never argued that the Tacitus passage in 15.44 was an interpolation (if you don't know, it means "written-in later, by Christian forgers", as they clearly did with Josephus), and consider the passage to be genuine, with the only question being what Tacitus meant and where he got his information. I have always disagreed with Carrier that Prefect and Procurator were "the same thing", since in light of that argument it makes no sense for Tacitus to have noted that in 44 CE, Procurators were given power to govern provinces. If they were "effectively the same thing", as Carrier argued and Ehrman dissected, such an order would have been superfluous, and certainly not noteworthy even if it was a clarification-order.
Indeed, Ehrman specifically states that my claims here, about the problems with reading Historicity into the works of Tacitus, regarding the source of T's information about the trial of "Chrestus" by Pilate, are accurate, at least according to the email he got and posted from his respected colleague James Rives:
Quote: "I've never come across any dispute about the authenticity of Ann. 15.44; as far as I'm aware, it's always been accepted as genuine, although of course there are plenty of disputes over Tacitus’ precise meaning, the source of his information, and the nature of the historical events that lie behind it. There are some minor textual issues (the spelling 'Chrestianos' vs. 'Christianos', e.g.), but there’s not much to be done with them since we here, as everywhere in Tacitus’ major works, effectively depend on a single manuscript."
That is effectively my entire position. So I'm not sure what you wanted me to read in that blog.
I skipped the "dying and rising gods" theory section of the blog article and went straight to the Conclusion, since A) that section was huge, and B) it's not really what we're discussing right now (and I have said I don't swallow Carrier's arguments on most of these issues, except for information relating to how the ancient Hebrews saw the celestial beings in a broader sense than we mean it today, which is hardly unique to Carrier).
You might enjoy this recent interview Ehrman gave:
http://ehrmanblog.org/how-jesus-became-g...nist-hour/
A Christian told me: if you were saved you cant lose your salvation. you're sealed with the Holy Ghost
I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.
I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.