(September 25, 2015 at 7:46 am)Redbeard The Pink Wrote: Jesus himself is also a problem. Even if you go with the mainstream position that the Jesus of Nazareth character was based on one real guy who was actually crucified by Pontius Pilate, mainstream historians still generally reject most of the gospel as being fiction; any way you slice it, the Jesus of Nazareth character didn't exist in the way the Bible said he did.
Really Redbeard? So without Jesus who came up with the parable of the "Good Samaritan"? Who gave the parable of the "Prodigal Son"? Who delivered the Sermon on the Mount?
(September 25, 2015 at 7:46 am)Redbeard The Pink Wrote: The real human (if there was one) has less historicity than pretty much anyone, and the Bible version has none at all.
There's no "if" - scholars unanimously say he existed.
(September 25, 2015 at 7:46 am)Redbeard The Pink Wrote: At most, his baptism and crucifixion happened, and at worst not one bit of it happened.
No, at worst he was baptised by John, he called disciples, he delivered teachings, and he was crucified by order of Pilate. I'd also say the short version of the Lord's Supper is fairly certain (though whether it was really the Last Supper is certainly up for debate).
At most he taught and said everything that's attributed to him in the gospels. In light of the Epistle of James, and Paul's early epistles (written before any of the gospels even by early dating), we can say with confidence that he delivered teachings consistent with a message of salvation, compassion, reconciliation, and other quite noble themes.
We atheists often categorise him as apocalyptic, and I do believe that's correct, but that's also debatable.
For Religion & Health see:[/b][/size] Williams & Sternthal. (2007). Spirituality, religion and health: Evidence and research directions. Med. J. Aust., 186(10), S47-S50. -LINK
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
