RE: People in bible never existed according to head of Theology at a university in UK!
January 2, 2018 at 7:59 am
(This post was last modified: January 2, 2018 at 8:23 am by The Grand Nudger.)
(December 30, 2017 at 1:40 pm)CapnAwesome Wrote: To require details to match exactly seems pedantic. I'm an Atheist, obviously I don't believe in miracles. However Alexander the great, Ghenghis Khan, even modern people like Geranimo have miracles associated with them. I don't not believe they existed because people associated miracles with them.
Not speaking for Boru, but "miracles" are why I don't believe in the christ myth. I don't believe in the jesus legend because it's no better supported than the christ myth and has problems all it's own. It;s the same reason I don't believe in the Paul Bunyan legend, regardless of whether or not there was a mythically large blue ox.
Alexander, Ghenghis, Geronimo...these were real people with legends and myths attached. Each very well established. With "jesus"..the reverse seems to be true. Myths and legends with a man attached as an afterthought.
As far as what you specified as the core, as it were, of some jesus the man....well, why bethlehem, why nazereth? We were willing to negotiate on so much of the other particulars how about these as well? If not...why not, honestly? Early christians were certainly divided over the details of the "mundane" jesus...and even whether or not there was one. The man we know as the hypothetically historical jesus is just as much of a story as the supernatural stuff. Their are, in fact..entire genres of fiction with no ghosts and ghouls in them (I find it ironic that we're even discussing that in the context of a story that -is- about ghosts and ghouls).
So long as we're willing to race to the bottom in search of even a single similarity I'm sure we could find 100's of jesus' (can we call them je-si, lol?) in the ANE. Just as we'd be able to find a bunch of french lumberjacks applying a pthalo blue pesticide and antifungal to their oxen. Tics, there are metric shotloads of tics in trees. They have a tendency to jump ship when you cut one down. They'd really cake in on to prevent the spread of disease. Will we believe either story is more or less a biography after having done so?
Not for nothing, the human origin of the bunyan myth -and- legend as having a proto-paul who atually lived is on more solid ground than the historical jesus narrative...and neither rise to the level of Alexander, Ghenghis, or Geronimo.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
