RE: Why Bart Ehrman Pisses Me Off..... sometimes
February 2, 2018 at 4:21 pm
(This post was last modified: February 2, 2018 at 4:25 pm by Anomalocaris.)
(February 2, 2018 at 4:13 pm)Khemikal Wrote:(February 2, 2018 at 3:58 pm)Anomalocaris Wrote: The degree to which any plausible parts of the jesus story actually had any factual basis is really impossible to assess from this remove.Which is a very strong argument -against- considering any of it a fact, particularly after demolishing most of it as fantasy.
Quote:However, the more of the story one discard as implausible based on improbability, the more mundane would be the remaining parts of the story and therefore higher the probability that the remaining parts were based to some degree on actual, but mundane, occurrences.That's not a valid implication, at all. It's an assertion by fiat based upon probabilities that, just up above, you seemed to think were a black box. Show me the math.
The sun stopped in the sky - No such occurrence has ever been demonstrated, and all known laws of physics that exhibited evidence of having operated continuously throughout history must be assumed to have been suspended for this to happen. Thus dismissed as implausible.
A carpenter was born to a self proclaimed virgin - such events probably occurs several times a day somewhere in the world. So no need to dismiss it as not based on actual occurrence.
Members of a malcontented, turmoil afflicted and ill-educated society with a messiahic tradition attributing messiahic status to some charismatic charalatan - frequently observed, no need to dismiss it as not based on actual occurance.
(February 2, 2018 at 4:14 pm)Minimalist Wrote: I could make a plausible story that aliens landed in Arizona 2 million years ago and carved the Grand Canyon with their lasers. Should anyone believe any part of that? No.
No you can’t.
However, if the story has another part that says a pair of sisters came upon the canyon, one of them were afflicted with terror, prostrated herself, smoked some leafs and saw it was made by divine aliens, that part is plausible and can be based directly or indirectly, partially or in whole, on actual occurance. There is no need to deny the possibility that such a part of the story was based on a real pair of sisters.
