RE: In what way is the Resurrection the best explanation?
October 25, 2019 at 1:54 am
(This post was last modified: October 25, 2019 at 2:17 am by The Grand Nudger.)
(October 24, 2019 at 4:38 pm)Vicki Q Wrote: It's the case that the vanishing of Jesus' body is a necessary condition for the rise of the early church from within Judaism, with the belief set that they had.
No more so than zeus and his children defeating the kraken is a necessary condition for the rise of classical greek henotheism (or the sun standing still in the sky for jewish henotheism.)
Quote:We have clear historical evidence, albeit biased, as to the reasons that the early church gave for this belief set. The resurrection is the best explanation for the rise of the early church, with the belief set they had.
Best explanations for beliefs don't depend on the novel beliefs of claimants centuries in the future, see above. Religion is a social phenomena. To treat it otherwise is to begin with a category error.
A missing body, let alone a resurrection, is in no way shape or form an explanation, best or any kind, for a set of beliefs. In the case of the christian belief, the antonine plagues combined with imperial positioning and the transition of government from the hands of one dynasty to another account for the contents of the early churches beliefs in their totality. They had a smorgasboard to pick from, some known, most only known by passing derision in a screed against heresies. Whatever they chose, for any reason they chose, was going to be the fabric of christianity as we began to know it.
The "early church" wasn't a bunch of pious believers. It wasn't even early. It was a late roman mob leveraged for political support and appointments. If a person were to study human belief in earnest, and wanted to explain the rise of what eventually became the catholic church, they'd start there. Not with the myths and legends and fables ret-conned after it's establishment and set in some distant past or place.
You can do a simple thought experiment to understand why any other approach is ludicrous. Imagine that I set out to create a religion. What kind of religion do you imagine it would be? Use that same critical (and understanding) lens on christian beliefs that you are now employing for my "made up" religion, and things will come into a more meaningful focus. I may say...in my religions founding documentation, that I believe in such and such for reason A - but it would be a mistake to take me at my word. It would be a mistake, even, to think that there are no unspoken (and potentially unintentional) B's and C's, providing utility in the belief, preventing it from becoming a free rider.
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