Jesus historicity is a big question mark for me and I fully admit that I don't know much about the evidence for or against a historical Jesus - I have the audiobook Nailed by David Fitzgerald which argues the mythicist side but I have yet to get around to a book arguing for a historical Jesus and David didn't touch on what I'm wondering about here.
So Paul only ever saw a ghosty Jesus, right? Not a real flesh and blood one, just a mirage or a vision so he's not an eye-witness to Jesus. It's also pretty certain that he existed, right? No one disputes that. And Paul was supposedly in contact with apostles who claim to have lived with Jesus, witnessed his "miracles," saw him crucified (Peter, for instance).
I don't believe for a second that there was a magical dude who was born of a virgin and healed sick people and conjured bread and fish, but I'm willing to entertain the idea that there was a regular, charismatic guy who became the real-life basis for the Jesus myth. What I'm wondering about here is how mythicists treat the relationship between Paul and the apostles who claimed to be first hand witnesses of an actual Jesus. Were they lying? Did they, too, only witness a vision or mirage of Jesus just like Paul? Did they actually know a Jesus-figure and they simply embellished the stories over time?
Thoughts?
So Paul only ever saw a ghosty Jesus, right? Not a real flesh and blood one, just a mirage or a vision so he's not an eye-witness to Jesus. It's also pretty certain that he existed, right? No one disputes that. And Paul was supposedly in contact with apostles who claim to have lived with Jesus, witnessed his "miracles," saw him crucified (Peter, for instance).
I don't believe for a second that there was a magical dude who was born of a virgin and healed sick people and conjured bread and fish, but I'm willing to entertain the idea that there was a regular, charismatic guy who became the real-life basis for the Jesus myth. What I'm wondering about here is how mythicists treat the relationship between Paul and the apostles who claimed to be first hand witnesses of an actual Jesus. Were they lying? Did they, too, only witness a vision or mirage of Jesus just like Paul? Did they actually know a Jesus-figure and they simply embellished the stories over time?
Thoughts?
Teenaged X-Files obsession + Bermuda Triangle episode + Self-led school research project = Atheist.
