MERGED: The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (Part 1) & (Part 2)

[abaris]

1. Bart Erhman
2. Robert Price
3. Michael Grant
4. Will Durant
5. James Tabor

1, I assume we all know about Bart Ehrman.

2, Robert Price, a theologian, mind you.

In books like The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man and Deconstructing Jesus, Price challenges biblical literalism and argues for a more skeptical and humanistic approach to Christianity. He questions the idea of a historical Jesus; in the documentary The God Who Wasn't There, Price supports a version of the Jesus myth hypothesis, suggesting that the early Christians adopted the model for the figure of Jesus from the popular Mediterranean dying-rising saviour myths of the time, such as that of Dionysus. He argues that the comparisons were known at the time, as early church father, Justin Martyr had admitted the similarities. Price suggests that Christianity simply adopted themes from the dying-rising god stories of the day and supplemented them with themes (escaping crosses, empty tombs, children being persecuted by tyrants, etc.) from the popular stories of the day in order to come up with the narratives about Christ.[citation needed] He has argued that there was an almost complete fleshing out of the details of the gospels by a Midrash (haggadah) rewriting of the Septuagint, Homer, Euripides' Bacchae, and Josephus.

A good man obviously, but not exactly making the case for you.

3. Michael Grant, died 2004, historian. I guess it's about "Jesus: An historians Review". His take on the gospels.

They do not fit into any known genre of literature, ancient or modern., ... the writers of the gospels, their aims being what they were , had no intention of limiting themselves to these facts of prosaic history. For they interwove them with a great deal of other material as well. But so did ancient pagan writers on historical subjects.

4. Will Durant. 1885 to 1981. It's important to know that his works were mainly written in the first half of the 20th century when historical wasn't as advanced as it is now. Durant also argues for Genesis to be taken as a historical fact, barring the supernatural.

The discoveries here summarized have restored considerable credit to those chapters of Genesis that record the early traditions of the Jews. In its outlines, and barring supernatural incidents, the story of the Jews as unfolded in the Old Testament has stood the test of criticism and archeology; every year adds corroboration from documents, monuments, or excavations... We must accept the Biblical account provisionally until it is disproved.

5. James Tabor. A real quack, arguing for a Jesus dynasty. It's important to note, that not even theologians agree with him.

Darrell Bock, professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, writing for Christianity Today (May 2006) has said "Four major historical problems exist with Tabor's portrait beyond the mere worldview issues that drive his portrait. "

Bert Jan Lietaert Peerbolte from the Theological University of Kampen writing in the Society of Biblical Literature Review of Biblical Literature (June 2007) was highly critical of the book saying, "Some books are written to spread knowledge, others to generate controversy. This book falls into the latter category. In his Jesus Dynasty James Tabor presents a reconstruction of the Jesus movement from a perspective that purports to be a neutral view at the facts. Unfortunately, Tabor’s view is not neutral and his “facts” are not facts."