RE: The Historical Reliability of the New Testament
May 26, 2015 at 4:10 pm
(This post was last modified: May 26, 2015 at 4:12 pm by Minimalist.)
You are not catching the essence of Carrier's discussion about 'argument by epistle' then.
Quote:2. The Peculiar Indifference of Paul and his Christians
As a psychologist once put it (about Paul's letter to fellow congregants in
Rome, whom he had not yet met and thus can't have shared his own stories
with):
Imagine for a moment that one of your friends writes you a twenty-page
letter passionately wanting to share her excitement about a new teacher.
This letter has only one topic, your friend's new teacher. [But] at the end
of her letter, you still do not know one thing about her teacher. Yet, Paul
presents the central figure of his theology this way . . . . It [seems] impossible
to imagine how Paul could avoid telling one story or parable of--or
fai I to note one physical trait or personal quality of-Jesus.
Indeed, Paul mentions 'Jesus' or 'Christ' in his seven authentic letters at
least 280 times-and that doesn't count other references to him as only 'the
Lord' or 'Son of God'. Altogether, Paul found over three hundred occasions
to mention Jesus (by some name or title), and on at least half of those
occasions he tells us some particular fact or other about this Jesus. But (as
we'll see) not one of those facts connects Jesus with an earthly life (without
adding suppositions not in the text). His crucifixion is mentioned over
fifteen times; and his resurrection, over thirty times. But never any details.
So those could have occurred in outer space (as explained in Chapter 3). We
hear very little else.9
In fact, as we' l l see in this chapter, the only Jesus Paul shows any knowledge
of is a celestial being, not an earthly man. Paul's Jesus is only ever
in the heavens. Never once is his baptism mentioned, or his ministry, or
his trial, or any of his miracles, or any historical details about what he was
like, what he did, or suffered, or where he was from, or where he had been,
or what people he knew. No memories from those who knew him are ever
reported. Paul never mentions Galilee or Nazareth, or Pilate or Mary or
Joseph, or any miracles Jesus did or any miraculous powers he is supposed
to have displayed . . . or anything about the life of Jesus not in the Gospels.
Paul never references any event in Jesus' life as an example to follow
(beyond the abstractions of love, endurance and submissiveness), and never
places anything Jesus said in any earthly historical context whatever. So
far as these letters tell us, no Christian ever asked Paul about these things,
either. Nor did any of these things ever become relevant in any dispute Paul
had with anyone. Not one of his opponents, so far as Paul mentions, ever
referenced a fact about Jesus' life in support of their arguments. And no
one ever doubted anything claimed about Jesus and asked for witnesses to
confirm it or explain it or give more details. The interest Tacitus showed in
Pliny 's father is never exhibited by any of them, nor is Pliny's eagerness to
talk about his father ever exhibited by Paul in his eagerness to talk about
Jesus-and yet Paul talks obsessively and repeatedly about Jesus.
Carrier pgs 514-15
