Even after becoming an atheist (long ago), I have always just assumed that there was pretty solid evidence for there having been some historical man named Jesus, who might have taught some of the things the Biblical Jesus taught, and around whom the legend grew.
I always thought the mythicist position was of the "Zeitgeist" variety, with rather dubious, low quality claims.
The idea that people would have written such an influential personal history of a figure, inventing the whole of it, rather than it having SOME basis in a historical, real person, seemed to me to be just an unnecessary complication.
Didn't place that much importance on the question of historicity of Jesus either, so wasn't that interested, until recently, having heard historicity discussed on Dogma Debate.
I picked up "On the Historicity of Jesus" by Richard Carrier, which, I gathered, by the reviews, was the best case available for the mythicist position, and I'm currently reading it (or listening, as I got it as an audio book). I'm about half way through, and I do have to say that I think I'm having my mind changed. Carrier makes some extremely powerful arguments. It reads like a well researched, non-sensational, very analytical, proper history.
What I'm interested is if anyone has read the book, and is more deeply learned in the issues surrounding historicity, what's your take?
And knowing full well that I've now given one side of the argument much more attention than the other, what would you recommend as a book defending historicity, that makes the best case? Is there a definitive defense of the historicity of Jesus, that I could place beside and compare with Carrier's treatise on the subject?
I always thought the mythicist position was of the "Zeitgeist" variety, with rather dubious, low quality claims.
The idea that people would have written such an influential personal history of a figure, inventing the whole of it, rather than it having SOME basis in a historical, real person, seemed to me to be just an unnecessary complication.
Didn't place that much importance on the question of historicity of Jesus either, so wasn't that interested, until recently, having heard historicity discussed on Dogma Debate.
I picked up "On the Historicity of Jesus" by Richard Carrier, which, I gathered, by the reviews, was the best case available for the mythicist position, and I'm currently reading it (or listening, as I got it as an audio book). I'm about half way through, and I do have to say that I think I'm having my mind changed. Carrier makes some extremely powerful arguments. It reads like a well researched, non-sensational, very analytical, proper history.
What I'm interested is if anyone has read the book, and is more deeply learned in the issues surrounding historicity, what's your take?
And knowing full well that I've now given one side of the argument much more attention than the other, what would you recommend as a book defending historicity, that makes the best case? Is there a definitive defense of the historicity of Jesus, that I could place beside and compare with Carrier's treatise on the subject?
via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1S6J06h
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire