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Old 02-12-2009, 07:16 AM   #21
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Not quite. We respect their professional opinions when they use generally accepted professional methodology to examine the issues and evidence at hand. It is their experience that enables them to have a wider view of other possible evidence that may impact upon new evidence.
Yes, well pointing to the questionable Methods of Michael Behe wouldn't entitle you to cast asspertions upon the generality of biologists. It is peer review which settles the matter.
Yes and his peers use those methods ands standards to judge. So again, respect is not automatic, but is earned.
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Old 02-12-2009, 07:42 AM   #22
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So, tell me then on what basis was Homer's Achilles believed to be a mythical figure?
On the basis that he was never supposed to be a historical figure. He was a character in a play (and poem).
So, why do you not suppose that Jesus of the NT was meant to be presented similar to Achilles?

Look at Matthew 1.18
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Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
And Acts 1.9
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And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
I think Jesus, too, was never supposed to be an historical figure.

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Originally Posted by delusional
You are confusing two different questions - whether Jesus existed, and whether he performed historical acts. Whereas the one is almost universally accepted amongst professional historians, the other is not. (The latter depending upon their religious beliefs.)
So how did professional historians ,as you call them, get their historical evidence? Where did the professional historians get their historical evidence?

It could not be that they got their historical evidence from the NT, church writings or non-canonised because it is claimed a multiplicity of times, hundreds of times, that Jesus truly was the offspring of the Holy Ghost, truly was born without sexual union, truly resurrected and truly ascended to heaven.

And they could NOT have gotten their historical evidence from non-apologetic sources, since there are only forgeries in Josephus.

Please, I beg of you, tell me from where the professional historians got their historical information?


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Anything about Jesus of the NT can be absolutely rejected until credible historical evidence is found.
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Originally Posted by delusional
Like I said, mythicists will try and explain away any evidence which doesn't suit them. They sound exactly like religious fundamentalists explaing away the evidence for evolution. (The primary reason for accepting evolution, amongst non specialists, is that almost all professional biologists accept it. The primary reason for accepting the historicity of Jesus, amongst non specialists, is that almost all professional historians accept it.)
But, you sound like someone who has no evidence for your position, so you tell me about other people.

I do not want to hear anything about other people, I want to hear your explanation for Matthew 1.18 and Acts 1.9. Where is the history for your Jesus?

Pllease don't tell me you got it from other people's imagination.

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And don't come back with that thing about the "argument from authority." If I was going to build a nuclear power station, I would rather accept the authority of a nuclear engineer, than accept your ideas of how to go about it.
You are confused, I never proposed to build a nuclear plant for you.

But, you have proposed to build a case for the history of Jesus using mythology.

Your history of Jesus is bulit on Matthew1.18 and Acts 1.9.
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Old 02-12-2009, 08:44 AM   #23
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On the basis that he was never supposed to be a historical figure. He was a character in a play (and poem).
So, why do you not suppose that Jesus of the NT was meant to be presented similar to Achilles?

Look at Matthew 1.18

And Acts 1.9

I think Jesus, too, was never supposed to be an historical figure.



So how did professional historians ,as you call them, get their historical evidence? Where did the professional historians get their historical evidence?

It could not be that they got their historical evidence from the NT, church writings or non-canonised because it is claimed a multiplicity of times, hundreds of times, that Jesus truly was the offspring of the Holy Ghost, truly was born without sexual union, truly resurrected and truly ascended to heaven.

And they could NOT have gotten their historical evidence from non-apologetic sources, since there are only forgeries in Josephus.

Please, I beg of you, tell me from where the professional historians got their historical information?






But, you sound like someone who has no evidence for your position, so you tell me about other people.

I do not want to hear anything about other people, I want to hear your explanation for Matthew 1.18 and Acts 1.9. Where is the history for your Jesus?

Pllease don't tell me you got it from other people's imagination.

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Originally Posted by delusional
And don't come back with that thing about the "argument from authority." If I was going to build a nuclear power station, I would rather accept the authority of a nuclear engineer, than accept your ideas of how to go about it.
You are confused, I never proposed to build a nuclear plant for you.

But, you have proposed to build a case for the history of Jesus using mythology.

Your history of Jesus is bulit on Matthew1.18 and Acts 1.9.
This might help:

http://evangelicalatheist.com/2008/0...city-of-jesus/

Read all of it (including all the comments); not just the bits you agree with.
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Old 02-12-2009, 09:29 AM   #24
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This might help:

http://evangelicalatheist.com/2008/0...city-of-jesus/

Read all of it (including all the comments); not just the bits you agree with.
Now, this is embarrassing. I asked you for historical evidence and all you can come up with are forged passages in Josephus.

And even if you think they are not forged, the "TF" is then one of the multiple-attested resurrection of Jesus.

Every single author of the Gospels including gJohn wrote that Jesus did indeed resurrect. Jesus is a multiple-attested myth.

Most of the the writers of the NT, the church writers, and non-cononised writings multiple-attested that Jesus was the offspring of the Holy Ghost, multiple-attested that he transfigured, multiple attested that he was resurrected and ascended to heaven.

Jesus is a multiple-attested myth.

And it have been already discussed, the criterion of embarrassment is useless, just a waste of time.

The criterion is just illogical.

If the embarrassing parts are likely to be true, then those parts that are not embarrassing are likely to be false.

So, Jesus did not exist or likely not to have existed since his existence was not embarrassing.

Jesus is a multiple-attested myth.
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Old 02-12-2009, 09:43 AM   #25
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delusional has yet to provide the names of the professional historians he relies on.
If you want some names:

Geza Vermes
Paula Fredrickson
Edwin M. Yamuchi

The last is a Christian, so I don't suppose that would surprise you, but the other two are Jewish, with no sympathy for Christianity.
You destroy your credibility here. Geza Vermes was born Jewish, converted as a child to Catholicism, was a priest, and then reasserted his Jewish identity, but is not anti-Christian. Paula Fredriksen [note the spelling] is Jewish and also not, as far as I can see, especially anti-Christian.

But neither one is trained as a historian. Both are religion scholars who study texts.

I assume the last on your list is Edwin Yamauchi, who is an evangelical Christian featured in Lee Strobel's Case for Christ. Is Lee Strobel your real authority? Please read more about his shoddy techniques - search the archives here.

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And now he seems to know as much about biology as history. The reasons for accepting evolution can be explained to anyone with a basic education. Biologists do not ask you to rely on their expertise, they provide the facts.
Historians could give reasons why they think Jesus was a historical figure, but it still requires you to have some respect for the fact that they are professionally qualified if you are going to attach more weight to their opinions than to those of the man nextdoor.
You seem to be describing a historian who bases his or her argument on their personal qualifications - an argument from authority. This is not how things work. We are not taking a survey of opinions on whether Jesus was a historical figure, we are looking for the underlying facts and arguments.
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Old 02-12-2009, 09:58 AM   #26
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This might help:

http://evangelicalatheist.com/2008/0...city-of-jesus/

Read all of it (including all the comments); not just the bits you agree with.
Now, this is embarrassing. I asked you for historical evidence and all you can come up with are forged passages in Josephus.
Exactly what has the website I posted got to do with forged passages in Josephus? Far from reading all of it, it would seem that you never got passed a link in the second paragraph.
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Old 02-12-2009, 10:11 AM   #27
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If you want some names:

Geza Vermes
Paula Fredrickson
Edwin M. Yamuchi

The last is a Christian, so I don't suppose that would surprise you, but the other two are Jewish, with no sympathy for Christianity.
You destroy your credibility here. Geza Vermes was born Jewish, converted as a child to Catholicism, was a priest, and then reasserted his Jewish identity, but is not anti-Christian. Paula Fredriksen [note the spelling] is Jewish and also not, as far as I can see, especially anti-Christian.

But neither one is trained as a historian. Both are religion scholars who study texts.
Paula Fredrickson (note the spelling) has:

A graduate of Wellesley College (1973), Oxford University (1974), and Princeton University (1979), she has published widely in the social and intellectual history of ancient Christianity from the late Second Temple period to the fall of the Roman Empire in the West. (from Boston University website)


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I assume the last on your list is Edwin Yamauchi, who is an evangelical Christian featured in Lee Strobel's Case for Christ. Is Lee Strobel your real authority? Please read more about his shoddy techniques - search the archives here.
I haven't read Lee Strobel in my life.


Quote:
You seem to be describing a historian who bases his or her argument on their personal qualifications - an argument from authority. This is not how things work. We are not taking a survey of opinions on whether Jesus was a historical figure, we are looking for the underlying facts and arguments.
I am describing an attitude to somebody who are specialists in their field, and are giving their reasons for thinking as they do.
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Old 02-12-2009, 10:16 AM   #28
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Now, this is embarrassing. I asked you for historical evidence and all you can come up with are forged passages in Josephus.
Exactly what has the website I posted got to do with forged passages in Josephus? Far from reading all of it, it would seem that you never got passed a link in the second paragraph.
What does that blog post have to do with anything? It rehashes the discredited methodoly of the criteria of embarassment, based on an audio lecture by a member of the Jesus Seminar. The last comment on that blog is especially uninformed.

You seem to think that we should be impressed that someone claims some sort of expertise and says that Jesus existed - without demanding to know what evidence they used. It doesn't wash.
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Old 02-12-2009, 10:17 AM   #29
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Now, this is embarrassing. I asked you for historical evidence and all you can come up with are forged passages in Josephus.
Exactly what has the website I posted got to do with forged passages in Josephus? Far from reading all of it, it would seem that you never got passed a link in the second paragraph.

Where else in the link is there any reference to Jesus of the NT from non-apologetic sources?

I asked for historical information about Jesus, you give me forgeries and theories.

I told you I am looking for historical evidence not theories. There are a multiplicity of theories out there but no historical evidence.
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Old 02-12-2009, 10:23 AM   #30
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...
Paula Fredrickson (note the spelling) has:

A graduate of Wellesley College (1973), Oxford University (1974), and Princeton University (1979), she has published widely in the social and intellectual history of ancient Christianity from the late Second Temple period to the fall of the Roman Empire in the West. (from Boston University website)
Her name is sometimes misspelled - as it is on Metacrock's site. Here is the BU website:

http://www.bu.edu/religion/faculty/bios/fredriksen.html
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Paula Fredriksen . . .
And you claim was that she was no friend to Christianity. Would you like to retract that?

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I haven't read Lee Strobel in my life.
But you cite a retired American evangelical as a historical expert?

Quote:
Quote:
You seem to be describing a historian who bases his or her argument on their personal qualifications - an argument from authority. This is not how things work. We are not taking a survey of opinions on whether Jesus was a historical figure, we are looking for the underlying facts and arguments.
I am describing an attitude to somebody who are specialists in their field, and are giving their reasons for thinking as they do.
[/QUOTE]

Then what did you mean by "it still requires you to have some respect for the fact that they are professionally qualified if you are going to attach more weight to their opinions than to those of the man nextdoor. "

:huh:
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