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Old 07-03-2012, 09:32 AM   #11
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Isn't it strange, how such an apparently indecisive book can be a best-seller.
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Old 07-03-2012, 09:41 AM   #12
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The authors posit a supernatural creature, Jesus,

the authors posit a completely mortal man, later deified, like a roman emporer
No, there's the rub. The authors of the NT posit a supernatural man, with greater than physical powers.

It was later materialists, questers for the historical man behind the myth, who decided that there must have been a merely human man who inspired the gospel writers.

But there is no independent evidence of this merely human Jesus - only a convoluted argument based on an imaginary ability to extract information from the gospels.

This argument is getting repetitious. Let's put it to rest.

The fact that the gospels contain supernatural elements does not prove that Jesus did not exist.

But it is not good historical methodology to discard the supernatural elements and claim that the rest is factual history, without some reliable supporting evidence. There is no credible evidence for Jesus' material existence outside of the gospels.
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Old 07-03-2012, 09:48 AM   #13
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Isn't it strange, how such an apparently indecisive book can be a best-seller.
Ha ha. The Bible is not indecisive, just improbable.

It is also the most shoplifted book. What does that tell you?

Other best sellers include the Harry Potter series.

The best selling single volumes of all times

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
Hong lou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber) by Cao Xueqin
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
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Old 07-03-2012, 09:59 AM   #14
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...The fact that the gospels contain supernatural elements does not prove that Jesus did not exist.
Tell us Toto, what will prove Jesus had NO real existence????

Tell us Toto, what will prove Jesus was human????

You should ALSO know the fact that there are HUMAN elements about Jesus in the Gospels do NOT prove Jesus was a figure of history.

Do you know that Toto???

The fact that Jesus was FATHERED by a Ghost in the Gospels MEANS that it can be ARGUED that Jesus had NO real existence.

It is PRECISELY EXACTLY the claims that Jesus was the Child of a Ghost that MUST, MUST, MUST be used to argue Jesus was a Myth Fable character.

The Gospels cannot, I repeat, CANNOT be used to argue Jesus was a figure of history BECAUSE he was the Child of a Ghost, the Word that was God, the Creator that WALKED ON WATER, Transfigured, Resurrected and Ascended in a cloud.

It is BASIC.

Sources that document Jesus was of a Ghost cannot be used to argue that Jesus was of a man.

Some other Credible Source Must be Employed for the argument to support an historical Jesus and there is NONE, ZERO, NOTHING.

All the Evidence is in place to argue that Jesus had NO real existence.

We have the DATED NT Manuscripts, Apolgetic sources that are compatible with them and Non-Apologetic historical sources of antiquity.
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Old 07-03-2012, 10:12 AM   #15
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The authors posit a supernatural creature, Jesus,
the authors posit a completely mortal man, later deified, like a roman emporer
No, there's the rub. The authors of the NT posit a supernatural man, with greater than physical powers.
Not uniquely, though. There was no reason, in theory, why anyone could not make use of supernatural, divine power. The miraculous was associated with prophet-hood. The unique claim is for a man who is both fully human (i.e. susceptible to all the exigencies and temptations of humanity), while also being fully the singular divine person. So here was a man who had divine powers, but never used them for personal benefit, according to the gospellers, as well as Paul and John in their letters.

Now this is surely not a concept that qualifies as an 11-legged purple crocodile, or a flying spaghetti monster. On the contrary, it is a concept that is not only comprehensible, but fairly predictable, if there is a creator, and if the moral nature of life is not an accident. What is not so predictable is the concept that the creator should decide to take the punishment for the evils of a creation allowed free will, and that is ultimately the preoccupation if not surprise of the authors of the NT. Though maybe there is a logical necessity about it, if certain factors are understood as given.
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Old 07-03-2012, 10:23 AM   #16
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Isn't it strange, how such an apparently indecisive book can be a best-seller.
Ha ha. The Bible is not indecisive
I referred to the apparent inability of posters to agree on what a majority has had no doubt about for five hundred years, over which period the Bible has not ceased to be a best-seller, now translated into languages that most of us have not even heard of.

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It is also the most shoplifted book. What does that tell you?
The devil believes every word of it?

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Other best sellers include the Harry Potter series.
Call it a Bible spin-off. Like the BoM, the Qur'an, and much, much more.

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A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
A believer.

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Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Probably a believer.

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The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
A believer.

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And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
A believer.
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Old 07-03-2012, 10:40 AM   #17
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the authors posit a completely mortal man, later deified, like a roman emporer
No, there's the rub. The authors of the NT posit a supernatural man, with greater than physical powers.

It was later materialists, questers for the historical man behind the myth, who decided that there must have been a merely human man who inspired the gospel writers.

But there is no independent evidence of this merely human Jesus - only a convoluted argument based on an imaginary ability to extract information from the gospels.

This argument is getting repetitious. Let's put it to rest.

The fact that the gospels contain supernatural elements does not prove that Jesus did not exist.

But it is not good historical methodology to discard the supernatural elements and claim that the rest is factual history, without some reliable supporting evidence. There is no credible evidence for Jesus' material existence outside of the gospels.


not the point of my reply.



they wrote about a mortal man period. they did not write about a mythical deity who lived in the sky, or under the ground.



they wrote about a flesh and blood mortal man who walked through Galilee and suffered a human death.



mythology of this era often deifies mortal men, just like roman emporers and gives them superhuman powers.



in this case people who never knew or met or witnessed him deified him long after his death and attributed supernatural elements to him based on their lack of knowledge .
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Old 07-03-2012, 11:29 AM   #18
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...they wrote about a flesh and blood mortal man who walked through Galilee and suffered a human death.
You are in DENIAL. Jesus was the Son of a Ghost in the Bible. Gabriel was an Angel. Open up your BIBLE and look at Matthew 1,18-20 and Luke 1.26-35.

Pilate was a mortal man in the BIBLE NOT Jesus the Son of a Ghost that WALKED ON water and Transfigured.

Tiberius was a mortal man in the Bible NOT Jesus the Son of a Ghost that WALKED ON water and Transfigured. .

Caiaphas was a mortal man in the Bible NOT Jesus the Son of a Ghost that WALKED ON water and Transfigured.

You NEED to read your Bible if you want to appear credible.

Romulus and Remus were MYTHS even though they were claimed to be HUMAN Brothers and born of the SAME Woman. See Pltarch's "Romulus".

Please, get familiar with Roman Greek Mythology.

Over 1800 years ago an Apologetic writer ADMITTED the Jesus story is like Greek Myth. See "First Apology" by Justin Martyr.
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Old 07-03-2012, 11:47 AM   #19
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...The fact that the gospels contain supernatural elements does not prove that Jesus did not exist.
Tell us Toto, what will prove Jesus had NO real existence????

...
Nothing will prove that.

The historical Jesus is unfalsifiable, like the putative teapot in orbit around Mars. Stop trying.
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Old 07-03-2012, 11:50 AM   #20
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Originally Posted by Toto View Post
...The fact that the gospels contain supernatural elements does not prove that Jesus did not exist.
Tell us Toto, what will prove Jesus had NO real existence????

...
Nothing will prove that.

The historical Jesus is unfalsifiable, like the putative teapot in orbit around Mars. Stop trying.
The old category error error.
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