David Deas

The gospels were ancient narratives. As such, the purpose of the gospels was to create history. The purpose of the gospels was not to record history. That should be kept well in mind.

yin_sage

"A coconut is the seed of a coconut palm. As such, the purpose of the coconut is to take over the world."

aa5874

The Church writers claimed that the Gospels stories were all actually and historically true.

This is found in "De Principiis"

There is NO indication that it was believed that the gospels were to create history.

And further, the gospels could NOT be considered ancient narratives when they were written just about the same time that people began to believe the Jesus stories were true and there is NO evidence or written statement that the gospels were written very long BEFORE the Jesus Christ cult was started.

GakuseiDon

How does the modern sense of 'euhemerist' differ from the ancient sense?

Well, I suppose it's possible I might have some kind of secret agenda. I personally don't think so, but who knows? It's possible I am fooling myself. We know that such things happen, so it is certainly possible.

I'm actually not that much interested in the whole HJ/MJ debate now, which is probably why I haven't worked on my Doherty review for a while. But if someone makes a claim for how people thought back then, then I'm going to ask about it, whether that leads to mythicist discombobulation or combobulation. What's the alternative?

I do try to back up my comments from ancient sources, at least in their English translation. The best way to combat my assertions are providing your own ancient sources. That would be a win-win situation for me.

Many things are possible, but I'm interested in what the ancient sources tell us. <edit> If we're not going to look to primary sources first, if we are going to go on what is possible, then we may as well declare that "the Son of God is the SUN of God", and that the ancient advanced Pygmies traveled all over the world spreading sun myths, and be done with it.

You say that only some educated pagans (like Tacitus) thought that that the Greek myths contained real history. If you can provide any information about what the others thought, I would truly appreciate it. If you are just guessing, then fine. No need for you to respond, in that case.

aa5874

Perhaps you are trying to fool people.

Well, I decided to test your claim and checked your posts to other threads to see which threads you are interested in.

The RESULTS of the check REVEAL you are ONLY interested in ONE thread "The Christ myth and Euhemerism" and you have the SECOND highest number of posts of all posters.

The Christ myth and Euhemerism----37 posts.

All other threads from around 08/24/10----ZERO post.

You have 37 post(s) in this thread
1. The Christ myth and Euhemerism-------37 posts

2. Reasons for a old earth---------ZERO post

3. The Historical Accuracy of Acts of the Apostles -------ZERO post

4. When Was "Against Heresies" written?--------ZERO post

5. SBL not committed to critical study of the Bible?------ZERO post

6. Discrediting the miracles in John------ZERO post

7. Jesus the preacher--------ZERO post

8. Exodus 4:24-26--------ZERO post

9. The Bible in pop culture - MMORTS game The Bible Online----------ZERO post

10. Doesn't the Production of Secret Mark Sound Like the Production of the Diatessaron?----------ZERO post

11. The roots of the lies--------ZERO post

12. Trinity evolved?---------ZERO post

13. The Lord C's "prayer" seeks ownership of the only God for war but doesn't mention HJ-----------ZERO post

14. Why Did Irenaeus Identify Pontius Pilate as the governor of Claudius'?-----ZERO post

15. Did Our Josephan Corpus Begin as a Christian Forgery Only to be 'Corrected' Later? --------ZERO POST

16. At last people concede that it's a myth [the Sanhedrin]-----ZERO post

17. A Breakthrough in Uncovering a Literary Context for Clement's Letter to Theodore-----------ZERO post

18. Glen Beck "Phoenecian Block" ----------ZERO post

19. "what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard ... "------ZERO post

20. Egypt publisher: Christians forged their version of the Bible-----ZERO post

21. On Bart D. Ehrman-----------------ZERO post

22. Dating Mark during Jewish War------ZERO post

23. Paolo the visionary--------ZERO post

24. Christ the Magician?------ZERO post

25. JESUS RETURN: WHAT WILL IT BE LIKE ? ---ZERO post

Perhaps you are trying to fool people but the records, the evidence, indicate that of 25 threads you are ONLY interested in the MJ/HJ discussion.

yin_sage

Never before has anyone fought so hard for so little.

How long did it take to compile that list?

aa5874

It is the little things that count sometimes.

But, HJ is NOTHING and some are fighting for NOTHING.

GakuseiDon

Well, I can tell you I'm not. Fooling myself I can admit to; trying to fool anonymous people on the internet is like writing on a wall in a public toilet that you'll never visit again. I can't see the point.

Can I make an educated guess that you took the top prize there?

You're like a puppy that drops a ball at a person's feet, growling at them until they throw the ball...

How many of those 37 posts were directly about the Christ Myth? Most of the early ones were on the criterion of embarrassment. Elsewhere, I went out of my way several times to say that my posts were based on the assumption that there was a historical Jesus, to avoid the whole HJ/MJ debate. I was even praised for my honesty there.

So: of those 37 posts, how many were directly about the Christ Myth?

Run! Fetch!

Greetings, my friends. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember, friends - future events such as these will affect you in the future. You are interested in the unknown, the mysterious, the inexplicable - that is why you are here. And now, for the first time, we are bringing you the full story of what happened on that fateful day. We are giving you all the evidence, based only on the secret testimony of the miserable souls who survived this dreadful ordeal. The incidents, the places . . . . . my friend, we can’t keep this a secret any longer! Let us punish the guilty. Let us reward the innocent. My friend… Can your heart stand the shocking facts about the HJ/MJ debate!

Steven Carr

I imagine 'Luke' did talk to other Christians, and perhaps he did incorporate some of what they told him. Perhaps some Christians told him that Jesus would never have said 'My god, why have you forsaken me', and so 'Luke' dropped it.

Who can say?

Some Christians may have told him, for example, that in their reading of the Old Testament, they realised that Jesus did the same sorts of miracles that Elijah and Elisha did, so 'Luke' went back to the LXX to see exactly what that would involve.

All we can go on is the text, as 'Luke' took great care to hide his sources from his readers.

'Luke' used the anonymous work 'Mark' for his basic storyline, and either 'Matthew' or 'Q', and 'Luke' used the LXX, and probably Josephus.

Doug Shaver

Yes, and you know perfectly well which sources I would cite if I were inclined to waste my time citing them.

I know you don't trust them. The rest of the world does. All the regulars in this forum know why you don't. Maybe history will eventually prove you right. That's a chance I'm willing to take.