Peter Kirby

There was some interest expressed in the idea of writing a review of The Jesus Puzzle in exchange for a free copy. So I would like to make the offer available to anyone, with two conditions:

1. You must be a HJ agnostic/believer who disagrees with Doherty and writes by way of rebuttal.
2. You must write the review within 6 months of receiving the book.

The reason behind the first condition is that there are already many positive reviews, including the excellent one by Richard Carrier. The vacuum appears to be with those who have given Doherty a close reading and respond negatively.

You do not have to be of a particular religious background, and you get to decide how long the critical review will be.

If you are interested in picking up the gauntlet, contact me at kirby@earthlink.net or in this forum, and then send me your address privately. I will accept the first three people to respond who agree to the two conditions above.

best,
Peter Kirby

WinAce

I'm curious; isn't it a bit difficult to guarantee a negative review? What if the person finds the arguments appear stronger than he would at first suspect and becomes a mythicist in the middle of reading the book?

Peter Kirby

OK, the person who accepts the challenge must currently think that Doherty is wrong and attempt to take a critical view. What I don't want to see is a "jolly good chap, as I suspected" type of review. This is a problem with rebuttals in general: what if Lowder got into a debate with Craig and became a theist mid-session? The likelihood of this happening is lowered if the person who accepts the challenge has already read parts of Doherty's site and other books on the subject.

best,
Peter Kirby

Cretinist

I would describe myself as an HJ agnostic, leaning heavily towards the idea that nothing will ever conclusively be known about whether or not Jesus lived, let alone the details of his supposed life.

I can't promise I wouldn't be converted to Doherty's position, but I would still write a review, while being as critical as possible.

Peter Kirby

Cretinist, thanks for responding. I have come to the decision that the opinion that we don't know whether Jesus lived constitutes a disagreement with Doherty and thus fulfills the first condition indicated above. You are therefore the first to accept the challenge, and there are two more books available for others who would like to take a shot at a critical review of The Jesus Puzzle. Cretinist, please send me an e-mail at kirby@earthlink.net with your mailing address.

best,
Peter Kirby

Peter Kirby

Another person has responded by e-mail, accepting the challenge, from a HJ believer point of view. There's one more free book available for someone else who wants to dissect The Jesus Puzzle.

best,
Peter Kirby

Vinnie

Why not! Sign me up if another book is left!

Vinine

Peter Kirby

Thank you Vinnie, I trust that your review will be an original production for DidJesusExist.com?

If so, then that accounts for all three books. Let's all hope that something good comes out of this!

best,
Peter Kirby

Ted Hoffman

Kirby this is truly big of you. Very inspiring.

Vinnie

Agreed.

Vinnie