aa5874

Some are of the view that there was an historical Jesus and that all supernatural events recorded with respect to Jesus are just embellishments and were only believed to be true.

So, after reading the creation story in Genesis, it occured to me that if it is perceived that all the supernatural events with respect to God are embellishments, then God may just have been Adam's earthly father.

The creation story, in that case, would just be a dream or a story made up by God to impress Adam. Now, I can harmonise the expulsion from the garden. Adam's father, God, got angry with Adam and Eve because they ate the last of his favorite fruit and drove them out of his garden.

Adam and Eve never visited the garden again and God died some time later and nobody knows where his body is.

God was a real person.

spamandham

If we apply the same method to Genesis to extricate myth from history, as is generally done with the books of the NT, I think you WOULD end up with something like this.

I don't understand how anyone considers it valid to attempt to extract historical facts regarding the main character from a collection of highly legendary/mythical/mystical/fictional (take your pick) writings. A bit of exaggeration might be expected regarding real historical people/events, but is the extent we see in the NT really reasonable for a historical person?

dog-on

Funny, some time ago I posted the first couple paragraphs of Mark and asked what was history and what was fiction. I was quickly abused by posters...

Point being, I see no reason to try to parse these stories. They are what they are. If our "modern" minds would naturally view them as fiction, I suppose it's better to err on the side of rationality. Besides, who am I to take a Jeffersonian approach to the "Good Book" anyway. IMO, instead of a razor, just use a shredder...

Doug Shaver

If the early chapters of Genesis had been written within a century after Adam's alleged lifetime, that wouldn't be as farfetched a proposal as you obviously think it is.

As it is, if you're trying to draw an analogy between Genesis and the gospels, it won't work. The time lapse between Adam and the writing of Genesis was more than 3,000 years. From Jesus to the gospels was only a few decades.

mountainman

The chronological span between Jesus and the first complete
publication of the gospels in context with the Hebrew Bible is
actually three centuries.

I wonder why the following prenicene christian authors did not
in fact sponsor this first complete publication before Constantine?
There certainly appears to have been enough of them ...

Category (1): Christian "Bishops" (or Higher):

Jesus [0-33],
Barnabas [0-61],
Jude[0-60],
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter & Judas, etc[0-70],
Clement of Rome [18-98],
Ignatius of Antioch [40-117],
Polycarp [110-155],
Polycrates of Ephesus[130-196],
Pinytus of Crete[130-180],
Alexander (of Cappadocia,Jerusalem)[150-250],
Claudius Apollinaris [160-180],
Theophilus of Antioch [180-185],
Serapion of Antioch [200-210],
Cornelius (of Rome)[200-253],
Cyprian of Carthage [200-258],
Dionysius (of Alexandria) the Great[200-264],
Dionysius of Rome [210-268],
Gregory Thaumaturgus [212-275],
Anatolius of Laodicea in Syria[222-290],
Victorinus (bishop) of Petau[240-303],
Peter of Alexandria [250-311],
Phileas (Bishop) of Thmuis[250-307]


Category (2): Christian "apologist" (or greater) :

Papias [110-140]
Valentinus [120-160]
Apology of Aristides [120-130]
Apology of Quadratus of Athens [120-130]
Basilides [120-140]
Epiphanes On Righteousness [130-160]
Aristo of Pella [130-150]
Marcion [130-140]
Ophite Diagrams [130-160]
Minucius Felix [140-170]
Isidore [140-160]
Fronto [140-170]
Ptolemy [140-160]
Excerpts of Theodotus [150-180]
Heracleon [150-180]
Justin Martyr [150-160]
Martyrdom of Polycarp [150-160]
Octavius of Minucius Felix [160-250]
Julius Cassianus [160-180]
Apelles [160-180]
Hegesippus [165-175]
Dionysius of Corinth [165-175]
Lucian of Samosata [165-175]
Melito of Sardis [165-175]
Letter of Peter to Philip [170-220]
Irenaeus of Lyons [175-185]
Athenagoras of Athens [175-180]
Rhodon [175-185]
Theophilus of Caesarea [175-185]
Bardesanes [180-220]
Hippolytus of Rome [180-230]
Clement of Alexandria [182-202]
Maximus of Jerusalem [185-195]
Victor I [189-199]
Pantaenus [190-210]
Anonymous Anti-Montanist [193-0]
Tertullian [197-220]
Apollonius [200-210]
Caius [200-220]



Category (3): Christian "writer" (or greater) :

Quadratus [70-140]
Aristides the Philosopher [70-134]
Aquila of Sinope (of Pontus) [90-150]
Marcion of Sinope [110-160]
Apollinaris Claudius [120-180]
Diognetus [130-200]
Mathetes [130-200]
Tatian [135-185]
Saint Apollonius [136-186]
Agrippa Castor [140-0]
Julius Africanus [170-250]
Origen [185-254]
Novatian [201-258]
Hermias [210-280]
Malchion (of Antioch) [220-290]
Arnobius [245-305]
Methodius [250-311]
Pamphilus [250-309]

David Deas

Except that has nothing to do with what the original authors were trying to communicate. Your theory would be fine if it weren't for the fact that the objective of communication is to transmit the ideas of the author to the reader.

GenesisNemesis

There are many different interpretations of the biblical stories, we cannot know which one of them is true.

David Deas

Yes we can. The great thing about the Bible in this regard is that hardly any of it is original.

spamandham

The salient point is not the time lapse, as I think all but the most fundamentalist of Christians would agree the story in Genesis is not based on any historical events or people at all. If there was a historical Jesus, we really don't know the time lapse was short. All we have to indicate that are the gospels, which are fictionalized, if not works of actual fiction.

Doug Shaver

Being an ahistoricist, I believe they are indeed fiction. But I infer Jesus' nonexistence from a body of evidence outside the gospels. Without that other evidence, I'd be inclined to think the gospels were about a real man, although obviously embellished with a considerable amount of fiction, folklore, legend, or what-have-you.