D.H. Cross

I've heard it said many times that there were many miracle workers at the time of Jesus in the jewish community. The idea is that Jesus was one among many, and just happened to have more followers.

Does anybody have any information on this?

Peter Kirby

Chris Price has an article related to this, here:

http://www.christianorigins.com/miracles.html

best wishes,
Peter Kirby

D.H. Cross

The link didn't work. Can you email me the article?

Toto

Of course, there weren't any miracle workers in the first century, but there were people who thought that there were.

I think you will want to read Richard Carrier's Kooks and Quacks of the Roman Empire: A Look into the World of the Gospels

Peter Kirby

Toto fixed it. Thanks Toto!

best,
Peter Kirby

Steven Carr

Christopher Price writes 'Finally, it could be argued that Jesus' miracles are based on the Old Testament. The main problem with this objection is that it misses the point of the divergent pattern criterion. It would be possible for any number of Jewish people or sources to invent miracle stories based on the Old Testament. But as the above discussion shows, they simply did not do so.'

And as the following photographic evidence shows, they simply did do so.

Price quotes 'Indeed, "[w]e have come to the remarkable conclusion that the miraculous activity of Jesus conforms to no known pattern." It is truly remarkable how the conclusions just happen to be exactly what fundies always say....

http://www.bowness.demon.co.uk/mirc1.htm

Don't forget that Peter and Paul were considered miracle workers in the New Testament.

Steven Carr

For some reason, in his round up of early evidence of Jesus being regarded as a miracle worker, Layman forgot the stories of Jesus breathing life into birds of clay, and the child Jesus striking somebody dead and restoring them to life.

More 'evidence' that Jesus was regarded as a miracle worker by early Christians.....

Nero's Boot

I found the linked II article to be fascinating; it strikes me as so sad (almost comically so), that we are so prone to believing supernatural fairytales and tall tales.

--in a thousand years, who knows what "savior" people will be believing nonsense about? NB