Chili

But it is that easy! The Gospels describe a purgatory event as seen from four different perspectives so they may compliment each other instead of contradict each other. The event takes place in the mind of Joseph hero who in the end also came for the body because he just happen to have a tomb ready that he had hewn as if out of rock with his own hands, and yes, this tomb was in the same place that he was crucified so that was rather easy for him.

Minimalist

Indeed. Jefferson Davis, Abraham Lincoln, William T. Sherman and Robert E. Lee were real people. That does not mean that Gone With The Wind was factual.

Chris Weimer

So how do you differentiate between real people and fake people?

gstafleu

[QUOTE=gnosis92;4525163]One method is by comparing the story in question to other myths. If one detects enough similarities between the story of which its myth/history position is uncertain, and between known myths, then the myth hypothesis gathers strength.

Gerard Stafleu

Chris Weimer

Which myths do you compare it to? How do you know that the similarities would strengthen the myth hypothesis? What about when you achieve the same results with stories whose histories are (otherwise) fact?

Gundulf

Well, as someone who does believe that Jesus was divine, I must concur with xunzian here - I could see why people could doubt the bizarre stuff, or things that seem highly unlikely - miracles, various interactions with cultural leaders, etc., but a collapsing building that kills some people...?

What exactly is it that would be hard to believe about this, or that would make this seem 'mythical' in any way whatsoever? If anything, this is the kind of thing, I would think, that would seem to ground the story more in historicity than anything else; it is hardly an 'extraordinary' claim by any stretch...

Hex

Real people have multiple sources of documentation that support their existance.


The Gone With The Wind analogy is actually probably not a good one to put up against the Biblical story. We have -way- more documentation and artifacts for the persons and occurances of the Civil War backdrop to Gone With The Wind than we do to back up the players in the Biblical stories, even those of the NT.

gnosis92

Many of the Presocratics are only singly attested. Did Zeno exist?

windsofchange

Hmmm ... now that's a paradox ...

Chris Weimer

They do? Do you have multiple sources of documentation for all of your ancestors? If not...maybe they didn't exist!?