SULPHUR

I thought all moderators were.

CX

As a matter of conscience I've outted myself. Of course all OTHER mods are, in fact, gods. My resignation will be on your desk by the end of the day.

Vinnie

Carpenter according to Mark. Carpenter's son according to Matthew. Compare Mark 6:3 and Matthew 13:55.

Though it is s singly attested datum in the second stratum, many scholars would accept it as being history remembered if for no other reason than the fact that it is an incindental detail lacking any sort of theological motivation. Further, Matthew may have found Jesus the Cosmic Lord who was a carpenter a pinch embarrassing and decided to alter it to Carpenter's son.

Jesus probably was a carpenter but at any rate, he certainly worked with his hands and was on the lower half of that great Greco-Roman divide.

Meier also makes an argument for literacy on the part of Jesus. Its the best one I've seen and deserves consideration even if it is not altogether convincing to you.

Vinnie

Vinnie

The pericope de adultera records Jesus as writing in the sand

The lack of written materials from a person 2,000 years ago is not a good slapdown of their historicity. If we implement this principle and take into account thatprobably over 90% of the population in that space-time vicinity was illiterate, we will eliminate over 90% of the population from history. Written materials from a person would be, however, good evidence of their historicity. The lack of them is not an argument against historicity, however.

Vinnie

Celsus

So Vinnie, was this historically-vague-but-fairly-conventional Jesus of yours, "the Son of God" or other type of deity?

Vinnie

I keep the Jesus of my faith and the Jesus of history seperate. Whether or not they are the same individual, I don't really care either way.

Vinnie

Celsus

I'm afraid I don't understand how this works, could you explain further? What does your Jesus of faith rest upon?

Joel

Vinnie

Existential experiences within the Christian tradition. I consider myself a pluralist_Christian. The "Jesus of my faith" is synonymous with "God".

Whether the Jesus of history was literally God incarnate or not, I have no opinion on that. There is no possible way for anyone to provide evidence for such a claim. Its the functional value of faith experiences that cause me to make the ontological claim.

Vinnie

Celsus

Thanks for the explanation.

Joel

Vinnie

No problem.

Vinnie