Bayes Theorem Proves Jesus Existed (And That He Didn’t) 101 Comments http://strangenotions.com/bayes-theorem-proves-jesus-existed-and-didnt-exist/ Written by Dr. William M. Briggs Dr. William M. Briggs is an Adjunct Professor of Statistics at Cornell University, where he acquired both an M.S. in Atmospheric Science and a Ph.D. in Statistics. In addition to teaching, William works as a consultant with specialties in medicine, the environment, and the philosophy of, and over-certainty in, science. He blogs at wmbriggs.com.
Was Jesus a Roman Fiction? 49 Comments http://strangenotions.com/was-jesus-a-roman-fiction/ Jimmy Akin Written by Jimmy Akin Jimmy Akin is a Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a member on the Catholic Answers Speakers Bureau, a weekly guest on the global radio program, Catholic Answers LIVE, and a contributing editor for Catholic Answers Magazine. He's the author of numerous publications, including the books The Fathers Know Best (Catholic Answers, 2010); The Salvation Controversy (Catholic Answers, 2001); and Mass Confusion: The Do's & Don'ts of Catholic Worship (Catholic Answers, 1999). Many of Jimmy's books are also integrated into the Logos software. Follow Jimmy's writing at JimmyAkin.com.
Questioning the Historicity of Jesus 275 Comments http://strangenotions.com/questioning-the-historicity-of-jesus/ Dr. Richard Carrier Written by Dr. Richard Carrier Dr. Richard Carrier is a published historian and philosopher, specializing in the philosophy of naturalism and the intellectual history of Greece and Rome. He's a veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard with a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley in History and Classical Civilizations, and a Ph.D. in ancient history from Columbia University. He has written extensively for the Secular Web and in various periodicals and books, and discussed his views in public all over the country and on TV. He is best known as the author of Sense and Goodness without God, Not the Impossible Faith, and Why I Am Not a Christian. His latest book is Proving History: Bayes's Theorem and the Quest for the Historical Jesus. He is currently working on his next books, On the Historicity of Jesus Christ, The Scientist in the Early Roman Empire, and Science Education in the Early Roman Empire. Follow Richard through his website, RichardCarrier.info.
Jesus Would Have Been an Atheist? 25 Comments http://strangenotions.com/jesus-atheist/ Written by Brandon Vogt Brandon Vogt is a bestselling author, blogger, and speaker. He's also the founder of StrangeNotions.com. Brandon has been featured by several media outlets including NPR, CBS, FoxNews, SiriusXM, and EWTN. He converted to Catholicism in 2008, and since then has released several books, including The Church and New Media (Our Sunday Visitor, 2011), Saints and Social Justice (Our Sunday Visitor, 2014), and RETURN (Numinous Books, 2015). He works as the Content Director for Bishop Robert Barron's Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. Brandon lives with his wife, Kathleen, and their five children in Central Florida. Follow him at BrandonVogt.com or connect through Twitter at @BrandonVogt. Richard Dawkins: ‘Jesus Would Have Been an Atheist if He Had Known What We Know Today’ Billy Hallowell Oct 25, 2011 http://www.theblaze.com/stories/201...n-atheist-if-he-had-known-what-we-know-today/
"Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews, written around 93–94 AD, " That is 5-6 decades after the alleged events. Hell, some people writing the story of WW2 today, would easily deny the existence of concentration camps, that is what 6 decades do to historical reporting... I take the chocolate bunny over Josephus... But since we are throwing around Wikilinks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_interpolation What do you think 2000 years of Catholic copying of ancient manuscripts did to original texts?
1. but other than the letters in the bible and the other books which are not canon... how many historical books do you think we have from that era. Josephus is one of the few books sill around from that era that is not part of the bible or one of the other "religious" letters or text. 2. regarding changes... that is a good question. They found different manuscripts at different times. They could see if things had changed. as I have noted one of the passages in Josephus about Jesus has been disputed because it looks like a clause about Jesus being divine was added. However the other passage about Jesus is virtually undisputed.
Here is an evidence for God: https://ripeace.wordpress.com/2013/...use-in-us-history-the-murder-of-baby-brianna/
There are very clear principles to be met before the historicity of anyone or providence of anything becomes valid. Bible Jesus doesn't meet with a single one of those principles. Not a single one. Although the period prior to, during and immediately after the supposed time of Jesus was replete with historical writers, chroniclers and their texts, non contain any mention or evidence for Jesus anywhere within them. There is no primary evidence. No contemporaneous record or mention of his life or death, of Christ, nor indeed of Christians or Christianity at all. No eyewitness accounts whatsoever. No other kind of first-hand or independent or corroborating record like there is in every case before historical authenticity can be formalized . Bible Jesus fits with myth and legend not fact and reality. Jesus is fake news and post truth. The imaginary friend in the room.
Problems are an artifact could be fake. Any real record could be destroyed purposely. Jesus perhaps was not worth to mentioned in mainstream history until very late stage. Besides there were probably (most likely) too many competing preachers/teachers from various religious cults/sects during the era. After all, logically Paul should be a key figure, especially he himself once killed believers of Jesus, who were not violent ones with any intention of hurting others. Only because they had a firm conviction of a new belief. Of course, that the whole picture/process about Jesus could be a fake news. Which was especially uneasy, when encountering serious objection from the mainstream Judaism believers like Paul. However, obviously his teachings/theory surely was a believable/attractive theory to the believers, making them worth to die for the theory. imo, the probability of the historical Jesus should not be overly underestimated. After all, there would be almost always having an originator named/known for every single religion. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/26972493/...earliest-reference-describes-christ-magician/ A bowl, dating to between the late 2nd century B.C. and the early 1st century A.D., is engraved with what may be the world's first known reference to Christ. The engraving reads, "DIA CHRSTOU O GOISTAIS," which has been interpreted to mean either, "by Christ the magician" or, "the magician by Christ."