Pretty impressed. It’s a departure from previous popes, I think.
]]>The place to look for a verifiable Jesus (that is Jesus as you know of him from Christian liturgy and literature… the Gospels, the New Testament) .. is not in theology at all but in the annals of the late era, and failing, Roman Empire.
The middle and late Roman Empire are verifiable history, for the most part because the Romans where legendary, sophisticated record keepers and much of what they planned, did, how their society worked and played itself out is there… and available to scholars who have pored over them for centuries…
Which means that if something so momentous as the Crucifixion (not to mention rumors of a Virgin birth in a stable in Bethlehem) as described in the Gospels ... involving as it did the occupying government of Palestine, in fact the very Governor Of Judea from 26 CE to 36 CE, Pontus Pilate. would at least have been the basis of a footnote.
Pontus Pilaate is an actual, verified historical figure, appointed by the named and recorded Emperor Tiberius, and the convoluted politics that led to the arrest,trial and death of what was a really radical enemy of the state, ending with a public punishment of such dimension, it would seem that the annals would make at least some mention of it.
Perhaps in passing…
But there is none.. none at all..
The Romas were themselves religious and understood well the concept of “divine” and what the meaning of the arrival (or departure) of the long awaited “Moschiach” (Messiah) would mean to the Jews…the most longed for event in the Jewish religion and in the Jewish society at large…
But again, no mention of such a potentially significant arrival…. or challenge to any claim of anyone claiming, or named by other, to the the Messiah…
Well stated, I thought.
You and I could come up with a better plan than this. The God that you claim created this universe not just the visible universe even the dark matter and dark energy. The god that should be eons above you and me, in logic and compasion. THIS is the best that God can do. People who beleive this not only believe in sacraficing animals but a HUMAN sacrafice. Talking about old ancient and out dated. You need to bring your Outdated GOD up to the 21 century. He killed himself 1 A.D. 21 CENTURIES AGO! Think how much time has changed.
Just a thought
Charwiz
When New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman published Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth, he not only attempted to prove the historical reality of a man called “Jesus of Nazareth,” he sharply criticized scholars who have sought to develop a new paradigm in the study of Christian origins—scholars who have claimed that Jesus was a mythical, not historical, figure, and that the traditional, Jesus-centered paradigm for studying the origins of Christianity must be replaced by an actual science of Christian origins. In the present volume, some of those scholars respond to Ehrman’s treatment of their research and findings, showing how he has either ignored, misunderstood or misrepresented their arguments. They present evidence that “Jesus of Nazareth” was no more historical than Osiris or Thor. Several contributors question not only the historicity of “Jesus of Nazareth,” they present evidence that the site of present-day Nazareth was not inhabited at the time Jesus and his family should have been living there.
]]>Dude was cool, yo!
]]>Worth watching, no matter what side of the fence you sit on (or even if you’re up on top of the fence).
What I really like is how the speaker breaks down some of the common misconceptions that many christians have about atheists (or secular humanists).
Particularly I like the way he talks about competing narratives.
I.E. The question of love.
Some christians believe that love is an attribute of god, and that all love derives from god.
As a competing narrative it also suggests that from that perspective, any different kind of love, or love that exists outside that definition is an inferior love.
Which acts as an exclusionary mechanism in a subtle but definitive way.
Why they weren’t put in jail the first time one of their children died from neglect based on religious belief is a fatal flaw in the Penn legal system.
]]>