Debate: External Evidence for Jesus – Part 3
Question 1: What are Hinman’s Central Claims about Polycarp? As with his discussion about the external evidence of Papias, Hinman begins his discussion of Polycarp with some strong claims: III. Polycarp: Knew the Apostle John and studied with him. He speaks of where the apostle sat when they studied together. The first sentence is lacking a subject. But … Debate: External Evidence for Jesus – Part 3
Debate: The External Evidence for Jesus – Part 1
Joe Hinman’s first argument for the existence of Jesus is based on references to Jesus in the Talmud: We know Jesus was in the Talmud and that is a fact admitted by Rabbis. Some references use his name (Yeshua) some use code words such as “such a one” or “Panthera”. The reason codes are used, … Debate: The External Evidence for Jesus – Part 1
What is Christianity? Part 16
In his book Naming the Elephant (hereafter: NTE), the Christian apologist James Sire raises various objections against his previous analysis of the concept of a “worldview” that he had presented in his earlier book The Universe Next Door (hereafter: TUND). I have reviewed three of Sire’s objections to his earlier cognitivist analysis of the concept of … What is Christianity? Part 16
Half of a Debate about the Existence of Jesus
Joe Hinman has requested that I debate him about the existence of Jesus, and I have agreed to do so. We will not, however, attempt to answer the BIG question: Did Jesus exist? But we will be arguing about a significant issue closely related to that question: Does the external evidence warrant the belief that … Half of a Debate about the Existence of Jesus
What is Christianity? Part 15
In his book Naming the Elephant (hereafter: NTE), the Christian apologist James Sire raises various objections against his analysis of the concept of a “worldview” that he had presented in his earlier book The Universe Next Door (hereafter: TUND). I have reviewed three of Sire’s objections to his earlier cognitivist analysis of the concept of a … What is Christianity? Part 15
What is Christianity? Part 14
Here are the main conclusions and claims that I have argued for or asserted in previous posts: Your name Your email Subject Your message (optional)
Did Jesus Exist? Ehrman’s Complete Failure – Part 5
Because my main objection to a key argument in Chapter 3 of Bart Ehrman’s book Did Jesus Exist? (hereafter: DJE) is a strong and decisive objection (i.e. Ehrman provided ZERO historical facts to support the main historical premise of a key argument), I have felt some concern that my identification or interpretation of the ABSIG argument (Agreements … Did Jesus Exist? Ehrman’s Complete Failure – Part 5
Did Jesus Exist? Ehrman’s Complete Failure – Part 4
A Brief Review of My Previous Objections One key argument for the existence of Jesus presented by Bart Ehrman in Chapter 3 of Did Jesus Exist? (hereafter: DJE) is based on an historical claim about alleged Agreements Between Seven “Independent” Gospels: (ABSIG) There are seven Gospels which were written within “a hundred years after the … Did Jesus Exist? Ehrman’s Complete Failure – Part 4
Did Jesus Exist? Ehrman’s Complete Failure – Part 3
The Independence of Passages vs. Books Among the seven “independent” Gospels to which Ehrman’s ABSIG (Agreements Between Seven Independent Gospels) refer are the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark. A “basic aspect” of the life or death of Jesus is the claim that Jesus was crucified by the Romans. There is agreement between Matthew … Did Jesus Exist? Ehrman’s Complete Failure – Part 3
Did Jesus Exist? Ehrman’s Complete Failure – Part 2
Existence vs. Basic Aspects/Attributes “Did Jesus exist?” – What does this question mean? Clarity is a gateway standard of critical thinking. If you are UNCLEAR about the meaning of a question, then your thinking about that question will also be unclear, and your thinking will probably not be very useful or productive or logical so long as you remain … Did Jesus Exist? Ehrman’s Complete Failure – Part 2