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Kool. I agree and think the same thing - that the author's intent was to assert a singular flesh and blood man, whom did this and that in 'history'. Same goes for Noah. However, if it turns out that they did not exist in history, contrary to the author's intent, then whose to say the rest of the Bible is, all of a sudden, trust-worthy?
I will extent to you the same followup posed to @hedrick ...
Is it possible that the stories of Jesus fall somewhere on the same scope? That Moses, Noah, and Jesus are either mythical, other? He states, no, because it points to a 'conspiracy'. Thus, I ask you the same question. If it is not possible, why not?
*** Again, I'm not necessarily a 'Jesus mythicist.' However, when evaluating the details, seems as though one might need to at least place this option on the table / chopping block.*** Along side with...
- "He was real, and rose from the dead"
- "He was a single real man, but merely a human being alone - same as all other recorded people in history claiming to be of God."
- Or maybe another option..?
Keep in mind, I've never really dove into this option before... I figure you and @hedrick , being that both of you seem to look to be open to other options, may be a good place to start the exploration process
Points to consider, in exploration of the 'He never existed option':
1. Jesus never bothers to write anything to paper Himself. Seems odd, since the Word is of great importance to His teachings. Why verbalize only, to instead let fallible men later write stuff? Later men could write whatever they want, especially decades/centuries later. - (i.e.) Not falsifiable, for the most part - (which ties to point #2 directly below).
2. The Gospels are anonymous. Yea, so? So are many accounts from antiquity. Why is this significant here however? Because not only do we not know who wrote them, but when. - Most of which are thought to be written many decades later. Legends can certainly inflate over time. Being that eyewitness attestation is of great importance to the claims of miracles, the fact that we have no clue who wrote them, seems to raise more questions than answers. See below...
3. We don't have original manuscripts. And it's argued that complete copies do not arise until during or after Constantine, whom was a known follower whom encouraged scribes to write about Christianity.
4. The Jewish Diaspora happened around the exact same time as the Flavian dynasty. Which was argued to issue wartime propaganda to suppress the Jews. This point might fall directly to @hedrick 's assessment to assert that 'Jesus was mere myth' is to also follow 'conspiracy theory'. But again, since the original publication of the Gospels were anonymous, this means we do not know WHO wrote them, and when. - Which ties back to points 2 and 3.
5. We really have very little, if nothing, outside the Bible itself -secular reports of such claimed events in history. Seems as though if many rose from their graves and walked a city for many to see, we might have recordings of such, and not a singular passage from the Gospel assertion/account itself. Again, this points to the fact that anyone can write anything later, and have it be uncontested / unfalsifiable.
I'll stop here for now.
Thank You!
Is it possible? Sure, it's possible that Jesus and Moses are simply myth or utter legend, but it's also possible that a person can solipsistically pick up a Richard Carrier or Robert Price book and run with either of these like there's no tomorrow and like there's no other books or sources on the entire planet to read on the subject and by which to make personally substantive, existentially robust, Subjective decisions. Of course, in the latter case, just as in the former case about Jesus and Moses---it's possible, but whether or not ANY of these possibilities are 'probable,' even objectively speaking, is a whole other topic and not one that, despite the Bayesian claims that are made one way or the other, is easy to make conclusions about, is it?
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