Archaeology of the New Testament

[ZenMode]

Most knowledge from ancient history has been lost, so I'm not going to sit here in the 21st century and claim I am one thousand percent certain a census never took place.

If the President of the United States said that everyone had to return to the land of their ancestors from 1,000 years ago, where would you go? I would have no idea and that kind of ancestral information is SIGNIFICANTLY easier to find today than back then.

So, let's say you knew where to go, can you imagine the level of disruption of all aspects of life that would be caused if EVERYONE had to travel to their ancestral home? The economy would absolutely crash because businesses would be closed because nearly everyone has left. The impact of masses of people traveling would be significant and should be easy to uncover.

You believe such an undertaking could happen and it not be documented anywhere that was preserved?

 

[Cypress]

If the President of the United States said that everyone had to return to the land of their ancestors from 1,000 years ago, where would you go? I would have no idea and that kind of ancestral information is SIGNIFICANTLY easier to find today than back then.

So, let's say you knew where to go, can you imagine the level of disruption of all aspects of life that would be caused if EVERYONE had to travel to their ancestral home? The economy would absolutely crash because businesses would be closed because nearly everyone has left. The impact of masses of people traveling would be significant and should be easy to uncover.

You believe such an undertaking could happen and it not be documented anywhere that was preserved?

You aren't inflicting a body blow on Christianity by complaining about a census.
You could remove that story from the Bible and nothing fundamental would change about Christian belief and practice.

On the big questions of Christianity the gospels are remarkably consistent: the teachings of Jesus, his arrest, crucifixion, his resurrection and divine nature.

The New testament itself is a mixture of historical narrative, parable, myth, hyperbole, theology, symbolism.

Now, I have asked you repeatedly for evidence supporting your claim that the gospels were written by random obscure people at least ten steps removed from anyone associated with Jesus' ministry.

You have repeatedly failed to support that claim.

But in my casew, I have given extensive evidence and logical inference.
Even the atheist scholar Bart Ehrman agrees with me that we have circumstantial evidence which must be taken seriously that Mark was Peter's secretary and he wrote a gospel, and that Matthew seems to have written a gospel.


Bishop Papias (60 to 130 AD) claimed that the apostle Peter would speak about Jesus’ words and deeds, and that Mark, his secretary, later wrote the stories down but “not in order.” Papias said he received this information from an elderly Christian (John the Elder). Papias also claimed Matthew wrote the sayings of Jesus in Hebrew. This tradition from Papias must be considered seriously, even though there is no way to know for sure.

- Bart Ehrman, The Historical Jesus (2000)

 

[Ichabod Stain]

But we have enough circumstantial evidence to make informed guesses.

wow. sign me up.

I asked for a sign from god and here it is.

Have you heard the good news!

 

[Into the Night]

Difficult to explain why Paul would have given up a comfortable career as a Pharisee because of an epileptic seizure for a life where he constantly faced risk, oppression, beatings, lashings, stonings, pirates, shipwrecks, imprisonment, execution.

Synthesis.

 

[Into the Night]

Nice try, but there's no paradox.

You cannot clear your paradox by denying it, Void.

I can believe a human existed and not believe the ridiculous fairytails associated with him.

What 'fairytales'? You are still locked in your paradox.

I believe David Copperfield exists. I don't believe he saws women in half and then reassembles them, unharmed.

Non-sequitur fallacy.

Stop playing dumb.

Inversion fallacy.

 

[Into the Night]

We've been through this several times....

And you are STILL locked in your paradox.

First, if it's true that Jesus disciples believed they saw Jesus after his death, that doesn't mean they actually saw him after his death.

Second, since the gospel writers, who lived in other countries and very likely never met the disciples or met anyone who met any who met anyone who met a disciple, they're either a) working off of 10th hand information or simply making up things that sound good, like Matthew made up the story of the virgin birth because he wanted Jesus birth to fulfill OT prophecy.

I've never said they "lied their asses off". I did say, because there's reasons to believe it, they they made up some events or the details of some events.

Matthew misunderstood an OT verse and as a result, made up a story about Mary being a virgin. The story about the census was very likely made up.

I can go on and on.....

Meh. You are still locked in your paradox.

 

[Into the Night]

If the President of the United States said that everyone had to return to the land of their ancestors from 1,000 years ago, where would you go? I would have no idea and that kind of ancestral information is SIGNIFICANTLY easier to find today than back then.

No one has ever required this. Why would they?

So, let's say you knew where to go, can you imagine the level of disruption of all aspects of life that would be caused if EVERYONE had to travel to their ancestral home? The economy would absolutely crash because businesses would be closed because nearly everyone has left. The impact of masses of people traveling would be significant and should be easy to uncover.

Attempted proof by contrivance.

You believe such an undertaking could happen and it not be documented anywhere that was preserved?

Never happened.