Jesus

A collection of 165 posts

Biblical Exegesis

Debunking the Nativity: A Christmas Round-Up

[caption id="attachment_6023" align="alignleft" width="113"] My book. Dig it.[/caption] I have, at different Christmases, run some series debunking the historical claims within the Bible (specifically the Gospels of Matthew and Luke) to show them as wanting, running alongside my book

Biblical Exegesis

Christmas Crackers: To Bethlehem or Not to Bethlehem

This came up in conversation and so I will present the issues concerning Bethlehem in the nativity accounts in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. These posts concerning the nativity sit alongside my book The Nativity: A Critical Examination. Bethlehem is a very important place for the average Christian. It

Jesus

Casting Doubt on the Nativity of Jesus again

My usual seasonal spiel goes something like this... Holidays are coming, holidays are coming... It's that time of year, you know, the interminable run-up to Christmas when big corporations vie for your hard-earned cash in an attempt to exploit the seasonal goodwill brought on by the imaginary birth

Biblical Exegesis

Merry Christmas Everybody, but It Never Happened Though...

Christmas is upon us; the season of joy and merriment. I have a book called The Nativity: A Critical Examination, which is a topical read, methinks. Given the time of year, let us look at the claims of the (only two) Gospels that actually mention the birth of Jesus. Which

atonement

Jesus' Sacrifice Wasn't All That

There is a ubiquitous notion that Jesus sacrificed an awful lot for our sins. Putting Atonement to the side for the minute (after all, it's a completely nonsensical ideal), let us consider the sacrifice that Jesus made. So what happened to Jesus at the end of his life?

biblical contradictions

Rebutting Armstrong's Double Reference Prophecy Defence

I am having to defend my claims of biblical contradictions and issues with the infancy narratives against Dave Armstrong, fellow Patheos writer, but for the Catholic channel. I have previously taken him to task over his attack on my Herod and census piece, and found his position seriously wanting. Now

Biblical Exegesis

My Views on Jesus Mythicism Revisited

I recently expressed my views on Jesus mythicism and my position was quite robustly critiqued, which is great. I mean, that's why I do this. However, I was only expressing my conclusions rather than giving a full run-down of my analysis. Let me, for those who missed it,

Biblical Exegesis

Responding to Criticism on the Herod/Census Problem

This is my second rebuttal to the efforts Dave Armstrong is putting in to trying to debunk my claims of contradictions in the Bible. The first rebuttal, completed yesterday, looked at his criticisms of my case that there are contradictions involved in the accounts of Jesus alighting on the shore

Jesus

Jesus and Mythicism: My Views

I quite often get asked what my views on mythicism are with regard to Jesus. Do I believe that Jesus was a real and existent figure or was he created by third parties such that he is entirely mythological? Mythicism has gained a lot of traction again over the last

Biblical Exegesis

Joseph of Arimathea as Fictional

Joseph of Arimathea used to be used by William Lane Craig as a pillar of his truth claims for the Resurrection, itself one of the four cornerstones of his apology. Richard Carrier, amongst others, has provided some very interesting viewpoints on the historicity of this figure (or lack thereof). Craig

Biblical Exegesis

Quote of the Day: Damion Reinhardt on Joseph of Arimathea

Okay, so really the quote of the day is from John Dominic Crossan, but thanks to Damion for posting it. Damion's words are italicised: John Dominic Crossan makes the case that the tomb itself is a literary creation of Mark, in The Birth of Christianity, pp. 553-555. The

Easter

Easter Doubt: Why Was Jesus' Tomb Not Venerated?

To follow on from my Matthew's guards post, here is another problematic scenario for the Easter story. Thinking about the tomb, in the context of the last post, it is incredibly suspect that the place of the greatest spiritual and religious significance in the whole world seems not

Biblical Exegesis

Easter Doubt: Matthew and the Guards at the Tomb

In this post, I am going to look at the resurrection account given by Matthew, in particular his addition found in no other Gospel account, that there were guards stationed at the tomb. According to Matthew, the chief priests were worried that the disciples might steal Jesus’ body to fake

Bart Ehrman

Easter Doubt: On the Skepticism of the Resurrection (part 4) – naturalistic explanations

As mentioned in my previous posts, it is that time of year that the historicity of the Easter accounts gets analysed by us skeptics. And found wanting. Very wanting. [caption id="attachment_6627" align="alignright" width="216"] Tintoretto [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons[/caption]

Biblical Exegesis

Easter Doubt: On the Skepticism of the Resurrection (part 3)

As mentioned in my two previous posts, it is that time of year again where the Resurrection of Jesus requires a thorough going over. Here is continues. There are three aspects to the debunking of the Resurrection: 1) The Gospels are not reliable sources of information; they are poor quality

Biblical Exegesis

Easter Doubt: On the Skepticism of the Resurrection (part 2)

As mentioned in my previous post, someone in Malawi is about to have a debate on national TV with a Christian about the Resurrection accounts and I have been asked to help provide some ideas for the debate, so here goes. There are three aspects to the debunking of the

Hitler

I Couldn't Resist...

Not sure about the provenance of this to source it, but I like it! [Update: Source - thanks below!]

Biblical Exegesis

Debunking the Nativity - Quirinius vs Herod and the Ten Year Gap

This is the fifth instalment in the “Debunking the Nativity” series (not including a rebuttal piece) and I will concentrate in this piece on Quirinius and Herod. These posts sit alongside my book The Nativity: A Critical Examination. If you have watched any primary school nativity, you will have seen

Biblical Exegesis

Debunking the Nativity: Boney M

[caption id="attachment_6023" align="alignleft" width="113"] My book. Dig it.[/caption] I have recently been running a series debunking the historical claims within the Bible (specifically the Gospels of Matthew and Luke) to show them as wanting, running alongside my book The

Biblical Exegesis

Debunking the Nativity: To Bethlehem or Not to Bethlehem

This is the fifth instalment in the "Debunking the Nativity" series (not including a rebuttal piece) and I will concentrate in this piece on Bethlehem. These posts sit alongside my book The Nativity: A Critical Examination. Bethlehem is a very important place for the average Christian. It is

Biblical Exegesis

Conflicting Genealogies of Jesus and the Thesis of a Matrilineal Bloodline Refuted

In one of my recent (indeed, the last) posts about the Nativity, it has been pointed out that some Christians defend a particular harmonisation of a biblical difference. I would like to set it out here in order to show that his epistemological approach is somewhat dodgy and that the

Biblical Exegesis

Debunking the Nativity: Contradictory Genealogies

This is the fourth instalment in the "Debunking the Nativity" series and I will concentrate on the genealogies of Jesus. These posts sit alongside my book The Nativity: A Critical Examination. Both the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew contain genealogies which look to trace Jesus’

Biblical Exegesis

Debunking the Nativity: The Male Genome

This is the third instalment in the "Debunking the Nativity" series and I will concentrate on the virgin birth. These posts sit alongside my book The Nativity: A Critical Examination. Continuing along the theme of the conception of Jesus, let us look at biological problems that have theological

Biblical Exegesis

Debunking the Nativity: The Mistranslation of "Virgin"

This is the third instalment in the "Debunking the Nativity" series and I will concentrate on the virgin birth. These posts sit alongside my book The Nativity: A Critical Examination. Remaining on the subject of the virgin birth, it is worth noting the issue involving the mistranslation of

Biblical Exegesis

Debunking the Nativity: The Virgin Birth

This is the second instalment in the "Debunking the Nativity" series and I will concentrate on the virgin birth. These posts sit alongside my book The Nativity: A Critical Examination. The first thing to note is that the Gospel authors had an agenda. They were pro-Jesus non-eyewitnesses who