Jesus from Outer Space

Jesus from Outer Space PDF Author: Richard Carrier
Publisher: Pitchstone Publishing (US&CA)
ISBN: 1634312082
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
The earliest Christians believed Jesus was an ancient celestial being who put on a bodysuit of flesh, died at the hands of dark forces, and then rose from the dead and ascended back into the heavens. But the writing we have today from that first generation of Christians never says where they thought he landed, where he lived, or where he died. The idea that Jesus toured Galilee and visited Jerusalem arose only a lifetime later, in unsourced legends written in a foreign land and language. Many sources repeat those legends, but none corroborate them. Why? What exactly was the original belief about Jesus, and how did this belief change over time? In Jesus from Outer Space, noted philosopher and historian Richard Carrier summarizes for a popular audience the scholarly research on these and related questions, revealing in turn how modern attempts to conceal, misrepresent, or avoid the actual evidence calls into question the entire field of Jesus studies--and present-day beliefs about how Christianity began.

Jesus from Outer Space

Jesus from Outer Space PDF Author: Richard Carrier
Publisher: Pitchstone Publishing (US&CA)
ISBN: 1634312082
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 233

Get Book Here

Book Description
The earliest Christians believed Jesus was an ancient celestial being who put on a bodysuit of flesh, died at the hands of dark forces, and then rose from the dead and ascended back into the heavens. But the writing we have today from that first generation of Christians never says where they thought he landed, where he lived, or where he died. The idea that Jesus toured Galilee and visited Jerusalem arose only a lifetime later, in unsourced legends written in a foreign land and language. Many sources repeat those legends, but none corroborate them. Why? What exactly was the original belief about Jesus, and how did this belief change over time? In Jesus from Outer Space, noted philosopher and historian Richard Carrier summarizes for a popular audience the scholarly research on these and related questions, revealing in turn how modern attempts to conceal, misrepresent, or avoid the actual evidence calls into question the entire field of Jesus studies--and present-day beliefs about how Christianity began.

On the Historicity of Jesus

On the Historicity of Jesus PDF Author: Richard Carrier
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781914490231
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The assumption that Jesus existed as a historical person has occasionally been questioned in the course of the last hundred years or so, but any doubts that have been raised have usually been put to rest in favor of imagining a blend of the historical, the mythical and the theological in the surviving records of Jesus. Carrier re-examines the whole question and finds compelling reasons to suspect the more daring assumption is correct. He lays out extensive research on the evidence for Jesus and the origins of Christianity and poses the key questions that must now be answered if the historicity of Jesus is to survive as a dominant paradigm. Carrier contrasts the most credible reconstruction of a historical Jesus with the most credible theory of Christian origins if a historical Jesus did not exist. Such a theory would posit that the Jesus figure was originally conceived of as a celestial being known only through private revelations and hidden messages in scripture; then stories placing this being in earth history were crafted to communicate the claims of the gospel allegorically; such stories eventually came to be believed or promoted in the struggle for control of the Christian churches that survived the tribulations of the first century. Carrier finds the latter theory more credible than has been previously imagined. He explains why it offers a better explanation for all the disparate evidence surviving from the first two centuries of the Christian era. He argues that we need a more careful and robust theory of cultural syncretism between Jewish theology and politics of the second-temple period and the most popular features of pagan religion and philosophy of the time. For anyone intent on defending a historical Jesus, this is the book to challenge.

Proving History

Proving History PDF Author: Richard C. Carrier
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1616145609
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
This in-depth discussion of New Testament scholarship and the challenges of history as a whole proposes Bayes’s Theorem, which deals with probabilities under conditions of uncertainty, as a solution to the problem of establishing reliable historical criteria. The author demonstrates that valid historical methods—not only in the study of Christian origins but in any historical study—can be described by, and reduced to, the logic of Bayes’s Theorem. Conversely, he argues that any method that cannot be reduced to this theorem is invalid and should be abandoned. Writing with thoroughness and clarity, the author explains Bayes’s Theorem in terms that are easily understandable to professional historians and laypeople alike, employing nothing more than well-known primary school math. He then explores precisely how the theorem can be applied to history and addresses numerous challenges to and criticisms of its use in testing or justifying the conclusions that historians make about the important persons and events of the past. The traditional and established methods of historians are analyzed using the theorem, as well as all the major "historicity criteria" employed in the latest quest to establish the historicity of Jesus. The author demonstrates not only the deficiencies of these approaches but also ways to rehabilitate them using Bayes’s Theorem. Anyone with an interest in historical methods, how historical knowledge can be justified, new applications of Bayes’s Theorem, or the study of the historical Jesus will find this book to be essential reading.

Did Jesus Exist?

Did Jesus Exist? PDF Author: G. A. Wells
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780879753955
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Professor Wells argues that there was no historical Jesus, and in thus arguing he deals with the many recent writers who have interpreted the historical Jesus as some kind of political figure in the struggle against Rome, and calls in evidence the many contemporary theologians who agree with some of his arguments about early Christianity. The question at issue is what all the evidence adds up to. Does it establish that Jesus did or did not exist? Professor Wells concludes that the latter is the more likely hypothesis. This challenge to received thinking by both Christians and non-Christians is supported by much documentary evidence, and Professor Wells carefully examines all the relevant problems and answers all the relevant questions. He deliberately avoids polemic and speculation, and sticks so far as possible to the known facts and to rational inferences from the facts.

Sense and Goodness Without God

Sense and Goodness Without God PDF Author: Richard Carrier
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1452059268
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 446

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Book Description
If God does not exist, then what does? Is there good and evil, and should we care? How do we know what’s true anyway? And can we make any sense of this universe, or our own lives? Sense and Goodness answers all these questions in lavish detail, without complex jargon. A complete worldview is presented and defended, covering every subject from knowledge to art, from metaphysics to morality, from theology to politics. Topics include free will, the nature of the universe, the meaning of life, and much more, arguing from scientific evidence that there is only a physical, natural world without gods or spirits, but that we can still live a life of love, meaning, and joy.

Not the Impossible Faith

Not the Impossible Faith PDF Author: Richard Carrier
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 0557044642
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 456

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Book Description
Dr. Richard Carrier is an expert in the history of the ancient world and a critic of Christian attempts to distort history in defense of their faith. Not the Impossible Faith is a tour de force in that genre, dissecting and refuting the oft-repeated claim that Christianity could not have succeeded in the ancient world unless it was true. Though framed as a detailed rebuttal to Christian apologist J.P. Holding (author of The Impossible Faith), Carrier takes a general approach that educates the reader on the history and sociology of the ancient world, answering many questions like: How did Christians approach evidence? Was there a widespread prejudice against the testimony of women? Was resurrection such a radical idea? Who would worship a crucified criminal? And much more. Written with occasional humor and an easy style, and thoroughly referenced, with many entertaining "gotcha!" moments, Not the Impossible Faith is a must-read for anyone interested in the origins of Christianity.

Gods from Outer Space

Gods from Outer Space PDF Author: Erich von Daniken
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description


The Last Supper on the Moon

The Last Supper on the Moon PDF Author: Levi Lusko
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
ISBN: 0785252878
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 467

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Book Description
If there are places in your heart and corners of your mind that feel just as deep and dark and inaccessible as outer space, this book is for you. Fight as you may, unearthing the happiness and fulfillment you long for can feel nearly impossible. In Psalm 8 David urges us to consider the heavens, to look up at the night sky. Doing so will help you discover fundamental truths about God. Namely, that—even though his love for you is as beyond comprehension as the farthest corners of the universe—through his Son, you can grab hold of it, and it has the power to transform your inner space. Bestselling author Levi Lusko shares how you can: learn that life is not about “finding yourself” but discovering who Jesus is believe that God’s love and forgiveness is grander than even your greatest failure buck the mundane of everyday life and start dreaming again Embark on an adventure tracing the words and wonders of Jesus on his trek to the cross. Let The Last Supper on the Moon compel you to live with a more profound sense of purpose and a grander view of Jesus, and set you on a trajectory to life, and life more abundantly.

Varieties of Jesus Mythicism

Varieties of Jesus Mythicism PDF Author: John W. Loftus
Publisher: Ockham Publishing Group
ISBN: 1839191597
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 1072

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Book Description
To most people on the planet, the existence of Jesus is a given: “Of course he did!” They take it for granted that he existed simply because it reaffirms their faith. But to the rest of us who don't believe in a supernatural Jesus, the question of the historicity of Jesus is not simple. There are thousands of different ideas about to what extent the Jesus tales were based on a real man, or men, or woman... Did Jesus even exist, and if not, what best explains the rise of such a character in the New Testament? That is where John W. Loftus and Robert M. Price come in. Each with decades of experience in the fields of theology and Christian history, Loftus and Price have compiled essays from some of the top authorities on Jesus mythicism to establish the world's first academic catalogue of mythicist beliefs. Experts who provided chapters include David Fitzgerald, Joseph Atwill, Michael Lockwood, and more! The question is no longer simply, "Did Jesus even exist?" In this compilation, you'll find yourself questioning everything about the Christ story and how it truly began.

The Eighteen Absent Years of Jesus Christ

The Eighteen Absent Years of Jesus Christ PDF Author: Lloyd Kenyon Jones
Publisher: Book Tree
ISBN: 1585092711
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 97

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Book Description
Where was Jesus between the ages of 12 and 30? The Bible says nothing of these years or his whereabouts during that time. There are clues, however, and the author follows some of them in this book, bringing us to a conclusion which he feels is the most obvious. Because this book is easy to read it is recommended for young readers as well as old.