AvidReader1
New member
university professors....? ..... (many of whom are atheists and agostics) affirm that the Historical Jesus lived in the first century and his teachings became the foundation of the Christian religion? Why do Internet forums take exception and claim otherwise?
[I've been a member of AAR and SBL for 47 years and am very familiar with the views of the vast majority of my academic colleagues. So I'm not asking for the precise percentage who affirm Jesus' existence. (I already know it to be very large.) I'm asking why so many in these Internet forums pretend otherwise in opposition to mainstream scholarship. (The few scholars who deny the Historical Jesus get a lot of notoriety and that is a publicity advantage of a minority view that is shockingly contrary to prevailing scholarly opinion. If most of my colleagues denied that Jesus ever lived, it would cease being controversial to hold that view.)
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Newsflash for the naive: Virtually none of my colleagues consider Josephus in any way significant in establishing the Historical Jesus of the first century. (Please!) Josephus has never been an important source on this issue. Josephus is only important to less educated Christians who have been told by pastors that Josephus is the definitive source.
So don't confuse scholarship with popular beliefs common among the religious.
[I've been a member of AAR and SBL for 47 years and am very familiar with the views of the vast majority of my academic colleagues. So I'm not asking for the precise percentage who affirm Jesus' existence. (I already know it to be very large.) I'm asking why so many in these Internet forums pretend otherwise in opposition to mainstream scholarship. (The few scholars who deny the Historical Jesus get a lot of notoriety and that is a publicity advantage of a minority view that is shockingly contrary to prevailing scholarly opinion. If most of my colleagues denied that Jesus ever lived, it would cease being controversial to hold that view.)
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Newsflash for the naive: Virtually none of my colleagues consider Josephus in any way significant in establishing the Historical Jesus of the first century. (Please!) Josephus has never been an important source on this issue. Josephus is only important to less educated Christians who have been told by pastors that Josephus is the definitive source.
So don't confuse scholarship with popular beliefs common among the religious.