A Christian Response by Stephen J. Bedard
The myth of Attis is one of the most intriguing tales from the ancient Mediterranean world, combining themes of death, rebirth, and divine love. Though lesser-known today, Attis was once a widely venerated figure, especially in connection with the mother goddess Cybele. His story reflects the syncretic blending of Phrygian, Greek, and Roman religious traditions and offers insight … Read More “The Myth of Attis: Origins, Story, and Legacy” »
Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic Mysteries, was a mystery religion practiced in the Roman Empire from around the 1st to the 4th century AD. At its peak, it was one of the most widespread and secretive religious movements in the Roman world, especially among soldiers and government officials. Despite its popularity, much about Mithraism remains shrouded … Read More “The Ancient Religion of Mithraism: Origins, Practices, and Influence” »
Bayes’ Theorem, a mathematical formula used to update probabilities based on new evidence, has increasingly been applied in historical analysis to assess the likelihood of past events. By quantifying historical probabilities, historians and scholars can provide a more rigorous evaluation of events where direct evidence is scarce. However, while the method offers significant benefits, it … Read More “The Usefulness of Bayes’ Theorem for Determining the Historicity of Events” »
One of the key issues for those who argue that Jesus was not a historical figure is the identity of James. Not James, the brother of John and the son of Zebedee, but the James that is referred to as the brother of the Lord. Traditionally this has been understood as being James, the actual … Read More “Responding to Richard Carrier and “the Brother of the Lord”” »
The Gospel of Mark is our earliest reference to the detail of the tomb of Jesus being empty. Does that mean that Mark invented the empty tomb? Richard Carrier thinks so. Being the first to mention something does not make one the inventor of a concept. The earliest textual reference that we have of “Pharisee” … Read More “Did Mark Invent the Empty Tomb?” »
In this post, I continue to look at the Religions Wiki that deals with the Jesus Myth, this time specifically the section Epistles genuinely written by Paul. I am not really going to deal with the claim that Paul only wrote seven of the epistles. I find this is often used for shock value toward … Read More “The Jesus Myth and the Apostle Paul” »
Did the Gospel writers borrow from the pagan myths to come up with their birth narratives? Some Jesus Mythicists would say so. Everything from the virgin birth to the wise men to December 25 was apparently taken from pre-existing myths. Or were they. In this episode, I share my doubts. Listen to my History of … Read More “Was the Birth of Jesus Based on Pagan Myths?” »
I asked ChatGPT to list all of the First Century Jewish texts that we have. I generally agree with this list, although I would put the Gospel of Thomas in the Second Century. The first century CE was a pivotal period for Jewish literature, as it marks the time of the Second Temple’s destruction in … Read More “What First Century Jewish Texts Do We Have?” »
I have been looking at the Religions Wiki article on the Jesus Myth. They tackle one of the most difficult issues for the JMT right at the beginning. They acknowledge: Previously, mythicism has been criticized for not explaining the origin of Christianity. They attempt to show a believable origin for the Jesus Myth. This is … Read More “Why Did the Myth of Jesus Arise?” »
The Religions Wiki has an interesting article called Jesus began as a myth and was later historicized that I think I will write a number of posts on. The first part is a section called Minimal facts. When Christian apologists hear “minimal facts”, they probably think of the method that some use to try and … Read More “The Minimal Facts of the Jesus Myth Theory” »
