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{"id":3713,"date":"2012-09-03T07:27:57","date_gmt":"2012-09-03T11:27:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=3713"},"modified":"2015-03-13T23:07:22","modified_gmt":"2015-03-14T03:07:22","slug":"hurtado-again-on-did-jesus-exist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2012\/09\/03\/hurtado-again-on-did-jesus-exist\/","title":{"rendered":"Hurtado Again on Did Jesus Exist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a>
\nThe \u201cDid Jesus Exist\u201d Controversy\u2013Encore
\nby larryhurtado<\/p>\n

Well, in the four days since I posted my weariness with being asked to engage erroneous statements and often re-treaded claims by a new mini-circle of people attempting to deny that there was a historical figure, Jesus of Nazareth, there has certainly been some lively interest. I\u2019ve tried to engage serious comments and queries, but it remains to be seen whether those to whom I\u2019ve responded are really interested in considering matters patiently and with respect for historical method. A few further observations here on the discussion:<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve had examples of the erroneous, but confidently asserted, claims on which the \u201cmythicist\u201d stance seems to rest. E.g., no evidence of Nazareth as a real village (cf., e.g., J. L. Reed, Archareology and the Galilean Jesus, 131-32; J. L. Rousseau & R. Arav, Jesus and His World, 214-16); or that a figure called \u201cJesus\u201d was an object of religious devotion before early Christianity (no evidence of this at all); or that statements in Paul\u2019s letters about Jesus\u2019 brothers were later interpolations (no text-critical support or in scholarship on these texts), etc.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most puzzling claim, that would be amusing were it not apparently asserted so seriously, is that sometime in the 1980s a massive conspiracy (by \u201cNew Evangelical\u201d interests) engineered the appointment of scholars in departments of Religion, Classics, Ancient History, etc., and that it managed to skew scholarly opinion, even among Jewish scholars and people of n0 religious affiliation, to support the historical existence of a Jesus of Nazareth. Hmm. That\u2019s right up there with the notion that the Twin Towers were destroyed by the CIA! (Is there something in the drinking water nowadays in some places?) Certainly, many of those who have engaged the current \u201cmythicist\u201d issue (e.g., Maurice Casey) would be surprised to learn that their views have been shaped ingeniously without their knowing it by this \u201cNew Evangelical\u201d cabal eager to prop up traditional Christianity!<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Friday, and I\u2019ve still got to finish that essay I mentioned earlier this week, so I won\u2019t linger. But it\u2019s an interesting sociological (or pycho-social) question as to what makes some people feel the need (and it does seem to be a need) to exert such efforts to go against the rather solid judgement of qualified scholars in the subject, whatever their religious persuasion. What is it that leads some to prefer the assertions of people with no established scholarly reputation or recognition in the disciplines in question? And why the zeal and fervor of some of those who buy into these assertions? Perhaps a good question for some graduate student in sociology.<\/p>\n

Anything is open to question, of course. But to engage the sort of questions involved in this discussion really requires one to commit to the hard work of learning languages, mastering textual analysis, text-critical matters, historical context of the ancient Roman period and the Jewish setting of the time, archaeology, and more. And we know when someone has done this when they prove it in the demands of scholarly disputation and examination, typically advanced studies reflected in graduate degrees in the disciplines, and then publications that have been reviewed and judged by scholarly peers competent to judge. That is how you earn the right to have your views taken as having some basis and some authority. I\u2019m not an expert in virology, or astro-physics, or a number of other fields. So, I\u2019ll have to operate in light of the judgements of those who are. Why should I distrust experts in a given subject? Why should I term it \u201cintellectual bullying\u201d if scholars in a given field asked about a given issue state the generally-held view in a straightforward manner, and ask for justification for rejecting it?<\/p>\n

Anyway, as I say, it\u2019s Friday. So, got to get some work done on that essay, and then . . . home for a gin & tonic and an evening relaxing with my wife . . . and our mischievous cat.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"