A recent comment asked whether there is as much disagreement about evolution as there is about the historical Jesus. In one sense, there isn’t disagreement about the bare fact of either, except that there are more people with books, blogs, and even a couple with relevant degrees who dispute evolution. But among the vast majority of people with relevant expertise, there may be disagreement about important details in both fields (the role of viruses in lateral transmission of genetic data, for instance, or whether Jesus expected an apocalyptic end-of-the-world scenario) but not about the basic question of whether evolution happened, or whether Jesus lived.
Accurate knowledge is not achieved simply by pointing out that there are those who dispute something. Every field has detractors, and it is entirely appropriate that experts hold on to hard-won consensus until strong evidence is provided of the need for a paradigm shift. That’s the best way of sifting out the crackpots and letting only the truly insightful pass.
In the field of evolutionary biology, Project Steve was started as a humorous way of making a point in response to the oft-circulated lists of “evolution detractors.” I’m confident that if we did something similar, picking a first name and getting scholars in Biblical studies, New Testament, early Christianity, archaeology, ancient history, and other relevant disciplines with that name to express their conclusion that Jesus existed, we’d end up with more signatories than the total number of mythicists, including those whose publications include only posts on internet discussion boards.
I’m sure it wouldn’t actually persuade anyone, just as Project Steve hasn’t managed to cause young-earth creationism to wither away. But it could be entertaining. What do others think? Would a project like this be useful? Should we stick with Steve or pick another name? Is it worth doing? And perhaps most importantly, does anyone reading this have the time, dedication, energy, and sense of humor to make this not only happen but happen in a provocative and entertaining way?
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