{"id":1545,"date":"2010-03-06T09:59:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-06T09:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2010\/03\/mythicist-quote-of-the-day-neil-godfrey\/"},"modified":"2010-03-06T09:59:00","modified_gmt":"2010-03-06T09:59:00","slug":"mythicist-quote-of-the-day-neil-godfrey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2010\/03\/mythicist-quote-of-the-day-neil-godfrey.html","title":{"rendered":"Mythicist Quote of the Day (Neil Godfrey)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\u201cExegesis of a narrative cannot magically conjure up evidence for the historical reality of the narrative\u2026Sanders is merely attempting to calculate what narrative details are more or less likely to make sense of the larger plot, given the assumption that the narrative originated largely from \u201ctraditions\u201d going back to an historical Jesus. Historicity itself is an assumption.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u2013Neil Godfrey, comment on \u201cE.P. Sanders\u2019 test for authenticity of the sayings of Jesus.<\/a>\u201c<\/div>\n

I was tempted to not cite the source and ask readers connected with academia what grade they would give to a student who wrote this, in terms of the understanding of how historians use texts when no other sources are available, and in terms of E. P. Sanders\u2019 use of the \u201ccriteria of authenticity.\u201d But I don\u2019t think it would be fair to get others entangled in these seemingly interminable discussions under false pretenses. But I think the quote speaks for itself, and doesn\u2019t really need further comment.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cExegesis of a narrative cannot magically conjure up evidence for the historical reality of the narrative\u2026Sanders is merely attempting to calculate what narrative details are more or less likely to make sense of the larger plot, given the assumption that the narrative originated largely from \u201ctraditions\u201d going back to an historical Jesus. Historicity itself is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMythicist Quote of the Day (Neil Godfrey)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""Exegesis of a narrative cannot magically conjure up evidence for the historical reality of the narrative...Sanders is merely attempting to calculate what\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2010\/03\/mythicist-quote-of-the-day-neil-godfrey.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mythicist Quote of the Day (Neil Godfrey)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\""Exegesis of a narrative cannot magically conjure up evidence for the historical reality of the narrative...Sanders is merely attempting to calculate what\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2010\/03\/mythicist-quote-of-the-day-neil-godfrey.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. 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