Discussion on Miracles

There was an interesting article on miracles posted on the PleaseConvinceMe Blog.  Check out the comments for my thoughts.

Historiography as Scientific Inquiry

Aside from the part about Jesus perhaps not being a real person, I really enjoyed these comments by Robert Price.

Does God Exist? The Argument from Morality

I've been having an interesting discussion about this argument in the comments section at the blog Students for Christianity.

If you'd like, go check it out!

Yale Open Course: New Testament 12 & 13

The twelfth lecture is on the letters of John.

• In Gospel of John, Jesus talks in riddles, and responds to questions with non-sequiturs
• Mark includes atonement as a reason for Jesus' death, Luke doesn't
• 1 John says that everyone is a sinner, yet contradicts by saying no believers sin
• 1 John commands believers to love brothers, not the outsiders

The thirteenth lecture is on the Historical Jesus.

• Prof says no reputable historian believes we know anything about the birth or trial of Jesus
• Peasants, like the disciples, would not have been let into a Roman trial court
• All reputable scholars believe there was a Jesus of Nazareth
• Historians agree that the sign nailed to the cross and the baptism by John the Baptist of Jesus are historical
• Important criterion for historicity is multiple attestation (found in more than one source), e.g. Jesus' teaching against divorce
• Another important criterion is dissimilarity (something that "swims against the current" of early Christianity), e.g. Jesus' disciples being armed in the garden during the last Passover.  Another example is when Jesus says "nobody is good but God."
• Prof says Jesus was an apocalyptic prophet
• Says Jesus picked 12 disciples because of the idea that the 12 tribes would be reconstituted at the restoration
• Says Jesus was executed because the Romans believed he was claiming to be King of the Jews

Yale Open Course: New Testament 11

The eleventh lecture is on the Gospel of John.

• Synoptics say Jesus' ministry is 1 year long, and occurred after John the Baptist's ministry was over
• John says Jesus' ministry is 3 years long, and overlaps John the Baptist's ministry
• The prof says he goes to a church w/ priests (Catholic? Episcopalian?) 
• Jesus in synoptics is almost silent during his trial, in John he has philosophical discussions
• anachronisms- calling certain people "the Jews" (all were jews), excommunication for belief in Jesus as messiah (this was not an issue early on because many were claiming to be messiah)
• Jesus claimed to be the "I AM" in the book of Exodus

Yale Open Course: New Testament 9 & 10

The 9th and 10th lectures are about the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, respectively.

• Luke and Acts were written by the same anonymous person
• Unlike Mark, Luke doesn't mention the "abomination of desolation" in context with the destruction of the temple
• Author is not an eye-witness to events in the Gospels
• Prof says this Gospel was written after 70 CE because the it says things that happened to Jerusalem that Mark does not say, e.g. "surrounded by armies," "will fall by the sword," "will be led captive into all nations," and "will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles."
• The theme of Jesus' death is that "prophets are killed by their own people," instead of it being an atonement.
• Prof says that unlike Luke, Mark has Jesus change the Law, e.g. in Mark 7:19 about Jesus declaring all foods clean.  (I emailed the prof about this phrase not being in the Greek)

Yale Open Course: New Testament 8

The eighth lecture is about the Gospel of Thomas.

• Tradition says that Thomas brought Christianity to India.
• Most scholars think it was written in the early second century
• Some sayings within it might be earlier than the same sayings in the synoptic gospels
• Proto-Orthodox means the type of early beliefs that eventually became Christian orthodoxy