Tuesday, July 6, 2010

CADRE Comments: The Best Attested Event in History?

I like this article. It's very honest. It does make me think that when I quote William Lane Craig, Michael Licona, JP Holding, and Paul L. Mair that I need to be careful how I quote what they say. I have never hear them say things that in context makes it seem that they overstate or exaggerate any of the facts. I know that I can be so imprecise. I will be more careful to be clearer and to not overstate anything. The whole article is well worth reading. I think the bottom line of the article is thus:

So, overall, I think that the claim that the attestation to the life of Jesus is "the best attested event of history" is definitely wrong, and the claim that it is "the best attested event of ancient history" is also an overstatement -- but not by much. Certainly, given the circumstances of the time, the amount of information available about Jesus from the contemporaneous biographies is (to my knowledge) unprecedented.

I'd go a tad further. The article mentions that Jesus' earthly background does not mean that someone like him would have much written about him because at the time they didn't know how important Jesus is. Of course more would be written of Julius Caesar. I think that the very fact that we as everyday people know so much about Jesus and next to nothing about the other itinerant preachers, and would-be messiahs shows us that Jesus is different. That Jesus wasn't and isn't like everyone else who has walked this planet. Regardless of whether or not you believe the things Jesus said and did, the fact that you can know something about Jesus is indisputable. The truth is Jesus' life affects yours on way more levels than Julius Caesar's did. Jesus matters.

CADRE Comments: The Best Attested Event in History?
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8 comments:

  1. Good for you Marcus.

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  2. Uh, Ryan, I never said that I would not look up the material on my own. I'm still waiting for you your "Countless" ancients attestations to Julius Caesar.

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  3. That was "countless" attestations using your loose definition of attestation which you seem to have acknowledged was wrong with this post.

    Again, good for you.

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  4. I never said that the attestations of Jesus were "countless". I gave a count - 236. You used the word "countless". I was arguing that Jesus is just as well attested as anyone from Antiquity. You said Caesar was better evidenced and hasn't proved anything.

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  5. OK Marcus, even if you can't admit it to me directly, you've acknowledged it with this post. Good for you, again.

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  6. What exactly do you think that I've acknowledged? My point is that sometimes people overstate the extra-biblical evidence for Jesus. I'm not trying to do that. You underestimate the evidence for Jesus and overestimate the evidence for Julius Caesar.

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  7. Actually, I undersestimate both lines of evidnece.

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  8. They why do you think that there is more attestation for Caesar than for Jesus?

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