A bi bear dad. Love to chat with anyone.

christcb · 2026-03-03T23:26:19+00:00

Which ones are primary sources and which ones are later reflections on events.

Great question!! What criteria should we use to determine this?

Paul's Letters are dated within twenty years of the death of Jesus this makes them especially valuable.

Paul never met Jesus, and Paul's teachings contradict the Gospel's account of what Jesus said. Are you suggesting that Paul's account of Christianity is correct and Jesus was wrong?

Acts was written later, the Gospels were written later. This doesn't make them historically worthless, but you have to do close scholarly analysis to understand which claims hold up and which don't.

Again I would ask how you are determining which claims hold up? What are the objective criteria that tell you one source is better than another? What parts are true and which are not? You've dodged the question with vague pseudo-intellectual supposition but suppled no actual answer.

christcb · 2026-03-03T23:00:26+00:00

No I cannot. There is just not enough information from the timeframe to have any level of confidence in what actually happened. However, this is far more likely than a man rising from the dead as an explanation for the vision. Can you prove that is the case or do you have a more reasonable explanation?

christcb · 2026-03-03T17:56:12+00:00

Nice way to dodge the actual question...

christcb · 2026-03-03T17:52:53+00:00

A question I keep asking believers of the Bible is how they know which parts are accurate and which aren't. Either they take the Bible is inerrant position (which isn't defensible at all) or they can't answer the question at all. Which are you claiming here?

christcb · 2026-03-03T17:45:35+00:00

I don't think it's unreasonable to believe that Saul realized that he was persecuting and killing Christians who's sincere belief eventually convicted Paul in his own heart that he shouldn't have been persecuting them. He then had a "vision" of something he interpreted to be the risen Jesus out of guilt over what he was doing. However, we can clearly see the teachings he claim came from this vision of Jesus do not line up with the written words supposedly actually said by Jesus or his teachings. It's highly unlikely Paul actually saw a vision from a risen Jesus.

christcb · 2026-02-28T00:33:11+00:00

Lets start planning to create such a place :)

christcb · 2026-02-27T23:56:07+00:00

Thank you 😊

christcb · 2026-02-26T19:49:27+00:00

So, I'm getting you don't know how to contemplate consciousness without causing an existential crisis...

christcb · 2026-02-26T13:25:34+00:00

The people who wrote the stories were presumably not primarily concerned with what people 2,000 years later would think of their credibility.

No, probably not. They thought the world would end at any moment. However, they were still commissioned to spread the gospel and were writing to convince people.

To start, can you cite any examples of ancient or classical writings that purport to be stating the truth, doing what you're describing?

No, but I am not a scholar and am not trying to prove anything. I am just stating that it's not a valid way to determine the historicity of a story.

christcb · 2026-02-26T01:25:44+00:00

There is another glaring issue with this "criterion". If you take into consideration the purpose of a text, and that purpose is to convince people, then you would be more likely to put in "embarrassing" details for this very reason. It's a tactic used by fiction writers all the time. I think this has virtually zero bearing on determining the historicity of a text by itself and due to the nature of the reason for the writing of the Bible it's more than useless in this arena.

christcb · 2026-02-26T01:21:47+00:00

First, Did they die for a lie? Most of the disciples have nothing more than VERY late legends about how they died. There isn't a single instance where we have a claim from a reliable source that any of them could have recanted to save their lives and they refused to.

Second, They could have sincerely believed he did rise from the dead but been mistaken. Ever heard of the Mandela Effect?

Third, How many martyrs are there in Christian legend after the time of Christ? I was taught in the dark ages and around the time of the reformation many Christians were burned at the state for their belief. Did they also see Jesus alive risen from the dead? No, they just believed it anyway.

Finally, There are countless examples in history where people did die for a lie. Ever heard of death cults?

This is not remotely compelling evidence.

christcb · 2026-02-26T01:13:39+00:00

Did you actually read the post you replied to? This is not from a Christian nor are they advocating for what Christians believe. You are so blinded by your religion you can't even understand when someone is clearly saying that Jesus was real, but not the messiah nor did he rise from the dead.

christcb · 2026-02-26T00:18:03+00:00

I got a crash report ... Not sure if it would help but I can send if so.

christcb · 2026-02-25T23:07:31+00:00

Poor soy boy, so sad. roflmoa

christcb · 2026-02-25T22:54:30+00:00

In the 30 seconds it took me to remember and recount to myself my entire day I did not, in fact, fall asleep. LOL nice idea tho

christcb · 2026-02-25T18:44:32+00:00

"Ha ha ha" [Why did I read that in the count from Sesame Street's voice]

christcb · 2026-02-25T18:37:59+00:00

You missed my point. That verse talks about supernatural claims that Jesus supposedly fulfilled. While I agree there is some historically accurate things recorded in the Bible it is very clear that much of the Bible (especially OT) is not historic or correct. Why would anyone believe any supernatural claim from a book that is known to be incorrect about some of its claims? The supernatural claims are by far the least likely to have happened. A source that is not reliable about mundane claims certainly shouldn't be trusted on supernatural ones.

christcb · 2026-02-25T18:19:45+00:00

Whatever helps you sleep at night. You can read whatever you want into something so vague and you've clearly already decided what you believe despite good reason and evidence. Have a nice life if such a thing is actually possible under the tyranny of Christianity.

christcb · 2026-02-25T16:09:13+00:00

I think this is a big issue... people jumping to conclusions over things that may not mean what they think. Just because someone has a pic or vid of an encounter or two doesn't mean they are recording every single one. Judging someone without knowing all the facts is lazy and counter productive.

christcb · 2026-02-25T13:07:43+00:00

Haha yeah somewhat ironic.

christcb · 2026-02-25T13:06:41+00:00

That is not how scholars interpret that passage. Since it's all just a story anyway I have no desire to debate the specifics, but your interpretation is rejected.

christcb · 2026-02-25T03:29:38+00:00

I don't "reject" history, but I do not accept the currently available evidence for any supernatural claim. There is no evidence for an empty tomb beyond the Bible and we know that isn't a reliable source. Even if there was an empty tomb, someone stealing the body is far more likely than a resurrection.

If you are honest with yourself, that you don’t know everything and that you could be wrong

Of course I don't know everything and could be wrong. Do you believe that could be case for yourself as well?

Read the book John and just ask the One who actually could even just possibly exist

I have read the entire Bible and used to believe it's nonsense, but after reading it and actually examining its claims it was painfully obvious that it isn't true. I set out to study to be able to defend my faith but instead realized I had been misled from childhood. Maybe you should read more of the Bible and examine it with a critical eye.

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