Oh well

A few scholars have questioned the existence of Jesus as an actual historical figure. Among the proponents of non-historicity was Bruno Bauer in the 19th century. Non-historicity was somewhat influential in biblical studies during the early 20th century. (The views of scholars who entirely rejected Jesus' historicity then were summarized in the chapter on Jesus in Will Durant's Caesar and Christ (in 1944); they were based on a suggested lack of eyewitness, a lack of direct archaeological evidence, the failure of certain ancient works to mention Jesus, and similarities early Christianity shares with then-contemporary religion and mythology.[111])

More recently, arguments for non-historicity have been discussed by authors such as George Albert Wells and Robert M. Price. Additionally, The Jesus Puzzle and The Jesus Mysteries are examples of popular works promoting the non-historical hypothesis.

Nevertheless, non-historicity has been rejected by almost all Biblical scholars and historians.[112][113][114] In Jesus Outside the New Testament (2000), Robert E. Van Voorst a Professor of New Testament Studies at Western Theological Seminary wrote, "The theory of Jesus' nonexistence is now effectively dead as a scholarly question....Biblical scholars and classical historians now regard it as effectively refuted."[115] Author Michael Grant stated that standard historical criteria prevent one from rejecting Jesus' existence.[116]

Posted By: Old Git on December 2nd 2008 at 11:25:38


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