Believe it or not, atheosts read the bible. And other holy books of other religions as well. Why? Well, it makes sense to knw something about a subject to be able to speak about it intelligently. So, I read the bible on occasion. Not daily, but when I’m interested in finding out something that supposedly occurred in the Hebrew text or the Christian work. Some of it is absolutely fascinating, even though not exactly historical in all instances.
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I think it’s interesting to see all of the online Christianity lately. It’s interesting in that it seems that wherever I turn, there’s somone claiming the mantle of Jesus, and informing the rest of us that we are heathens – or at least the tone of their posts seem that way. I don’t think this is the first time where people used some religious connection to make a name for themselves.
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Ever hear people when referring to Jesus, call him Jesus Christ? Not as an epithet, but as if Christ were his last name? I do, and I hear it often. I’ve even seen it written that way. Wasn’t Jesus a Jew? During those times, did people where he lived even have surnames? I was told that, during his time, if he were referred to formally, it would have been as Jesus, son of Joseph, or Jesus bar Joseph. In fact, it’s used in that way in John 6:42.
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As everyone(most?) know, Paul is the most prolific author of the New Testament. Thirteen books(letters, actually) attributed to him, seven of which are deemed by scholars as pseudepigrapha (not written by Paul, but by someone claiming to be him). Nonetheless, they are all looked upon as sacred scripture by around two billion people that identify as Christian. We first learn abut Paul in Acts 7:558 as “Saul”. Most of Acts, after that, is about Saul, his conversion and renaming to Paul and his missionary work. The meeting with the disciples is mentioned in Acts 9:26-28 but more is given to us by Paul himself in Galatians 1:18-19, some three years after his conversion. The question often arises, among believers and non-believers, as to what Paul knew about the Jesus that Peter and the other disciples knew. But more, why Paul never mentions Jesus’ earthly existence. Ever.
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It’s not often I watch or read something about Christianity that really makes me sit back for a moment and think, but recently, I was watching a Youtube video from Paulogia titled “not buried?”, with esteemed scholar and, of course, apologist, Dr. Craig Evans. It’s short, so I recommend you watch the video, if you’re at all interested in the supposed resurrection of Jesus, as described in the bible. Most of the video, is Craig talking, which is insightful because he lay, and steps into his own trap while castigating others that have not disproved the “empty tomb” story.
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