Ooh, Richard, what kind of evidence?
The other quote my children love from Chicken Run is all about the pies when the Chicken Pie making machine arrives. I couldn’t resist so here it is:
Mr. Tweedy: What is it?
Mrs. Tweedy: It's a pie machine, you idiot. Chickens go in, pies come out.
Mr. Tweedy: Ooh, what kind of pies?
Mrs. Tweedy: Apple.
Mr. Tweedy: My favourite.
Mrs. Tweedy: Chicken pies, you great lummox.
Why are we on the Chicken Run theme again? Well, we’ve come back to Richard Dawkins' fine quote that I like: “But my belief in evolution is not fundamentalism, and it is not faith, because I know what it would take to change my mind and I would gladly do so if the necessary evidence were forthcoming.”
Yes, finally something we agree on. But what kind of evidence would you look at, Richard? Ahh, forthcoming evidence. (My favourite.)
So, if that is the case, how come you, Richard, never interact with any of these scholarly works on the historicity of the New Testament?
The Son Rises: The Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus by WL Craig
Jesus the Jew: A Historians Reading of the Gospels by G Vermes
A Marginal Jew: rethinking the historical Jesus by JP Meier
The Historical Figure of Jesus by EP Sanders
The Historical Jesus: a comprehensive guide by G Theissen and A Merz
The Resurrection of the Son of God by NT Wright
Or these smaller, popular books:
Is the New Testament History? by Paul Barnett
Are the New Testament Documents Reliable? by FF Bruce
The Christ Files by John Dickson
Jesus, A Short Life by John Dickson
If you’ve read them, Richard, how come you don’t give any indication? Why don’t you deal with their arguments, scholarship, ideas and evidence? Why do you just make assertions?
What about the more recently published Jesus and the Eyewitnesses by Richard Baukham. (A review can be found here or look here for a final quote.)
Why do you quip (I hope it was a quip), ‘It is even possible to mount a serious, though not widely supported, historically case that Jesus never lived at all?’, and then reference Professor GA Wells of the University of London, who is is a professor of German Grammar?
In fact, the very widely supported position is this: ‘There are no substantial doubts about the general course of Jesus’ life.’ EP Sanders, Duke University. This is the position of mainstream historical scholarship, whether they be Christian or not.
Richard, what kind of evidence? Ahh, forthcoming evidence, my favourite.
PS. Do you think, perhaps at the Global Atheist Convention Richard will deal with some of these scholars and their books?
