In Reply to: Re: I enjoy the exchange... posted by CB on June 15, 2010 at 21:11:39:
My point was not so much whether it is a speculation raised by "social scientists"...it's not, it's a speculation raised by several theologians throughout the ages....my point is more, whether a group of people (Christians) would be capable of putting up such a lie, suffering enormously for it...plus living quite a ascetic life in many instances, as witnessed by many, which I would take as historical fact...whether that construction...interpretation is plausible?!Not knowing the outcome...how would you know, you would have worldwide success for a lie...for a fake????
Those odds to me belong to the field of social science...whether liars would have such a long breath suffering heavily in the meantime...for what? ...a delusion???There was no earthly profit in it in the first place...the written documents rather portray the opposite...so what is their advantage in case of a constructed lie???
I consider it pretty difficult to claim that for the early Christians (if one, as a theologian, wants to deny the existence of Christ, but of course having to explain the incredible spreading of the message...why/how...if there wasn't really such a charismatic figure in the first place??)
I realise, that you can question about anything which has happened in the past, if one chooses to ignore it...I haven't read anything of the Bible scholar Tom Harpur yet (he teaches, from what I think, in Toronto), but he wasn't the first anyway...there are others like him....I just mentioned this as a possible field for aquired skills...so I thought... another is the changing role or rights of women compared to the OT-past in the near east.
It's not my foremost interest, the supposed original lie-factor in Christianity, I am just saying, truth is not afraid to be challenged by something fairly stupid...no matter in what academic mantle of disguise.
It boils also down to the following: either one has a personal, inner, heartfilling relationship with God, through Christ or not.
Being in love is hard to explain to outsiders and what do I bother about the opinions of others...if I am in love...that my love-relationship is not beautiful, meaningful and in fact non-existant...
Couldn't care less...even if it were a biochemist with a string of degrees.