You said it! I get asked about Genesis as if old Moses was a physicist, about the Psalms as if King David were a scientist and Romans as if the apostle Paul were a neuoscientist or a biologist, but these cats were all about the power of love toward us, in us, through us and pointing to a carpenter from a remote village who just happened to be our best option in a world of voices.
Peace, Love and Light.
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Some additional thoughts: (from Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia 
)
Born: 7 – 2 BC/BCE
Rahner (page 731) states that the consensus among historians is c. 4 BC/BCE. Sanders supports c. 4 BC/BCE. Vermes supports c. 6/5 BC/BCE. Finegan supports c. 3/2 BC/BCE. Sanders refers to the general consensus, Vermes a common ‘early’ date, Finegan defends comprehensively the date according to early Christian traditions.
Bethlehem, Judea, Roman Empire (traditional); Nazareth, Galilee (modern critical scholarship)
“Our conclusion must be that Jesus came from Nazareth.” Theissen, Gerd; and Merz, Annette. The historical Jesus: A comprehensive guide. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. 1998. Tr from German (1996 edition). p. 165. ISBN 978-0-8006-3123-9
Died: 30–36 AD/CE
The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament by Andreas J. Köstenberger, L. Scott Kellum 2009 ISBN 9780805443653 page 114
Jesus & the Rise of Early Christianity: A History of New Testament Times by Paul Barnett 2002 ISBN 0830826998 pages 19-21
Paul L. Maier “The Date of the Nativity and Chronology of Jesus” in Chronos, kairos, Christos: nativity and chronological studies by Jerry Vardaman, Edwin M. Yamauchi 1989 ISBN 0931464501 pages 113-129
Sanders (1993). pp. 11, 249
Vermes, Geza. The authentic gospel of Jesus. London, Penguin Books. 2004.
Calvary, Judea, Roman Empire (according to the New Testament, he rose on the third day after his death.)
Cause of death Crucifixion
Resting place Traditionally and temporarily, a garden tomb in Jerusalem
Eusebius, (trans. Cameron, Averil; Hall, Stuart G.). Life of Constantine. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York : Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN 978-0-19-814917-0
Nationality Israelite
Ethnicity Jewish
Home town Nazareth, Galilee, Roman Empire
Parents
Father: (Christian view) God through virginal conception;
(Islamic view) virginal conception; Mother: Mary;
Adoptive father: Joseph
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There is plenty of study to be done on this, so the above is only a brief sketch. (Generally the sort of stuff one finds in an encyclopedia ( not that much ) I’ll put up a few other books, plus some details for the earlier video by Dr. Tim Keller (my blog title: Negotiating the Slippery Slope. )
If you decide to read New Testament History: Narrative Account by Professor Ben Witherington, I’d highly recommend it, especially when I got to page 68, and read the following:
‘A commonly heard argument says that the story of Jesus’ birth is simply a variant of the myths of origins told about figures in the Greco-Roman world, such as the stories about Augustus. The truth, however, is that none of the pagan stories are about a virginal conception, a notion
that lends itself to the accusation of the child being illegitimate. The pagan stories are usually about some kind of act of hieros gamos — a divine being descends to earth in the guise of a man, mating with a human woman. But this is not at all what Matthew or Luke suggests
happened in the case of Mary, which is about miraculous conception without any form of intercourse and without the aid of any male figure, divine or otherwise. The Lukan account speaks of the Holy Spirit overshadowing Mary, which may suggest divine protection (cf. Luke 9:34), …. ‘
Rather than attempt to explain the contents to you (which I’d love to do, but am far from anywhere near being qualified enough to break such a huge loaf of bread ) So get the book and read it, then you will feel as good as I am feeling right now.
A friend of mine has also put together a rather interesting set of articles on his blog addressing the whole Mythological Jesus idea. ( Mythological Jesus )
I’m such a slow reader, but am slowly getting through Prof. Ben Witherington’s ‘ZEITGEIST OF THE ‘ZEITGEIST MOVIE’ and loved the following stanzas:
Finally, you will notice as well that Mr. Joseph has not bothered to consult any expert commentators on the Hebrew or Greek texts of the Bible. He simply cites the King James Version when he wants to talk about the Bible.
Of course Peter Joseph is that increasingly popular kind of writer and movie producer– the conspiracy theory specialist (think Dan Brown on steroids). His essential argument is that the truth about the mythological origins of all religions has been suppressed for oh so long. His argument is that all savior figures are anthropological projections, creating a religious myth. He also wants to see them all whether Mithra or Jesus or someone else as all fictional creations. He is especially angry about elitism– his view is that the myth of Judaism and Christianity was imposed on the world from the top down, and we are still suffering from this sort of elitist thinking. So, in his view Jesus did not exist and we have all been lied to about this matter.
So of course Peter Joseph is also regaling us with the theory that his theories have been suppressed, and his film black-listed. If you go on Youtube and look up comments on the Zeitgeist movie, including a radio interview with Joseph, and a brief comment by that true pundit, Keith Olbermann, you will see that not only is this movie about conspiracies, this movie is seen as the victim of a suppression ‘conspiracy’.
Never mind it is a bad movie based on shabby ‘research’ ( I use the term loosely) and actually no historical understanding about Jesus and the origins of Christianity. Never mind that Mr. Joseph can’t tell the difference between arguments about the myth of the Easter bunny and arguments about Jesus Christ. He’s got his knickers all in a knot because his ‘truth’ is being suppressed. It has not occurred to him that maybe, just maybe, thoughtful people who know far more than he does about this subject are very kindly letting his bad movie die a slow death, as it did not deserve worldwide attention and fame and fortune. The problem with syncretistic thinking like Joseph’s is that you put all sorts of disparate sources and information into your mental blender and blend them all together. Thus the Jesus myth and conspiracy is likened by him to the cover up of 911 conspiracy and so on. The sad part about this is that it is just emoting and anger masked as and pretending to be historical research and scientific evidence. The sad part he believes that he is the victim of the suppression of free speech.
From: Zeitgeist of the Zeitgeist Movie by Professor Ben Witherington
Though this is a little on the ancient side (hence my comical take on title “Zeitgeist” ) ‘New Testament Resurrection Theology Based on Ancient Egyptian Religion?’ ( 30 September 2009 ) ~ There is a linked article in p.d.f : RAISING OSIRIS IN 1 CORINTHIANS 15. Enjoy, Eric.
(perhaps a bit more in a day or so, time for tea.)
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Some additional reading/viewing etc.
1. Professor Ben Witherington’s review: Zeitgeist of the ‘Zeitgeist Movie’
2. A Future post: Zoot Ghosts
3. Why I Don’t Take Zeitgeist Supporters Seriously by labarum312 (watch videos 7 to 10)
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Peace, Eric.
