# "Christ Myth"--the most annoying apologetic endeavor



## steven-nemes (Feb 24, 2009)

...is trying to convince people that the idea that Jesus never existed is nonsense. You will only run into the most absurdly (yet also inconsistently!!) skeptical people who will reply with "what ifs" that go beyond the normal level of skepticism a rational person might have into a whole other realm of pure imbecility. I was confronted today with the possibility that the four writers of the gospels might have come together, purposefully wrote differing accounts of the same story, got together with this other guy Paul, suffered cruel persecution and embarrassing deaths--_all to have their names go down in history_. 



God forgive me that after about an hour and a half or so, I started to lose my patience and responded somewhat aggressively. 

This is only one example of the wickedness and evil in a man's heart! That he is willing to accept the most absurd conclusions rather than the truth of Christ's life! Because he tells them that they can't live life how they want to...

Are there any good, semi-advanced resources on the historicity of Christ? Are there any conversations you've had with Christ-mythicists? Any public debates or mp3 debates on the topic?


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## panta dokimazete (Feb 24, 2009)

Look up William Lane Craig on Youtube.

here you go: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=william+lane+craig+Jesus&aq=f


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## Zenas (Feb 24, 2009)

10 wise men cannot answer the question of a fool.


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## steven-nemes (Feb 24, 2009)

Zenas said:


> 10 wise men cannot answer the question of a fool.



But surely I've got a responsibility to try my best to convince the fool otherwise, wouldn't I?


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## Hippo (Feb 24, 2009)

There are lots of false religions that were based on their founders imagination, often in the face of persecution. Joseph Smith died for his new faith (although i do not think that this was part of his plan). People make up religions and create myths, that is a historic fact. 

We have to differentiate Christianity from these false religions and in my mind the willingness of Christianity to accept the Jewish revelation without any ammendment is a very powerful apologetic argument. 

Christianity has an internal logic that the false religions do not.


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## steven-nemes (Feb 24, 2009)

In what way is the Christian willingness to accept Jewish teachings in any way special?


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## MrMerlin777 (Feb 24, 2009)

steven-nemes said:


> Zenas said:
> 
> 
> > 10 wise men cannot answer the question of a fool.
> ...




Mental pigmys like the one you discribe cannot be reasoned with. Best to just walk on and pray for the person later that God will grant them regeneration and repentance.


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## Hippo (Feb 24, 2009)

steven-nemes said:


> In what way is the Christian willingness to accept Jewish teachings in any way special?



Islam and Mormons rewrite the Old Testament, Christians do not. How can these sects claim to be a continuation of a revelation they do not comport with?


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## steven-nemes (Feb 24, 2009)

Hippo said:


> steven-nemes said:
> 
> 
> > In what way is the Christian willingness to accept Jewish teachings in any way special?
> ...



Okay, but how does that give reason to believe that the story of the gospels aren't made up?


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## Neogillist (Feb 24, 2009)

I actually had a friend last year, who being once reformed, basically rejected Christianity and embraced the Christ-myth hypothesis, after reading much higher criticism (i.e. Barth Herman, and Robert Brice).

I went to look it up on wikipedia, and indeed, the thing does exist and a few scholars have either embraced it or commented about it, but the main point is that it bears very little credibility among today's Bible scholars, even the most liberal ones. So, my conclusion was that my friend had really become irrational, and I gave up trying to bring him back.

If you occasionally come across some websites by atheists, the Christ-myth is actually quite prevalent among them. Some of them idiots have even claimed that the fact that the Q-source has not been found up to date is evidence that all the four gospels are not based on any historical foundation, but are pure mythology. 

Even liberal scholars won't listen to these lunatics.


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