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Category Archives: Guest Blogs
“The Rationalization Hypothesis: Is a Vision of Jesus Necessary for the Rise of the Resurrection Belief?” — by Kris Komarnitsky
Although the bereavement vision hypothesis is widely regarded as a plausible naturalistic explanation for the rise of the belief that Jesus was raised from the dead, I have never quite found this hypothesis completely convincing. My article below draws on … Continue reading
Posted in Guest Blogs, Resurrection
21 Comments
David Bryan on N.T. Wright and the Argument from “Anachronistic Anastasis” by Eric Bess
[Below is a guest blog by my friend Eric Bess, which deals appropriately with a topic pertaining to Easter and how to interpret the nature of the resurrection event.] General Problems of Reasoning and Rhetoric One of the most common … Continue reading
“Follow the Money”: Guest Blog by Michael Alter on Faith-Based Education and Publishing
Below is a guest blog by Michael Alter, author of The Resurrection: A Critical Inquiry, which is a 912 page tome offering one of the most important contributions to challenging historical apologetics for the resurrection. During his research, Alter learned a … Continue reading
Guest Blog by Michael Kok: The Tradition about the Apostle and Evangelist John
Below is a guest blog by Michael Kok (Ph.D. in Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield) on the topic of his new book regarding the identity and reception of the “Beloved Disciple” in the Fourth Gospel, and how the text came to … Continue reading
Guest Blog by Tyler Huson: Jotham’s Fable or Aesop’s Fable? A Discussion of Textual Relations
I’ve been pretty busy teaching in the UC Irvine Humanities Core this academic quarter, and so I have been soliciting a number of guest blogs from friends and scholars, in order to keep up regular posting activity on Κέλσος. If you … Continue reading
Bayesian Analysis of Craig Keener, “Otho: A Targeted Comparison”
Recently I received feedback from ancient historian Richard Carrier about my previous review of Craig Keener’s article–“Otho: A Targeted Comparison of Suetonius’ Biography and Tacitus’ History, with Implications for the Gospels’ Historical Reliability”–which is chapter 6 of Biographies and Jesus: What Does … Continue reading
Posted in Ancient Biography, Ancient Novel, Apologists, Classics, Guest Blogs, Historical Jesus, History, Philosophy, Reviews
Tagged Bayes' Theorem, Craig Keener, Richard Carrier
3 Comments
Mary Magdalene and Judas Iscariot Never Existed: The Author of the Gospel of Mark Created Them (Guest Blog by New Testament Scholar Dennis MacDonald)
Below is a guest blog that NT scholar Dennis MacDonald asked me to post here on Κέλσος. MacDonald argues that both Mary Magdalene and Judas Iscariot are fictional characters that never historically existed, but were created by the author of … Continue reading
Posted in Guest Blogs
Tagged Allegorical Characters, Dennis MacDonald, Gospel of Mark, Homer, Judas Iscariot, Mary Magdalene, Mimesis Criticism
20 Comments
Ed Babinski Reviews Craig Keener, “Miracles,” on his Claims about Johann Blumhardt and David Strauss
Fellow blogger and author of Leaving the Fold: Testimonies of Former Fundamentalists, Ed Babinski, on Scrivenings has also written a critical review of some of the material in Craig Keener’s Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts. In particular, Babinski has written about some … Continue reading
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[…] very good paper on how cults, aka religions, can invent nonsense and end up believing it to be true.“The…