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Author Topic:   Mythology and Belief of Anti-Theism
PaulK
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Posts: 17828
Joined: 01-10-2003
Member Rating: 2.5


Message 3 of 165 (616465)
05-22-2011 3:36 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Jon
05-19-2011 6:39 PM


Re: The Unreasonable Reasoning of the Anti-Religious
I think that you are going over the top here.
The first point you object to is pretty vague - it's not clear that it is even questioning the crucifixion or simply pointing to how events were interpreted by early Christians. If the latter is true then it is your objection that is poor, since it completely ignores that point.
The Jesus Myth hypothesis is,in my view likely wrong, but that isn't because there is strong evidence for a historical Jesus. Rather, I consider the existence of a historical Jesus to be the best explanation of the limited evidence that we do have. The Jesus Myth hypothesis is a fringe idea, but not one that can be conclusively disproven. (That said there are some versions that are downright silly).
And while there are eares where I think that the Jesus Myth hypothesis is too widely accepted, I do think that you have to be careful choosing examples. If I were to try to use Buzsaw or Dawn Bertot as examples of typical Theists that would be VERY unfair on Theism. Concentrating on a few individuals is NOT a good way of making your point. There will always be the suspicion that you are cherry-picking.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by Jon, posted 05-19-2011 6:39 PM Jon has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 6 by Jon, posted 05-22-2011 5:10 PM PaulK has replied

  
PaulK
Member
Posts: 17828
Joined: 01-10-2003
Member Rating: 2.5


Message 8 of 165 (616476)
05-22-2011 5:45 PM
Reply to: Message 6 by Jon
05-22-2011 5:10 PM


Re: The Unreasonable Reasoning of the Anti-Religious
quote:
Well, I'm not talking about 'typical' atheists. I am specifically saying, let's examine the atheist counterparts of folk like Buz and Dawn.
Jon, I read the OP. That is certainly NOT clear.
I also note that you don't deal with the point that your criticisms seem to be somewhat exaggerated.

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 Message 6 by Jon, posted 05-22-2011 5:10 PM Jon has not replied

  
PaulK
Member
Posts: 17828
Joined: 01-10-2003
Member Rating: 2.5


Message 44 of 165 (616608)
05-23-2011 2:34 PM
Reply to: Message 39 by Jon
05-23-2011 1:44 PM


Re: The Topic
Interestingly it turns out that there have been serious suggestions that Yahweh was originally a volcano god. I haven't done the research to see how good the evidence is, but I think you are being a bit too quick to dismiss it as simply ridiculous.
And again, I think that I need to remind you that the OP as written was not about singling out a few cranks, it was supposedly about views that are more or less mainstream amongst "anti-theists". And arguing that a large majority of people who reject a historical Jesus are anti-theists does not show that. (If you can't see the logic, then think of Harold Camping's recent Rapture prediction - all, or virtually all - of the people who believed it would be Christians, yet could you say that more than a tiny proportion of Christians actually believed it ?)

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 Message 39 by Jon, posted 05-23-2011 1:44 PM Jon has seen this message but not replied

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 Message 57 by Modulous, posted 05-23-2011 7:53 PM PaulK has replied

  
PaulK
Member
Posts: 17828
Joined: 01-10-2003
Member Rating: 2.5


Message 74 of 165 (616694)
05-24-2011 1:35 AM
Reply to: Message 57 by Modulous
05-23-2011 7:53 PM


Re: The Topic
Yes, I suspect that the idea is probably wrong, but it may well be another fringe idea rather than simply silly nonsense, as Jon would appear to suggest (somewhat hypocritically). And it is only the specific identification as a volcano god that is really in question. Yahweh seems to have started as a typical Canaanite god, and I believe that he is more commonly identified as a storm god, which might also fit the descriptions.

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