As several requested, I’ve changed the date of my upcoming pubmeet in Laguna Beach, California, to Thursday, March 15th. It’s still to be at Hennessey’s Tavern on 213 Ocean Ave. (Laguna Beach, CA) from 7-9pm. See you there!
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Richard Carrier is the author of many books and numerous articles online and in print. His avid readers span the world from Hong Kong to Poland. With a Ph.D. in ancient history from Columbia University, he specializes in the modern philosophy of naturalism and humanism, and the origins of Christianity and the intellectual history of Greece and Rome, with particular expertise in ancient philosophy, science and technology. He is also a noted defender of scientific and moral realism, Bayesian reasoning, and historical methods.
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Hi. In your book “proving history..” you recommend Douglas Hunter Political and Military Applications of Bayesian Analysis for learning about about how apply this to history. But the problem is, this book doesn’t really exist since it’s not being printed anymore.
Any alternative?
Greets and thx
It’s permanently available for free: e.g. here.
Did Paul view the crucifixion of Jesus occuring before the creation of the world?
I doubt it. He speaks as though it was a later-age event, overthrowing Satan’s thrall only recently. The cosmic symmetry of it requires it to have just happened to overthrow Satan’s long reign. Similarly, Paul says Jesus was the firstfruits of the general resurrection, meaning he regarded Jesus’ sacrifice as beginning the imminent end of the world. He cannot have said that of an event that predated even Creation.
The crucifixion must occur before creation.
Paul viewed Jesus as a demiurge that created the world on God’s behalf.
Jesus only obtained that power after he died and was adopted by God.
Where does Paul say Jesus only acquired that specific power after he died? You seem to be confused. The Philippians creed says Jesus gave up that power to effect the atonement sacrifice, and then God exalted him back to his previous, and indeed higher, status, in result. This is also clear in 1 Cor. 15, where Jesus is granted greater powers than previously for his sacrifice, which powers now permitted him to defeat the Devil, which power he had not had previously, explaining the evils of all human history. By contrast, Paul says Jesus’s resurrection is now “the firstfruits” of the end-times resurrection, which cannot mean he was resurrected thousands of years ago. It can only mean he was resurrected recently, and that in fact that being the case was proof the end was nigh.
When did the adoption by God occur?
After the resurrection. Which adoption established Jesus in even higher status than he held before. Hence he became God’s heir (not merely his agent), and thus “the firstborn of many brethren.”