Jesus and the Problem of the Fraudulent Reference Class
Several students and patrons have lately asked me a similar question. Apparently the new fad is for Christians to go around insisting Jesus is so historically unique that he cannot be subsumed under any other reference class by which to estimate any prior odds on any...The GCRR eConference on the Historical Jesus: A Retrospective
Last weekend the Global Center for Religious Research hosted a plethora of live online talks from various scholars and enthusiasts on the subject of the historical Jesus (myself included), mostly from the position of doubt. They ranged from the crank to the superb,...Mark Goodacre on the Historicity of Jesus’s Execution
In the chapter “Prophecy Historicized or Tradition Scripturalized? Reflections on the Origin of the Passion Narratives” in New Testament and the Church (T&T Clark 2015), Mark Goodacre examines the question still debated in mainstream New Testament...Ehrman on Historicity Recap
This is a summary of the current state of the debate after the mini blog war between myself and Bart Ehrman over his latest book, Did Jesus Exist?, which attempted to argue against various scholars (both legitimate and crank) who have concluded, or at least suspect,...Postgame on My Pastor Damon Richardson Debate
Yesterday I debated Pastor Damon Richardson, “the Urban Apologist,” on the Dagger Squad Show (18 June 2021). The topic: “Did Jesus Exist?” You can still purchase access to view the archived video of it by emailing a request to the host Brother...Was Jesus-Is-Michael an Early Christian Mystery Teaching?
I’ve discussed the fact before that the first Christians believed Jesus was secretly an angel who came down from heaven in the guise of a man (a conclusion with which even Bart Ehrman now concurs). Even if Jesus was a historical person they believed this (a key...Come See Me & Others Speak at the 2021 International eConference on the Historical Jesus!
The Global Center for Religious Research (GCRR) is hosting the 2021 International eConference on the Historical Jesus next month, July 24–25. I will be among the presenters. Registration is super affordable, only $15. Which is even discounted for GCRR members (a...A Few More Attempts to Rescue Jesus
A while ago I composed Historicity Big and Small: How Historians Try to Rescue Jesus, summarizing and categorizing the main arguments pushed in a kind of phylogeny. Here I will expand on that by adding a few more arguments, within the same scheme I constructed there....Crucifixion Quake! An Unusual Movie about an Unusual Passion
Years ago I sat for a day of interviews for a film by Marco Bazzi about a geologist obsessed with the alleged earthquake at the time of Christ’s death. The resulting movie is now available (you can find it in most of the usual places, including Amazon Prime or...Blom on the Testimonium Taciteum
Years ago as part of my postdoc research for On the Historicity of Jesus I published a peer reviewed article in Vigiliae Christianae presenting the case (advanced under peer review by a few other scholars before me) that the single line about “Christ” in...Jesus from Outer Space! The Price Review
My new book is available in kindle and print (audio is still in production but should arrive before 2022): Jesus from Outer Space: What the Earliest Christians Really Believed about Christ. Copies have already gone out to reviewers, and one is already scheduled to...Piñero Returns
Para una edición en español del siguiente artículo, consulte El regreso de Piñero. -:- Last month I found serious faults in Antonio Piñero’s mistreatment of my book On the Historicity of Jesus and its thesis, including his lack of basic knowledge in subjects...Antonio Piñero: Raving Historicist
Para una edición en español del siguiente artículo, consulte Antonio Piñero: El historicista vehemente at Mitos o Historia. -:- Antonio Piñero is sort of the Bart Ehrman of the Spanish-speaking world. He has made a public spectacle of attacking Jesus mythicism and...Join My Online Course on How Best to Question (or Defend!) a Historical Jesus
I’ve now added “The Historicity of Jesus” to my monthly class roster. You can register now and join us starting the 1st of next month or any subsequent month. Register anytime ahead of the month you want—for this or any of several other courses I’m...99 Problems & the Truth Ain’t One: Q&A on the Inspiring Philosophy / Godless Engineer Historicity-of-Jesus Debate (Part II)
For the gist of this two-part series see the intro of Part I. That part covered the first of two videos spanning the 2018 debate between YouTubers Godless Engineer and Michael Jones. Here I dive into the second of those (you can watch them online: Part 1 and Part 2)....Get Dr. Carrier’s Latest!
About the Author
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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