Christian apologist Ben Witherington recently published a blog attempting to refute Earl Doherty's book, The Jesus Puzzle, which presents his mythicist case about Jesus. Witherington's assessment of Doherty's case is typical of Christian reaction to the mythicist position in that it contains ample dosage of misinformation and unnecessary innuendo.
The Quixotic Infidel has posted his own examination of Witherington's reaction to Doherty in his blog entry titled wutherin' depths. In it, Quixie exposes the annoying nonchalance with which apologists are prone to take for granted points that are in fact racked with controversy as if they were undisputably favorable to the Christian literalist position. It's a refreshing read, and I recommend it to my readers.
The Quixotic Infidel has posted his own examination of Witherington's reaction to Doherty in his blog entry titled wutherin' depths. In it, Quixie exposes the annoying nonchalance with which apologists are prone to take for granted points that are in fact racked with controversy as if they were undisputably favorable to the Christian literalist position. It's a refreshing read, and I recommend it to my readers.
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I once got the following answer from a Christian girl, surprised and exasperated for my daring to question her Jesus' literal existence: "I don't care whether Jesus existed or not, all I know is that He is always by my side, and no one can be happy without His love"
And I was left there, standing, not knowing if I should laugh, cry, or both at the same time.
I found Earl Doherty's "The Jesus Puzzle" to be a fine read, well worth the price, and the perfect gift for my Christian friends. Doherty's other book "Challenging the Verdict" is a comprehensive rebuttal to Strobel's "Case for Christ". Following is my Amazon.com review.
Earl Doherty's "Challenging The Verdict" is fun, exciting, dynamic, relevant, and very useful. The book is simply a delightful excursion to reality. With reason and rationality as our tour guides, our brief journey charts a course that destroys Lee Strobel's "The Case For Christ". Doherty shows why and how Strobel and the "scholars" he interviews employ all the usual suspect logical errors and argumentative flaws so successfully utilized throughout the long sanguinary history of Christian mind control. The effectiveness Doherty marshals against the ancient Asian superstition ranges from total destruction to the casting of sufficient reasonable doubt. Either way, Strobel's and his cabal of "scholars'" case for the god-man is shown to fail the parsimony test and argument to the best explanation test; thus the thinkers old friend, Ockham's razor, cuts away the spurious arguments Strobel presented in his book. "Challenging the Verdict" is a truly a treat for the mind. Doherty's little book is of great use in helping to rid the world of obnoxious and absurd christianism. Buy it along with Doherty's other work "The Jesus Puzzle".
A good essay to clear up confusion regarding the primacy of existence principle.
http://home.sprynet.com/~owl1/rand2.htm
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