Religion and Ethics Forum

Religion and Ethics Discussion => Christian Topic => Topic started by: Dicky Underpants on January 18, 2023, 02:55:18 PM

Title: James, the Brother of Jesus
Post by: Dicky Underpants on January 18, 2023, 02:55:18 PM
Two volume work by Robert Eisenman.
Has anyone read this? I've just received volume 1 via eBay, but not started reading it yet. I had a look on the Internet for a few details about Eisenman's arguments, and it seems that some go well against the grain of scholarly opinion (even scholars without Christian belief). He apparently dates some of the most significant Dead Sea Scrolls as very late (1st Century), and tends towards the idea of a totally mythical Jesus. The book looks heavy going, and I'm not sure I want to invest too much time and effort in it!
Title: Re: James, the Brother of Jesus
Post by: jeremyp on January 19, 2023, 10:39:27 AM
I tend to use Jesus mythicism as a bit of a litmus test as to how much people know about the historical method. The majority of mythicists aren't mythicists because they've weighed the evidence and come to a conclusion based on it, but because it trolls Christians.

That said, I am not familiar with Eisenman's arguments, and I've not come across his ideas before.