tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post114823692367743039..comments2023-10-29T06:41:23.910-07:00Comments on Halfway There: Getting on God's caseZenohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058127284297728552noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-35559987578376332332008-02-24T22:47:00.000-08:002008-02-24T22:47:00.000-08:00strobel's first two books did more to convince me ...strobel's first two books did more to convince me to abandon christianity for good than any other author. thank you for this brief summation of just how he did it. it's good to know i'm not the only one who thinks this way.<BR/><BR/>-lemurAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-65241710995022051752007-03-27T09:30:00.000-07:002007-03-27T09:30:00.000-07:00"Richard Bauckham, in Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, ..."Richard Bauckham, in Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, has a detailed chapter on Papias in which he argues that Papias was in contact with disciples of two still living disciples of Jesus."<BR/><BR/>The trouble is some of the mistakes in the Gospels are tells that legendary content has gotten in them. Even if we conclude that the Gospels came in large part from the disciples' testimony, it would not follow that they were correct, or even accurate.J. J. Ramseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00763792476799485687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-37909841299494609582007-03-27T05:34:00.000-07:002007-03-27T05:34:00.000-07:00I'm coming here from Jason Rosenhouse's blog. Rat...I'm coming here from Jason Rosenhouse's blog. Rather late in the day.<BR/><BR/>The line you quote from Helms<BR/>"Eusebius reports that in the fragments of the writings of Papias, the second-century Bishop of Hierapolis, this figure remarked that he was always interested in what any Christian visitor to his city might tell him about the old days of the first-century church" is misleading in two important ways.<BR/><BR/>First, Eusebius doesn't report anything about "the fragments of the writings of Papias." Eusebius clearly has *read* Papias's *books*, not "fragments" of those books. The "fragments" are simply the quotations from Papias that exist in Eusebius and other places -- they are the fragments that are that *we* now have of Papias's writings.<BR/><BR/>Second, more importantly, to contrast a "first century church" with a "second century" collector of lore can make it look as if 100 years separate them. But consider this parallel: a twenty-first century author, writing, say, in 2025, reporting on the twentieth century presidency of Ronald Reagan could easily be writing from memory, or relying on the testimony of eyewitnesses. (I will be 67 in 2025, and I will certainly remember Reagan's presidency.) Papias wrote around 125, and the Gospels were written in the last third of the first century, so the parallel with Papias's potential sources concerning the composition of the Gospels is pretty much exact.<BR/><BR/>Richard Bauckham, in Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, has a detailed chapter on Papias in which he argues that Papias was in contact with disciples of two still living disciples of Jesus. I wonder what you think of that chapter (or that book)?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-1150303406359984752006-06-14T09:43:00.000-07:002006-06-14T09:43:00.000-07:00Re: Case for a Creator. It's based 100% on Intell...Re: Case for a Creator. It's based 100% on Intelligent Design, and, like the IDiots, he's careful not to alienate either one of YECs or OECs. The Wells chapter does a lot of evolution-bashing, but there is a lot of stuff in the book that accepts the big bang (and the associated age of the universe) at face value. Though, in other books, I've heard that he also takes at face value the ideas of some YECs. Basically what this means is that he doesn't really say what he is, but he's willing to use either position as it suits him to write a book and make gobs of cash.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-1148244348892379672006-05-21T13:45:00.000-07:002006-05-21T13:45:00.000-07:00Zeno, I am a Christian and I want to commend you o...Zeno, I am a Christian and I want to commend you on your analysis. <BR/><BR/>Right or wrong, I attribute some of your thoughtfulness to your mathematical background. This is the same thing I stress to my students: you probably will not get a job doing trig functions or derivatives, but the thought processes involved in doing this level of math is what will be expected of you in a serious technical career. We are taught to justify, look for exceptions, follow through, and come to clear conclusions.<BR/><BR/>I see that thought process in your analysis.Critical Thinkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14182129510271339905noreply@blogger.com