I Highly Recommend the New Book, Doubting the Resurrection
It is rare that I recommend a new book twice to my readers, but the recommendations for Kris D. Komarnitsky's book keep coming in: Doubting Jesus' Resurrection: What Happened in the Black Box? In it he lays out a probable naturalistic hypothesis of Christian origins. Here's what some scholars are saying about his book:
“If you liked my book Beyond Born Again, you're going to love this one by Kris Komarnitsky! He shows great acuity of judgment and clear-eyed perception of the issues. He does not claim to have proof of what happened at Christian origins, but he does present a powerfully plausible hypothesis for what might have happened, which is all you need to refute the fundamentalist’s claim that things can only have gone down their way. By now it is a mantra – it is also nonsense, and Kris shows that for a fact.”
–– Robert M. Price, Ph.D. Theology, Ph.D. New Testament
“A surprisingly excellent demonstration of how belief in the resurrection of Jesus could plausibly have originated by natural means. Komarnitsky is well read in the leading scholarship on this issue and boils the debate down to bare essentials in plain language. He quotes and cites dozens of scholars and primary sources to build a solid case. Though I don't always agree with him, and some issues could be discussed at greater length, everything he argues is plausible, and his treatise as a whole is a must for anyone interested in the resurrection.”
–– Richard Carrier, Ph.D. Ancient History
“Komarnitsky is addressing an important topic in a considered and rational way. This book offers the open-minded reader an opportunity to work through some of the key questions surrounding the Easter mystery that lies at the heart of Christian faith.”
–– Gregory C. Jenks, Ph.D. FaithFutures Foundation
“Clearly written and well argued, Doubting Jesus’ Resurrection lays out a plausible and intriguing case for a non-supernatural explanation of the New Testament resurrection accounts. Don’t be put off by the fact that Komarnitsky is not a scholar – his book makes a solid contribution to the historical-critical understanding of these immensely important texts. This book deserves serious attention from scholars and all those interested in Christian Origins.”
–– Robert J. Miller, Professor of Religious Studies, Juniata College.
"In Komarnitsky's third chapter he ventures onto my home turf--psychology--and his treatment of the the subject is impressive. I found the chapter opening a bit hard to follow, but persistence paid off in spades.
Komarnitsky pulls together the work of historians and psychologists and tells story after story of apocalyptic cults that find ways to sustain their beliefs despite radical disappointments (a messianic figure betrays trust, an end-of-the-world date comes and goes, aliens fail to appear). Social psychologist Leon Festinger's work on cognitive dissonance provides a theoretical framework for understanding an otherwise incomprehensible phenomenon. For anyone who is interested in how apocalyptic beliefs are sustained, whether in a Christian context or not, I recommend this thorough, well-documented overview.
Although the Christian resurrection story is shrouded in mythos, making it hard to know what actually happened in history, modern examples and cognitive dissonance theory offer a compelling possible scenario. Without resorting to any form of supernaturalism, drawing just on what we know about human behavior, Komarnitsky offers a sufficient explanation for the resurrection story at the heart of Christian orthodoxy."
-- Valerie Tarico, Ph.D., Author: The Dark Side - How Evangelical Teachings Corrupt Love and Truth
5 comments:
Has anyone come up with a good analogy for the evidence of Jesus' resurrection, set in modern-ish times?
For instance, "Imagine that we had four reports from some out of the way place in Africa, that forty years ago, someone had turned milk into marble, would we take it seriously?" something like that.
On the flip side, I would recommend "Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?: The Resurrection Debate" It chronicles the debate between Gary Habermas (theist) and Antony G. N. Flew (atheist).
«"For instance, "Imagine that we had four reports from some out of the way place in Africa, that forty years ago, someone had turned milk into marble, would we take it seriously?" something like that."»
Well, there is the claim from about 180 years ago that some guy received some golden plates with a revelation from an angel which were translated by means of magical stones. These plates mysteriously disappeared shortly thereafter, and no one other than the supposed finder ever saw them.
You can find youtube clips of Criss Angel walking on water, floating in the air, and doing other (*ahem*) miracles, although he does not seem interested in having religious followers.
And getting back to religious leaders -- Sathya Sai Baba is said to perform materialization miracles! Wow! Although...
"Sathya Sai Baba further said about the Narasimhaiah committee [to investigate whether Sai Baba was using prestidigitation], "Science must confine its inquiry only to things belonging to the human senses, while spiritualism transcends the senses. If you want to understand the nature of spiritual power you can do so only through the path of spirituality and not science. What science has been able to unravel is merely a fraction of the cosmic phenomena [...]
Of course! Science cannot investigate such cosmic phenomena as materializing statues! Away with your high-speed video cameras! Shoo! Shoo, I say!
<*snort*>
i've just had this book delivered from the US as you can't get it on amazon.co.uk, and i'm quite excited about reading it over the summer. am reading 'evolution of god' by robert wright, which is porving an excellent read - thanks john for recommending it.
Didn't Price and Carrier say "The Jesus Puzzle" was a great contribution to the scholarly work?
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