Good interview. I hadn't heard of this guy before.
Funny though; one of those I mention in my book - one of the theists who made me sware never to contact him again - looks EXACTLY like that guy!
When I clicked on the link, I thought I had made a mistake! And as it turns out, the same guy asked my parents how I was doing the other day! Weird world!
Something you said in the interview really rang true for me. You said "I don’t think most skeptics understand Christianity enough to be able to deal effectively with believers." I find that, as a former Christian and current agnostic, a lot of authors I have read do not have an understanding of Christianity, especially fundamentalist Christianity, from the inside and that comes through in their writing.
I can't remember at the moment if you had a fundamentalist background, but I know from what I read here that you definitely were a true believer and that you really do know what it is like coming out of the firmly entrenched belief system of Christianity.
Your book coming out in July will be the first of yours that I have read and for the reasons stated above, I look forward to it immensely.
As an aside, I would like your opinion on something. I'm seeing a lot written around the net about Jesus really being the Roman sun god Mithras. Frankly, I do not have the theological background to be able to be able to sift through all of the information and make an informed decision as to whether this is true or not. I would like your opinion on this matter, as well as the opinions of any of the authors of this blog. All of your input would be greatly appreciated. Also, if there is any literature you could point me to that would help me discern the truth from the fiction about this I'd really appreciate it.
AR, I think Jesus was a failed apocalyptic prophet who lived in the past. Others will have to tell you what they've concluded and the resources that lead them to their conclusions, but I personally don't get into such debates.
Not sure if you're familiar with , but her work is almost exclusively focused upon mythology and its influence upon christianity. Apologists like Holding abhor her, which makes me think she's onto something.
From what I've read, the short answer to your question is "no". However, there is much more to the study of Christianity from the mythical perspective. There are two good resources on this on the net that I'm aware of:
7 comments:
Good interview. I hadn't heard of this guy before.
Funny though; one of those I mention in my book - one of the theists who made me sware never to contact him again - looks EXACTLY like that guy!
When I clicked on the link, I thought I had made a mistake! And as it turns out, the same guy asked my parents how I was doing the other day! Weird world!
(JH)
Something you said in the interview really rang true for me. You said "I don’t think most skeptics understand Christianity enough to be able to deal effectively with believers." I find that, as a former Christian and current agnostic, a lot of authors I have read do not have an understanding of Christianity, especially fundamentalist Christianity, from the inside and that comes through in their writing.
I can't remember at the moment if you had a fundamentalist background, but I know from what I read here that you definitely were a true believer and that you really do know what it is like coming out of the firmly entrenched belief system of Christianity.
Your book coming out in July will be the first of yours that I have read and for the reasons stated above, I look forward to it immensely.
As an aside, I would like your opinion on something. I'm seeing a lot written around the net about Jesus really being the Roman sun god Mithras. Frankly, I do not have the theological background to be able to be able to sift through all of the information and make an informed decision as to whether this is true or not. I would like your opinion on this matter, as well as the opinions of any of the authors of this blog. All of your input would be greatly appreciated. Also, if there is any literature you could point me to that would help me discern the truth from the fiction about this I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks so much and great interview!!
AR, I think Jesus was a failed apocalyptic prophet who lived in the past. Others will have to tell you what they've concluded and the resources that lead them to their conclusions, but I personally don't get into such debates.
AR,
Not sure if you're familiar with , but her work is almost exclusively focused upon mythology and its influence upon christianity. Apologists like Holding abhor her, which makes me think she's onto something.
Another great interview, and on one of my other most read sites. Good stuff!
Thank you Brian E !
AR,
From what I've read, the short answer to your question is "no". However, there is much more to the study of Christianity from the mythical perspective. There are two good resources on this on the net that I'm aware of:
The Jesus Puzzle - Earl Dougherty
The Jesus Mythicist Position: Revised 2008 - Rook Hawkins
The second link is on the RRS site, but don't let that get in your way as the tone is very respectful and intelligent.
Post a Comment