A. We have no firsthand testimony from anyone who knew Jesus or wrote anything about him during his life time. (All the Gospels are late and anonymous). No person living in Roman Palestine neither saw, knew of, nor heard of either Jesus or his followers.
I know hard copies of books are on their way out. I also know that percentage-wise not that many people are reading books. With almost anything you want to know can be found online, will even ebooks be on their way out? Will we soon turn into an online society of people who simply read Facebook, blogs and online sites for our information? I fear this might be happening gradually. And with the public not reading books that much to begin with, it seems less of them will be doing so in the future. I wonder what this will do for authors and publishers? It'll be interesting. Publishers exist to make money. With fewer readers there will be fewer books published. There are good things about this since anyone can participate. But how do we know what information to trust without the editors who were known as the gatekeepers in the past. Thoughts?
“When Bart Ehrman was a young Evangelical Christian, he wanted to know how God became a man, but now, as an agnostic and historian of early Christianity, he wants to know how a man became God.
When and why did Jesus' followers start saying "Jesus as God" and what did they mean by that? His new book is called
How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee. "In this book I actually do not take a stand on either the question of whether Jesus was God, or whether he was actually raised from the dead," Ehrman tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "I leave open both questions because those are theological questions based on religious beliefs and I'm writing the book as a historian.’” (From
NPR's Fresh Air)
You can either listen to or read the entire interview
HERE
Faith is a side show of Christianity; it’s a cheap no cost entry level into a religion that promises miracles for true believers, but only if they are totally obedient to true doctrine founded on the absolute truth from the Word of God.
Serendipity is a word for a "fortuitous happening" or a "pleasant unexpected surprise." A couple of days ago I was asked which Rock bands I liked when I was a teenager. I mentioned a few albums and a few of my favorite songs. One of them was Aerosmith's song, "Dream On." I have it on a CD and thought about playing it afterward but didn't do so. Then out of the blue I heard it on the radio from the very beginning of the song. It caused even me to wonder whether there was some sort of supernatural force out there. Since I knew the odds, I rejected such a notion, but not before feeling the power of a serendipity. If I was a believer it would be very hard to overcome this feeling by thinking rationally about it. No wonder so many people believe. They do not think scientifically or exclusively based on the probabilities. Hint: I had mentioned several albums and top chart songs. I listen to an oldies radio station quite a lot. Bingo! Here is a live version of that song:
Christians police your own ranks!
“I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.” ~Susan B. Anthony
“No man is good enough to govern any woman without her consent.” ~Susan B. Anthony
Bart Ehrman's book,
How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee, just arrived in the mail. I'll be reviewing it soon.
Church and Sunday school are nothing more than weekly one - two hour
info commercials where people are mentally hyped up by motivational speakers ("Preachers") who usually make a good living convincing folks to accept an unproven theory (the product) known as
Theology which is totally unregulated by the
Department of Consumer Affairs.
I was told he was a former Mormon apologist and maker of Mormon apologist videos. So I clicked on his name and found he has reviewed 
After watching this movie I'm glad I did. [Below is a re-dated post from October 23rd].
As I was doing so I was very impressed with it. I know this sounds egotistical but that's exactly what I thought. Maybe I shouldn't say what I think, right? If you're considering whether to get and read it, let me tell a few things to help you decide. I'll tell you about its strengths and weaknesses. Ready. Set. Go.
In a great review of it posted at Skeptic Ink Network, we read:
In an online commentary of the book, John Martin of the Montreal-based Center for Research and Globalization, points this fact out: