The Truth about Jesus : Is He a Myth?Mangasarian, M. M. (Mangasar Mugurditch)
Religion
The Truth about Jesus : Is He a Myth?
Mangasarian, M. M. (Mangasar Mugurditch)
Jesus Christ -- Historicity; Rationalism
Rev. Shayler concludes: "Haven't time to go deeper now," and he
intimates that to deny his 'facts' is either to be a fool or a "liar."
We will not comment on this. We are interested in arguments, not in
epithets.
VIII
One of our Sunday programs, the other day, found its way into a
church. It went farther; it made its appearance in the pulpit.
"In my hand I hold the notice of a publication bearing the title _Is
Jesus a Myth?"_ said Dr. Boyle. "This, too, just as though Paul never
bore testimony."
This gave the clergyman a splendid opportunity to present in clear and
convincing form the evidence for the reality of Jesus. But one thing
prevented him:--the lack of evidence.
Therefore, after announcing the subject, he dismissed it, by remarking
that Paul's testimony was enough.
The Rev. Morton Culver Hartzell, in a letter, offers the same
argument. "Let Mr. Mangasarian first disprove Paul," he writes. The
argument in a nutshell is this: Jesus is historical because he is
guaranteed by Paul.
But _who_ guarantees Paul?
Aside from the fact that the Jesus of Paul is essentially a different
Jesus from the gospel Jesus there still remains the question, Who is
Paul? Let us see how much the church scholars themselves know about
Paul:
"The place and manner and occasion of his death are not _less
uncertain_ than the facts of his later life...The chronology of
the rest of his life is as uncertain...We have no means of knowing
when he was born, or how long he lived, or at what dates the several
events of his life took place."
Referring to the epistles of Paul, the same authority says: "The chief
of these preliminary questions is the genuineness of the epistles
bearing Paul's name, which _if they be his_"--yes, IF--
The Christian scholar whose article on Paul is printed in the
_Britannica_, and from which we are now quoting, gives further
expression to this uncertainty by adding that certain of Paul's
epistles "have given rise to disputes which cannot easily be settled
in the absence of collateral evidence...The pastoral epistles...have
given rise to still graver questions, and are probably even _less_
defensible."
Let the reader remember that the above is not from a rationalist, but
from the Rev. Edwin Hatch, D. D., Vice-Principal, St. Mary Hall,
Oxford, England.
Were we disposed to quote rationalist authorities, the argument
against Paul would be far more decisive. But we are satisfied to rest
the case on orthodox admissions alone.
The strongest argument then of clergymen who have attempted an answer
to our position is something like this:
Jesus is historical because a man by the name of Paul says so, though
we do not know much about Paul.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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