Oh my Goodness no I'm not. This is the strangest thing you've said so far. An appeal to authority (an incorrect one) is when you simply say: The authority says so, I believe so.

I've given plenty of reason why I believe the authority on one account, and am in the minority in another. Plenty.

quote:
Neither of us are historians, but with basic logic and understanding of how deductions and consensuses are formed, we can feel confident in something that virtually all qualified historians agree on.

Neither of us are shoemakers, yet both of us know whether or not our shoes fit. Such is the same with common men about controversial issues.

quote:
I'll gladly read the transcript or watch the debate but even in what you quoted I can detect the petty contrarian antireligious attitude. You ignore this, and cling to this one fringe opposition movement, and ignore the overwhelming consensus. Confirmation bias.

The transcript is a good starting point as to why the shift has changed considerably. And if you look in any other thread I don't bash Christians at all. I just don't think Jesus was anywhere near historical as historians (New Testament) make him out to be. Almost nothing is universal except his crucifixion and baptism. The rest is muddled.

And I've given adequate reason on why not to believe the New Testament. (Anonymous authorship, interpolation.) And why not to believe the references to Jesus by Tacitus (never actually mentioned Jesus specifically, but Christus in which Christians hailed), Josephus (major interpolations made by Christians, who were the only ones who possessed and kept his piece in tact) Pliny (who never referenced Jesus, only the growing movement).

To say that I have a confirmation bias and an appeal to authority when I've given so much evidence is a little disingenuous, don't you think?

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Posted by genro

Member since Nov 2011

61788 posts

Posted on 7/7/14 at 7:30 pm to StrawsDrawnAtRandom

quote:
Neither of us are shoemakers, yet both of us know whether or not our shoes fit. Such is the same with common men about controversial issues.

I think I like this.

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Posted by GatorsGators

Member since Oct 2012

13454 posts

Posted on 7/7/14 at 8:27 pm to StrawsDrawnAtRandom

quote:
To say that I have a confirmation bias and an appeal to authority when I've given so much evidence is a little disingenuous, don't you think?

The crux of your argument is what you perceive to be a lack of evidence. You haven't presented any evidence.

You can't prove that Jesus didn't exist any better than any Christian here could prove to you that he did exist. I guess whether or not you believe he existed depends on whom you think the burden of proof lies. I don't see why the burden of proof would lie on those whom argue that he did exist when it lies on the opposite side of the argument for other historical figures, and no, I don't buy your argument that people had reason to invent Jesus any more than I'd buy a hypothetical argument that people had reason to invent Alexander the Great.

With the lack of evidence either way, people will believe what they want to believe. These arguments are incredibly pointless because no one is going to change anyone else's mind. Those who believe that he did exist and was the Messiah aren't doing so out of tangible evidence; they're doing it out of faith. And there's nothing wrong with that.

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