It’s not a conspiracy because no one says they planned to do it. It’s just being skeptical. If they want to believe something then they’re more likely to think evidence confirms that belief. Also, since that was the default view, they’re more likely to accept it. Assuming that they must be right is not the only way we can trust historians. I’d argue the only way to really trust them is to assume they can be wrong and analyze what they say and what they’re basing it on.
No one is suggesting that historical scholars are always right. But the weight of evidence is on their side. The other point is that the mythicism position comes from people with very little or zero credibility. Since this topic has been around for decades, you think they would convince at least a few conventional scholars to just their side. This has instead been basically zero. The rational conclusion is that the mythicism side is either wrong or simply doesn’t have enough evidence to be a viable theory.
The rational conclusion is that the mythicism side is either wrong or simply doesn’t have enough evidence to be a viable theory.
There is almost no secular evidence for it, and it is only on those who posit he exists to prove it. So yeah, there’s very little (zero) evidence that he didn’t exist, or at least the accounts from the Bible aren’t accurate. There can never be any evidence for that unless we lived in that time. That doesn’t mean we need to trust the alternative. I don’t believe in any god, and I don’t need evidence they aren’t real. Equally I don’t necessarily believe Jesus was real, because essentially all evidence for that has a motive to prove he was real.
Almost no evidence is not “no evidence.” That’s pretty much where the mythicism position falls apart, because they have to resort to dismissing what evidence we have to make their position valid. The other point is that if we use the level of standards demanded by mythicists, virtually all people from history can no longer be verified as real. It effectively deletes most of history.
It’s not a conspiracy because no one says they planned to do it. It’s just being skeptical. If they want to believe something then they’re more likely to think evidence confirms that belief. Also, since that was the default view, they’re more likely to accept it. Assuming that they must be right is not the only way we can trust historians. I’d argue the only way to really trust them is to assume they can be wrong and analyze what they say and what they’re basing it on.
there is the Flavian theory that a Christianity was cooked up to quelle the Jewish fanatics.
No one is suggesting that historical scholars are always right. But the weight of evidence is on their side. The other point is that the mythicism position comes from people with very little or zero credibility. Since this topic has been around for decades, you think they would convince at least a few conventional scholars to just their side. This has instead been basically zero. The rational conclusion is that the mythicism side is either wrong or simply doesn’t have enough evidence to be a viable theory.
There is almost no secular evidence for it, and it is only on those who posit he exists to prove it. So yeah, there’s very little (zero) evidence that he didn’t exist, or at least the accounts from the Bible aren’t accurate. There can never be any evidence for that unless we lived in that time. That doesn’t mean we need to trust the alternative. I don’t believe in any god, and I don’t need evidence they aren’t real. Equally I don’t necessarily believe Jesus was real, because essentially all evidence for that has a motive to prove he was real.
Almost no evidence is not “no evidence.” That’s pretty much where the mythicism position falls apart, because they have to resort to dismissing what evidence we have to make their position valid. The other point is that if we use the level of standards demanded by mythicists, virtually all people from history can no longer be verified as real. It effectively deletes most of history.