Richard Carrier vs Mark Goodacre

One of the topics that I am interested in is the evidence for the historical existence of Jesus.  One of the few people with scholarly credentials that denies the existence of Jesus is Richard Carrier.  Recently, Mark Goodacre, a very good and non-evangelical scholar spoke with Carrier on this topic on the Unbelievable program.  If you are interested, you can find it here.

Bart Ehrman vs Richard Carrier

Bart Ehrman, who is normally a critic of Christianity and the Bible, recently wrote a book defending the existence of Jesus against the claims of the Jesus mythicists.  Richard Carrier, an atheist and a scholar who supports the Jesus myth, has harshly criticized Ehrman and his book.  You can find some of Carrier’s comments at his blog here.  Bart Ehrman has responded to Carrier and I believe his comments are worth sharing.  You can find his response here.  I had mixed feelings about Ehrman’s response.  As an opponent of the Jesus myth theory, I appreciated his comments and fully agreed with him.  However, reading this and being reminded of Ehrman’s scholarly ability and rhetorical skill only highlights the challenge he is to traditional Christianity when it comes to other issues.  What is important here is what is the truth.  I believe that when it comes to the truth of the existence of Jesus, Bart Ehrman has presented a clear case.  If you want to pick up Ehrman’s book, you can get it here.