good question ( sorry about the f word )

by bigmac 10 Replies latest jw friends

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  bigmac

  
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  Apognophos

  He didn't, he found people with the Greek equivalents of those names: Petros, Ioannes, etc. Well, "Simon" could be Hebrew (Shimon). Really, the only reason we have these names today is that they are of Biblical significance and have been passed down into all different cultures in slightly different variants.
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  cantleave

  Or maybe....Just maybe.......they are just characters in a myth!
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  Apognophos

  I don't see anything on a linguistic level concerning the names of the apostles to support the idea that the gospels are a myth.
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  cantleave

  I don't see anything on a linguistic level concerning the names of the apostles to support the idea that the gospels are a myth.

  Maybe not, but there are volumes of other evidence that they are.
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  Apognophos

  Sure, but that's off-topic.
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  Caedes

  I don't see anything on a linguistic level concerning the names of the apostles to support the idea that the gospels are a myth.

  Have a look at Dr Richard Carrier's lectures on youtube, there are several and they are very interesting.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMyudP5z2Xw

  He talks about how the language used in the gospels directly suggests that the writer of the gospels was writing allegory not history. He originally was trying to prove the historicity of jesus but found overwhelming evidence that he was wrong in his assumptions.
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  Phizzy

  I think the question is as good as the observation : " What a stroke of luck Jesus was born on Christmas day! ".
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  Apognophos

  Have a look at Dr Richard Carrier's lectures on youtube

  I might do that -- I watched another one of his already and it was interesting, but not detailed enough for my liking. I'm planning to get some books on the subject to consider the mythicist case more carefully.

  I'm already of the opinion that Jesus may not have said/done most of what's in the Gospels; and if he did live, but almost nothing in the New Testament came from him, then it's about the same as if he didn't exist at all.
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  Caedes

  That was pretty much my opinion, that jesus was probably based on a real guy, but I think Dr Carrier's case is pretty compelling.