Originally posted by carpedm9587
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Jesus did all of the things described in the NT texts, witnesses to all of these deeds then began to spread the word and, 20-70 years later, they and others wrote down everything that had happened for subsequent generations to read, some of them getting it right and some of them getting it wrong. Over the course of about 500 years, the Christian community identified a subset of the various texts that had been written, discarded the inaccurate ones, and incorporated only the 100% accurate ones in what came to be known as the NT.
Is this an accurate reflection of your beliefs? If not, which part is inaccurate?
Because taking any text I pick up at "face value" exposes me to the possibility (indeed, the probability) that I will accept nonsense as truth. So before I read any text, I check out the author to see what is known about them and what else they have written. If I can find nothing, my confidence in the text I am reading is weakened. If they have a reputation for writing slanted things, my confidence is weakened and I will work harder to verify the various claims made. As I read, I look for alignment with what I already know and understand. If there is misalignment, I look for the reasons why there is misalignment. I would consider that to be pretty basic for anyone reading anything. If this is not done, we get the world we have today, where misinformation can propagate quickly and be adopted as "truth."
I have not made that argument or claim, so I have no answer for you. If you want to have a discussion about the accuracy of the NT, we can have that separately, but right now I am interested in THIS discussion and claim: "you have not adequately defended the claims you are making about the historical life of Jesus."
A man named Jesus of Nazareth lived in the every first century
He was Jewish, a teacher, and preached a radical philosophy (for that age)
He was killed in the early-mid first century, almost certainly by crucifixion
In the following years, his followers continued to spread the message and a new Judaic cult arose.
Paul of Tarsus had a significant conversion experience and became one of the most significant voices of this new cult.
Little by little, this cult separated from Judaism and became its own religion, rooted in but differing from Judaism
This new cult believed Jesus was the messiah, was resurrected form the dead, and was divine in nature
A wide variety of writings about Jesus occurred within the various sects of the cult, and these were eventually culled to the current canonical canon in the 4th century.
He was Jewish, a teacher, and preached a radical philosophy (for that age)
He was killed in the early-mid first century, almost certainly by crucifixion
In the following years, his followers continued to spread the message and a new Judaic cult arose.
Paul of Tarsus had a significant conversion experience and became one of the most significant voices of this new cult.
Little by little, this cult separated from Judaism and became its own religion, rooted in but differing from Judaism
This new cult believed Jesus was the messiah, was resurrected form the dead, and was divine in nature
A wide variety of writings about Jesus occurred within the various sects of the cult, and these were eventually culled to the current canonical canon in the 4th century.
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