6. Is Jesus the Son of God?

Liar, Lunatic, or Lord? What evidence do we have for Jesus? Can we prove Jesus was divine and rose from the grave?
Chapters:
00:00-00:58 - The story of Jesus
00:59-04:45 - Was Jesus copied from other gods?
04:46-05:39 - Liar, lunatic, or Lord?
05:40-06:30 - Apologetic misinformation
06:31-07:22 - There's so much evidence for Jesus
07:23-11:08 - Comparison: Jesus vs Alexander the Great
11:09-13:18 - What Paul knows about Jesus
13:19-17:29 - The strange silence about Jesus outside the Bible
17:30-18:25 - Summary of New Testament section
Series Bibliography:
Barker, Dan - God: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction
Barker, Dan - Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America’s Leading Atheists
Buckser, Andrew and Glazier, Stephen D. - The Anthropology of Religious Conversion
Callahan, Tim - Secret Origins of the Bible
Carrier, Richard - “How We Know Daniel Is a Forgery”
Carrier, Richard - “Josephus on Jesus? Why You Can’t Cite Opinions Before 2014”
Carrier, Richard - Not the Impossible Faith
Carrier, Richard - On the Historicity of Jesus
Carrier, Richard - Sense and Goodness Without God
Conway, Flo and Siegelman, Jim - Snapping: America’s Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change
Coogan, Michael D. - The Oxford History of the Biblical World
Copan, Paul - Is God a Moral Monster?
Craig, William Lane - Reasonable Faith
Currid, John D. And Chapman, David W. - The ESV Archaeology Study Bible
Dever, William G. - Did God Have a Wife?
Dever, William G. - Has Archaeology Buried the Bible?
Durkheim, Emile - The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life
Ehrman, Bart D. - Forged: Writing in the Name of God
Ehrman, Bart D. - Forgery and Counterforgery
Ehrman, Bart D. - God’s Problem
Ehrman, Bart D. - Heaven and Hell
Ehrman, Bart D. - How Jesus Became God
Ehrman, Bart D. - Jesus Before the Gospels
Ehrman, Bart D. - Jesus Interrupted
Ehrman, Bart D. - Lost Christianities
Ehrman, Bart D. - Misquoting Jesus
Ehrman, Bart D. - The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture
Ehrman, Bart D. - The Triumph of Christianity
Finkelstein, Israel and Silberman, Neil Asher - The Bible Unearthed
Geisler, Norman L. And Howe, Thomas - The Big Book of Bible Difficulties
Geisler, Norman L. And Turek, Frank - I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist
Hagglund, Martin - This Life
Ham, Ken, Ed. - Demolishing Supposed Bible Contradictions: Volume 1
Ham, Ken and Hodge, Bodie and Chaffey, Tim, Eds. - Demolishing Supposed Bible Contradictions: Volume 2
Harwood, William - Mythology’s Last Gods
Helms, Randel - Gospel Fictions
Helms, Randel - Who Wrote the Gospels?
Holden, Joseph M. and Geisler, Norman - The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible
Kennedy, Titus M. - Unearthing the Bible
Koukl, Gregory - Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions
Lewis, C.S. - A Grief Observed
Loftus, John W. - The Christian Delusion
Loftus, John W. - Christianity Is Not Great
Loftus, John W. - The End of Christianity
Loftus, John W. - Why I Became an Atheist
Loftus, John W. and Rauser, Randal - God or Godless?
MacDonald, Dennis - Does the New Testament Imitate Homer?
MacDonald, Dennis - The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark
MacDonald, Dennis - Mythologizing Jesus
Matthews, Victor H. And Benjamin, Don C. - Old Testament Parallels
Mazar, Amihai - Archaeology of the Land of the Bible 10,000-586 BCE
McDowell, Josh and McDowell, Sean - Evidence That Demands a Verdict
McLaughlin, Rebecca - Confronting Christianity
Newberg, Andrew and Waldman, Mark Robert - Why We Believe What We Believe
Nicolaou, Corinna - A None’s Story
Nongbri, Brent - Before Religion
Shanks, Hershel - Ancient Israel
Stavrakopoulou, Francesca - God: An Anatomy
Strobel, Lee - The Case for Christ
Strobel, Lee - The Case for a Creator
Strobel, Lee - The Case for Faith
Wallace, J. Warner - Cold-Case Christianity
Wolff, Catherine - Beyond: How Humankind Thinks About Heaven
ChristianAnswers.net - “Is the Bible Accurate Concerning the Existence and Destruction of the Walls of Jericho?”

[@Teejaye1100]

O my goodness, I love this so much. You making my heart and face smile. We’re very similar in terms of the info you’ve discovered and are reporting. I cared so much about Academia. Where does the data lead… was my thinking. What are the facts. I just told someone the other day, there are no contemporary writers Jewish or Roman who wrote about Bible jesus. None, not one. Everything from Josephus, Tactuis etc is years after the fact. And as you stated, scholarly consensus is Josephus is a forgery 100%. Man, the work and effort you put in this series is video gold. I hope more people find your channel and give you your roses. Well done!!

[@join.arethion]

This comment made my day! Thanks so much for watching!

[@melaniephillips4238]

Thank you, Caleb for this incredibly enlightening video. In all my reading and listening to a number of Biblical scholars, I had become aware of the scanty evidence for the godhood of Jesus, even the questions about his historicity. I had always thought that possibly the tumult of history, especially with the fall of Rome and the burning of the Library of Alexandria, histories mentioning Jesus might have been lost. But I have never seen a presentation like yours that detailed the numbers of historical and critical texts of the first century CE that somehow are also missing, or some of them preserved but with the portions possibly related to Jesus removed. That is an remarkable circumstance that seems to defy coincidence. Also, I had never considered the similarity of so many ancient heroes' supernatural lives that predated the gospels and appear to be their pattern. Thank you so much for your cogent and illuminating videos. Looking forward to more!

[@join.arethion]

Thank you so much for your feedback! It means a lot. :-) I am definitely indebted to the scholars listed in the bibliography, which is located in the video description. They're the ones who followed the clues and really tackled the "mystery." I'm simply a "summarizer" of their hard work. :-)

[@jameschapman6559]

How do you know that Christian scholars destroyed scrolls that challenge the Christian events? Wouldn't that mean that those scrolls are no longer available? If those scrolls are no longer available, how do you know that they ever insisted? Looking forward to your answer. Really appreciate the videos.

[@join.arethion]

Thanks for your question! Another viewer had a similar question, so here's the response I provided to them. Please let me know if it answers your question. If not, I can expound further. :-) It's actually quite rare to find complete codices or texts from ANY civilization. That means ancient texts are a massive jigsaw puzzle for scholars. For example, we only have an estimated 20% of Aristotle's works and only 20% of Euripides' (whose play "The Bacchae" was copied by Luke). We know about those missing texts because other writers and texts we DO have reference them, quote them, review them, etc. References like that are very useful to historians - that's part of how we learned about forgeries in the NT - early Christian fathers quoted a passage in the 2nd or 3rd Century, but then the scrolls in the 3rd and 4th Century show a different reading, meaning the text was changed. Consequently, we know those 1st Century histories and critiques of Christianity existed (even though they were ultimately lost) because we have commentaries, quotes, reviews, or critiques of them in EXISTING texts. I want to be clear - in some cases, I believe the loss of those texts was probably accidental - LOTS of ancient writings have been lost to history because that's just what happens. What's striking - *in aggregate* - is the strange silence we encounter from that period given there were lots of historians writing. Does that answer your question? Thanks again for watching!

[@jameschapman6559]

@join.arethion Thanks for getting back to me. Your answer clear up my question. As a former Evangelical Christian. I really appreciate your videos.

[@robertpearson7685]

Does a god who may also be the creator need a son?

[@equalizerperiloustimes4840]

According to Roman mythology and the legends surrounding Romulus, there is no account of him being resurrected from the dead. The story of Romulus primarily focuses on his role as the founder and first king of Rome, rather than any resurrection or afterlife narrative. While there are various myths and legends associated with Romulus, including his birth, upbringing, and contributions to Rome, resurrection from the dead is not a part of his traditional mythological narrative.

[@join.arethion]

Actually there are several accounts that state Romulus died and rose again. Plutarch is the longest, and while he comes from the end of the 1st Century, there are numerous PRE-Christian sources that state this as well, such as Cicero, Livy, Ovid, and Dionysus of Halicarnassus. I recommend this article for more information: www.richardcarrier.info/archives/13890

[@joecheffo5942]

I wish Richard Carrier would slow down when he talks, especially in debates. This topic is not well suited for debates though, too much information. If you ever do one, ask for a lot of time. I think you are a better presenter than Carrier to a general audience.

[@hobaho]

Thank you Caleb, amazing video and series. I've spent a lifetime weighing up whether Christianity is true or not (leaning towards the not), feeling guilt for disbelieving it, and wondering if I'll convert on my deathbed. One question I do have (the answer to which would make this video even more impactful) is: If all those texts are destroyed how do we know anything abut them, i.e. author and title. It's almost is if the library catalogue is in tact but the texts are not. Many thanks !

[@join.arethion]

Glad you found the videos helpful! It sounds like we've been through similar experiences... If you're so inclined, we're building an online and in-person community of people who've left Christianity on Arethion.com. No pressure, but if you might be interested, check it out. :-) Regarding your question: Ancient texts are a massive jigsaw puzzle. It's quite rare to find complete codices or texts for ANY civilization. For example, we only have an estimated 20% of Aristotle's works and only 20% of Euripides' (whose play "The Bacchae" was copied by Luke). We know about those missing texts because other writers and texts we DO have reference them, quote them, review them, etc. References like that are very useful to historians - that's part of how we learned about forgeries in the NT - early Christian fathers quoted passages that appear in our Bibles today, but the passages are different. TL;DR - we know those 1st Century histories and critiques of Christianity existed because we have commentaries, quotes, or reviews of them in EXISTING texts. The issue is those valuable histories and critiques were lost / destroyed. I want to be clear - in some cases, I believe this was accidental - LOTS of ancient writings have been lost to history because that's just what happens. But the strange silence we have from that period is what's striking, *in aggregate.* Does that answer your question? Thanks for watching!

[@hobaho]

@@join.arethion Thank you, I appreciate your detailed explanation, and yes you've answered my question.

[@jeffsaxton716]

God isnt even God. He exists in a collective imagination.

[@NeoGeoFitness]

Exactly 💯👍