Mr. Moogly has asked me to detail the biography of Jesus of Nazareth. I cannot do it. I've "admitted" this over and over and over in these threads. I've suggested Aslan's Zealot as a book to get your started, Moogly, if your question is sincere. But there are better books, I'm sure.
I'm asking you to think about your Jesus and who he was for the thirty years before he got whacked. Is that really a trick question?
Your "trick question" is nothing but a provocation, but YES. It is an unanswerable question. All one can do is guess.
I will not ask again whether you think John the Baptist was an historical person or not -- YOU DO NOT DEIGN TO ANSWER QUESTIONS -- but he was; and yet essentially nothing is known about his first 30 years. The most poignant detail of the Baptist's life -- Salome's lascivious dance -- is probably a myth. You've read some of my writings here. What can you say with confidence about my first 30 years? Nothing.
Pontius Pilate was a far more important person than Jesus during their lifetimes, yet documents about Pilate are VERY few and far between. What do we know about Pilate's first 30 years? NOTHING.
Must I go on and on and on like this to make the point clear?? Beyond a few certain life events, guesswork about Jesus' life is just that --guesswork. Aslan's book -- with its mixed reviews overall MUCH better than you imply -- is one attempt at guessing.
I won't guess because (1) It's too difficult and error-prone a task, and (2) it does NOT interest me. My To-Do List is already VERY long.
Did Siddhartha the Buddha exist? Yes. (And by the way, you do NOT even answer simple questions like that, resolved with a few seconds' Googling, while asking me to replace Aslan's book-length guesswork with a book of my own. What nonsense!
Quickly now, tell me the details of the Buddha's first 30 years!
Do you get the point?
We need not know the details of Columbus' childhood -- scholars aren't even in agreement on where he was born! -- to be sure he existed and sailed the ocean blue.
Moogly -- If you had even a slight clue about the task presented to professional historians about historic people who lived long ago, perhaps even before the printing press you would see how unreasonable your requests are.
Absolutely not so please don't avoid it. Stratfordians do it about Will of Stratford all the time because there is absolutely no literary paper trail leading to the guy, none at all. Even his will has absolutely no literary element to it and this is supposedly the greatest writer of English letters. Your Jesus occupies a similar slot in the historical record.
Non sequiturs and false comparisons abound. Almost every Englishman circa 1600 is better documented than almost every Jew in Judaea or Galilea circa 30.
Get it?
The point is that Strat diehards give it a try after try after try after try. They look at the Shakespeare canon and conjecture that he must have traveled to Italy and France. He must have had access to rare books and been fluent in at least four languages. He must have done this and that and this and that. How did Will of Stratford pull it off? Etc. Etc. Etc.
I'm merely asking you to do the same thing with your Jesus. I'm also asking you to tell me what you think he really said and what you think he didn't say.
First and foremost: You continue to draw comparisons between the SAQ and the Jesus Historicity question. These are so different the attempt at comparison is ... not smart. And not only "not smart" but an obvious ploy to "tug on me". Do you think you can divert me that way??
But since you do, here goes.
I am not a historical scholar. Many of the Infidels here think that a minute's Googling makes them more knowledgeable than professional historians who have devoted years to a particular mystery. Not me.
I form my opinions in large part by reading the experts.
No, no, no. I did NOT say following the experts willy-nilly. I read both sides, compare, and draw conclusions.
Often the best clues are the tones of the alleged experts. Do they rebut with facts or logic? Or do they rebut with ad hominem insults?
Read Oxfordian papers on the SAQ. Fact, fact, logic, fact, fact, fact, logic, logic. The fact of the Oxfordian authorship becomes almost like a geometric proof.
Read Stratfordian rebuttals. They say "Like shit I scraped off the sole of my boot." Edward de Vere, being the father of the bride offered to Southampton in
Venus and Adonis and so many Sonnets, is an important player in the Shakespeare story whether he wrote the Sonnets or not. Yet Wilson's pro-Stratfordian screed has only one mention of Oxford longer than a sentence: He tells us of an alleged fart when Oxford bowed to Her Majesty!
At that point one could correctly guess which side of the debate had facts and logic on their side just from their tones!!
The Jesus historicity question? SAME THING! Professional historians establish historicity with FACTS. Fact, fact, fact, logic, fact, logic, logic, fact, fact, fact.
You anti-history cultists? "
Ignorance is strength. Facts are Irrelevant. Ignorance is strength. War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. Facts are Irrelevant. Irrelevant. Irrelevant. Irrelevant. Irrelevant. Irrelevant. Irrelevant. Irrelevant.."
Obviously you can spend decades studying the question as professional historians have done.
That's why I asked you to consider just ONE set of facts: The historicity of Jesus' brother James.
But YOU can barely stand to type the characters J-A-M-E-S. Your answer to the huge conundrum posed to Carrier cultists and whatever other rabid atheist cults are involved here?? What have you written to reconcile James with a Jesus that you think didn't exist?
Nada. Nada. Zero zero zero zero zero Nada. Nil. Nothing.
Nada. Nada. Zero zero zero zero zero Nada. Nil. Nothing.
EDIT: I took a peek at some reviews of Aslan's book. Some say ...
"Some say" ?? What a laugh. ("Some say it was the bigliest demonstration ever") SOME professional scholars on Jesus' historicity say that his speculations are interesting and plausible, but just one possible scenario out of many. There is not enough information to create a reliable and detailed biography of the Nazarene. Capische? Professional hstorians can't do it, YET you expect me to????
Professional historians cannot write a detailed "Life of Hammurabi" yet they KNOW he existed.
Moogly, Moogly, Moogly -- Please re-read my remarks here. Read it over and over until you finally get the point into your stubborn head!
Now. When are you finally going to tell us about Jesus' brother James?