Weekend Stories
I enjoy going exploring on weekends (mostly). Here is a collection of stories and photos I gather along the way. All posts are CC BY-NC-SA licensed unless otherwise stated. Feel free to share, remix, and adapt the content as long as you give appropriate credit and distribute your contributions under the same license.
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The core teachings presented in the Gospels: A universal and transformative message
Understanding the essence of the teachings attributed to the figure of Jesus, as recorded in the New Testament’s Gospels, requires a focus on the values and themes central to these narratives. While the historical authenticity of these accounts remains debated, the ethical and spiritual vision they convey is radical and transformative. At the heart of the Gospel message is a call to universal love, humility, non-violence, and personal spiritual transformation. This narrative emphasizes inner moral integrity and compassion over external rituals or societal hierarchies. Thus, without the necessity of a historical Jesus, the message from the Gospels also works as a powerful and relevant framework for ethical and spiritual life.
Speculating on Lazarus as the beloved disciple of Jesus
In contemporary scholarship on early Christianity, few scholars have stirred as much controversy as Richard Carrier. Known for his mythicist position — that Jesus may not have existed as a historical figure — Carrier often encourages us to read the Gospels not as reliable historical records, but as mythological and theological narratives created by early Christian communities. It is within this framework that we can examine one of his provocative suggestions: the possibility that the ‘beloved disciple’ in the Gospel of John, traditionally identified as John himself, was actually Lazarus — whom Carrier provocatively describes as Jesus’ closest companion, or, in modern parlance, his ‘boyfriend’.
Twelve Apostles, one myth: Debunking the foundation of institutional Christianity
The figure of Jesus in the Gospels is considered, according to Richard Carrier’s mythicist theory, to be an invented mythological character developed by early Christian communities. If Jesus himself is a mythic construct rather than a historical person, the narrative of the twelve apostles must similarly be viewed through a symbolic and theological lens rather than as a literal account of historical events. This perspective challenges the foundational claims of apostolic succession and institutional authority within the Church and underscores the core message of personal spiritual transformation, rather than a dependence on institutionalized mediation. In this post, we take a closer look at the mythicist critique of the twelve apostles and its implications for both the institutional Church and the personal Christian faith.
How Jesus became God: Exploring Bart D. Ehrman’s thesis on the development of Christian belief in Jesus’s divinity
Bart D. Ehrman’s How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee offers a meticulously researched account of how early Christians came to view Jesus as divine. Ehrman’s work traces the evolution of Jesus’s divinity from a historical Jewish preacher to a figure exalted by his followers after his death, culminating in the formalization of his divine status in the 4th century. While Ehrman argues for a historical Jesus who was gradually deified, Richard Carrier, a leading proponent of the mythicist position, rejects the idea of a historical Jesus altogether. Carrier posits that Jesus was originally conceived as a celestial figure whose story was later euhemerized — that is, placed into a historical narrative. In this post, we examine Ehrman’s thesis in light of Carrier’s theories, exploring how both perspectives illuminate the complex development of early Christian belief.
The resurrection of Jesus as a mythological tool for early Christian legitimization
The resurrection of Jesus stands at the heart of Christian theology and has long been a central symbol of faith, hope, and redemption. However, its mythological character and constructed nature deserve deeper scrutiny. Within early Christianity, the resurrection functioned both as a theological cornerstone and a strategic narrative tool for legitimizing Jesus as the Messiah, fulfilling Jewish prophecy and providing continuity after his death. Furthermore, the theological implications of the resurrection have profoundly shaped Christian philosophy and institutional power, positioning the Church as the steward of divine authority. In this post, we take a closer look at the resurrection of Jesus as a mythological construct and explore its theological significance and institutional implications.
The role of sacrificial blood rituals in Judaism and its reinterpretation in Christianity
Blood sacrifice holds a profound and complex role within the context of Jewish religious tradition, reflecting both its ancient cultural origins and its theological evolution. This symbolism extends into the early Christian reinterpretation of sacrificial practices, culminating in the belief in Jesus’ sacrificial death. In this post, we take a closer look at these practices within their historical and cosmological frameworks ti better understand why blood sacrifice was seen as essential and how it became a central theme in the development of Christianity – whether Jesus is viewed as a historical figure or a ‘celestial construct’.
Why did Jewish apocalypticism culminate in the 1st century CE?
Throughout history, human societies have often grappled with the notion of an impending apocalypse — a final, cataclysmic event that would reshape or end the world as they knew it. For the Jewish people, the idea of doomsday gained prominence during their tumultuous history under foreign rule, evolving into a complex eschatological framework that would later influence Christianity. Inspired by a talk I recently watched by Richard Carrier titled ‘From Noah’s Flood to Rapture Day’, this post explores the origins and development of Jewish apocalyptic beliefs, tracing their roots from Persian Zoroastrian influences to the widespread messianic fervor of the 1st century CE. We will explore how these beliefs culminated in a series of failed messianic movements and ultimately shaped the emergence of Christianity as a surviving apocalyptic sect.
Enoch: Another exemplar for the Jesus narrative?
The mythological framework surrounding early Christianity has been a topic of considerable debate a long time. Among scholars who advocate a non-historical or mythological Jesus, such as Richard Carrier, the evolution of Jesus as a theological construct becomes a lens through which the influence of apocryphal texts can be assessed. One of the key texts in this discourse is the Book of Enoch (also known as 1 Enoch), a Jewish pseudepigraphal work that profoundly shaped Second Temple Jewish thought.
Philo of Alexandria’s logos concept and its potential influence on the development of the Jesus narrative
The question of how early Christians conceptualized Jesus and whether this figure was initially understood as a historical person or a celestial being has fueled significant scholarly debate. One prominent hypothesis, advanced by Richard Carrier, suggests that the original Christian understanding of Jesus was as a celestial being, akin to an angel or intermediary figure, who was later historicized into a real human person. Central to Carrier’s argument is the idea that this celestial Jesus may have been influenced by earlier Jewish theological constructs, particularly Philo of Alexandria’s writings about the logos. However, while Philo’s logos shares certain attributes with the early Christian depiction of Jesus, Philo never names this figure ‘Jesus’ or explicitly associates it with the messianic figure of Christian tradition. This post explores Philo’s concept of the logos, its relationship to angelic intermediaries, and Carrier’s argument that early Christians conceived of Jesus as a celestial being modeled after such theological constructs.
Richard Carrier and the historicity of Jesus: Was Christianity born from a mystery cult?
The question of whether Jesus of Nazareth was a historical individual or a purely mythical figure has long engaged theologians, historians, and laypeople alike. In his book, On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt (2014), Richard Carrier challenges conventional scholarly assumptions and proposes that Christianity could have originated without a historical founder. Instead, it might represent a Jewish adaptation of what Carrier calls a ‘mystery cult, following patterns already established in other ancient Mediterranean religious traditions. Drawing upon the scholarly consensus, methodological critiques, parallel religious traditions, textual analysis of the Pauline epistles, and the literary nature of the gospels, Carrier puts forth an argument suggesting that early Christians may have begun with the worship of a celestial Jesus and only later placed him into human history. This post summarizes and expands upon the main lines of argument Carrier presents, based on a recorded talk in which he outlines the major findings of his research.