If you have spent any time around debates about the virgin birth, you have probably run into some version of this claim. The Hebrew word in Isaiah 7:14 is almah, which means “young woman” rather than “virgin.” If Isaiah had wanted to say virgin, he would have used bethulah. Therefore, Christianity rests on a translation…
If you have read much about sexuality in ancient Greece and Rome, you have probably run into one big idea. It goes something like this: for the Greeks and Romans, sex was not really about love or pleasure. It was about power. Who was on top, socially and literally. Who penetrated and who was penetrated….
There is a version of the Dark Ages question that deserves real respect. It usually comes from someone who has heard that professional historians now frown on the phrase, but who still suspects that a few of the old lessons must be worth keeping. Didn’t cities shrink? Didn’t reading and writing decline? Didn’t Latin splinter…
If you read through the Hebrew Bible, you may notice something peculiar. Nearly every named character seems to own land, have servants, arrange marriages with significant dowries, or argue with neighbors about property. Slaves and attendants appear in the background, almost as if they are always present but rarely the focus. Many books focus on…
The question of what happened to Jesus’ body after his death is one of the most debated topics in the study of Christian origins. Most discussions tend to portray it as a choice between two options. The first is the traditional Gospel account, where Jesus is buried in a new rock-cut tomb provided by Joseph…
When we look at figures from the ancient world, our understanding depends on the surviving sources. For example, we know about Julius Caesar not because we can independently verify every detail, but because we have his own writings, accounts from contemporaries, later historians, and archaeological evidence. This is also true for people like Augustus, Cicero,…
In the first part of this article, we examined why Richard Carrier’s Bayesian methodology failed. Specifically, we looked at the reference class he used to derive his prior probability and saw how it was not only manipulated but stacked in favor of Mythicism. While the argument in the first article would be sufficient to undermine…
Of all the figures in the modern mythicist movement, Richard Carrier stands out. He holds a PhD in ancient history from Columbia University. He’s incredibly active in the community, and he has engaged in the scholarship properly. His 2014 work, On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt, successfully passed peer…
Most scholars argue that Mark was the first Gospel to be written. This seems rather obvious, as both Matthew and Luke clearly borrowed from Mark. So where we place Mark in history will influence the dating of the other Gospels. If Mark were shown to be a product of the early first century, a work…
Mention Jesus on social media, and it generally won’t take long for someone to pipe in with the idea that he didn’t actually exist. What tends to follow is a whole litany of supposed evidence for their claim that can seem quite persuasive. It is no wonder that so many people think that there is…