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…
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…
Seldom do we have concrete proof of the existence of anyone in the ancient past. Largely, we have to work on probability. What is the most probable situation based on the available evidence? As a whole, the general consensus among scholars and historians is that the probability of Jesus existing is virtually a certainty. We…
There is a new book published by Oxford University Press that has gotten mythicists in a tizzy. That book is none other than T.C. Schmidt’s Josephus and Jesus, New Evidence for the One Called Christ. As some may imagine, Richard Carrier is one such mythicist who has taken an issue with the new book. And…
When you lie about a person, its best to not lie about something when the proof to the contrary is so easily accessible. This is the situation that Jaaron Wingo, of Christ Before Jesus, has found himself in. In a recent TikTok Live, Wingo attacked me personally and made the claim that I was asking…
Before moving too far on, there is a point that I have to address, as it’s one that Britt and Wingo bring up multiple times, and is one that is all too common among mythicists. Why did no one write about Jesus earlier? Britt and Wingo put it like this: “This is one of the…
Most scholars argue that Mark was the first Gospel to be written. This seems rather obvious as it’s clear that both Matthew and Luke borrowed from Mark. It’s no surprise that a late date for Mark then is important for Britt and Wingo. If Mark were to be shown to be a product of the…
If one shows a clear unfamiliarity with what the mainstream scholarship states, one should be very wary when those individuals make claims about the mainstream. When those same people build up arguments based on that unfamiliarity, we have major issues. Those issues appear right away in chapter 2. Britt and Wingo begin their chapter on…