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…
Citing sources is important. It helps a reader verify some information. For instance, when Britt and Wingo claim that “one of the ideas put forth by historicists is the idea that Jesus could have been multiple first-century teachers rolled into one,” by providing a citation, or even naming one of these individuals, would go a…
If you’re looking to summarize the mainstream view, you don’t look at Christian apologists or fundamentalist arguments. They aren’t part of the mainstream view. You also don’t look at fringe groups and act like they define what the mainstream is. And you definitely don’t make up arbitrary rules about what evidence you can accept. Honestly,…
When it comes to Jesus, virtually all scholars agree that he existed. This is a point that Britt and Wingo agree on. More importantly, they acknowledge that they are going up against the consensus here. There are a couple of scholars who stick out that do argue that Jesus most likely didn’t exist though. Quite…
As I finished off chapter 8, I drew attention to a view that Maurice Casey had presented about other mythicists: “They have had a conversion experience away from Christianity, and they are no more sympathetic to critical scholarship now than they were before.” In chapter 1, Britt and Wingo tell us that yes, they had…
A while back, I decided to dive into Lee Strobel’s “The Case for Christ.” Currently, that book is sitting on a shelf above my computer along with a notebook. The book is filled with hundreds of little tabs, which are associated with a note in that notebook. Each note details an issue with Strobel’s case….
Britt and Wingo finish off their chapter on their results by discussing a few extra findings that came across. The first had to deal with the concept of a proto-Mark. The idea that there is a proto-Mark is a fringe idea. It’s one that has largely died out. Britt and Wingo bring it up quite…
In my first reading of “Christ Before Jesus,” I initially ignored Britt’s and Wingo’s summary. Initially, I contemplated doing so here as well, because honestly, after getting to this point, having gone over the text thoroughly, it was just a lot and I wanted to be done with it. But to be as thorough as…
The final work that “Christ Before Jesus” looks at is the Epistle of James. As with previous texts, Britt and Wingo again claim that it’s a second-century work, yet they don’t have evidence for that. As we’ve already seen, their stylometry evidence holds no actual water. Before we even get to the text though, we…