Michael Alter: The Man and His Argument Against the Resurrection

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Here is my response [#1-6; I already sent you #7] that was posted on Skeptical Zone

Does Alter actually accept the historicity of Jesus or not?

RESPONSE:

  1. Currently, I believe that “a” Jesus existed during the first century. Therefore, I do not accept the Christ Myth. However, I respect the opinion (but do not necessarily agree with “all of the “words” of its advocates. Their contributions must be careful read and evaluated. Perhaps, they too, reveal kernels of truth.

  2. It is possible that portions (many?) of the accounts of Jesus’s life were based on several first century Jesuses. Therefore, the Jesus in the NT is a composite Jesus.

  3. Given that miracles exist, Jesus’s resurrection need not have been one of them, not to mention the approximate 30 miracles reported in the NT. For clarification, some miracles in the Hebrew Bible are midrashic allegory [e.g., Jacob wrestling with the angel.]. Torah is interpreted on a four level scheme: PARDeS.

  4. If the Gospel narratives are carefully examined, they unequivocally display embellishment, an evolving storyline, and written for a theological agenda. Healthy examples of these claims are found throughout my text. As an inerrantist (if my information is correct, if not please correct me), you will not accept my opinion and the opinion of many other Christian scholars and theologians on this matter of Scripture. But, the bottom line is that we should respect one another and maintain a civil conversation. And, I thank you for being civil…

  5. You ask: Does he discuss how he decides which elements of the text are historical and which are not? Credulity? Well, if you kindly examine my text, in my opinion, your question is answered. And, there are numerous “Christians” who would probably beg to differ with your opinion.

  6. When I employed the phrase “for the sake of discussion” – I was trying to avoid going of into tangents (yes, possibly interesting). My text was already 912 pages long and that was after deleting material that I hoped would be in the text. In Volume 2, I intend to incorporate that material. Included, is a brief discussion about some issues raised by Lydia (And, she really is AWESOME!)

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Take care

Mike

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