Sunday Quote: Paul L. Maier on Jesus

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Sunday Quote: Paul L. Maier on Jesus

"Anybody who tries to use the argument that Jesus of Nazareth never existed [as a verifiable historical figure] is simply flaunting his or her ignorance. There is no serious question in the mind of any serious scholar, anywhere in the world that there certainly was a historical personality named Jesus of Nazareth. Now you can argue if he was the Son of God or not, argue about the supernatural aspects of his life, but in terms of the historical character of Jesus, all the evidence is in favour."

- Historian Paul L. Maier
[HT: Faith Interface]

4 comments :

Nick Potts said...: o my. that is such a bold and quite assertive statement. I LIKE IT! lol.

This is actually the topic of my research, my brother (a wiccan minister) challenged me by saying that Jesus of Nazareth never existed. I had mentioned Josephus and Tacitus and he used the ol' Zeitgeist argument. That is about the time I got really serious about my study, unfortunately I've only been looking at the historical Jesus since March, so I still have A LOT of reading to do.

quick question though...what is the citation of this quote? Is this from the recent interview (which unfortunately I have been busy with Christmas stuff so I haven't had a chance to listen to it) or is it from a book?; Sunday, December 26, 2010 at 7:41:00 AM GMT
Hristos said...: It's really not that bold of a statement. Especially when he states there is no doubt in the mind of any serious scholar.

I would like to continue reading arguments for the divinity of Christ, and arguments on the validity of Scripture.

Thanks for the posts.; Sunday, December 26, 2010 at 8:00:00 AM GMT
Brian said...: This quote is from the recent interview.; Sunday, December 26, 2010 at 11:27:00 AM GMT
Nick said...: He's entirely correct also. Mike Licona has a number of footnotes when he references the Christ-myth one time in his new book "The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach." There's also the excellent research of J.P. Holding at Tektonics.org with his book "Shattering the Christ-Myth." There's plenty at his web site as well. Glenn Miller also has material on this at http://christian-thinktank.com.

If you meet anyone who gives the Christ-myth any credibility, you can be sure you have met someone who's clueless.; Sunday, December 26, 2010 at 4:38:00 PM GMT