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Showing posts from December, 2015

A Virgin Birth?

With Christmas so near, I thought it would be interesting to review the evidence for the virgin birth. Paul The earliest writing we have is Paul, who says nothing of a virgin birth, but then again says nothing of Jesus' life at all, so we cannot really draw any conclusions there. Mark I think it is more significant that the virgin birth is missing from Mark, who, afterall, wrote a lot about Jesus' life. Mark is supposedly the account of Peter told through Mark. Peter was not there at the birth, so one might excuse Mark on this basis, but Peter was also not there at Jesus' baptism, and that is present in Mark. The reason, as argued here , is that Mark believed Jesus was adopted the Son of God at the baptism. To Mark, Jesus' birth was of no great significance, and when Mark was writing it is likely that the story of a virgin birth had yet to appear in the Christian community. None of the early texts mention a virgin birth because no one had heard of

Did the Author of Mark Believe in Adoptionism?

Modern Christianity asserts an eternal Jesus, existing through all time as part of the trinity, however, groups of very early Christians believed Jesus was adopted by God, originally around the time of his crucifixion/resurrection or ascension, and later at his baptism. The Gospel of Mark indicates that its author subscribed to the latter view. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoptionism The Adoption Account From the first chapter: Mark 1:9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son;[d] with you I am well pleased.” This is a description of the adoption. God is choosing Jesus, and then the dove descends to confirm or bestow Jesus' special status. Bear in mind that Mark explicitly states that the beginning of the goo

An Expression of the Problem of Evil

The Problem of Evil is evidence against Christianity because it highlights a major inconsistency in the belief system. Christianity posits a morality system in which rape is wrong, and in which it is wrong to stand by and allow evil Christianity posits an all-powerful, perfectly good God who stands by and allows rape These two claims are contradictory.