What is Reddit's opinion of Reinventing Jesus?

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It weaves in some sprinkles of truth and a lot of falsehoods. Where are any notations to this supposed history that the author is citing? Any footnotes or endnotes to back up the claims that are made here?

I recommend the book, "Reinventing Jesus" written by Sawyer, Wallace, and Kom....(can't spell it). It's a great, easy to read unpacking of the things that this article asserts. Check it out!

https://www.amazon.com/Reinventing-Jesus-J-Ed-Komoszewski/dp/082542982X

> I want to believe but it’s hard.

An anvil is hard; a discipline just takes work and effort.

> One of the many concepts I’m struggling with is believing in the validity of the NT.

The New Testament accuracy, in context of textual criticism, is 99.5% accurate. The Reliability of the New Testament (Introduction) In context of other ancient documents, the New Testament is by far the most widely attested.

Paul’s letters make up much of the New Testament. His letters were the first NT documents in final form. Across the board, bible scholars from conservative to liberal including non-believers, allow that 6-7 of these books are “authentic” meaning there’s no doubt they were authored by Paul. That does not mean the other letters attributed to Paul are fake – it just means they have less provenance.

The evidence shows Paul was in a highly credible position to be right. He was well educated, articulate and can be placed with the right people at the right time. His testimony is from experience, primary sources and other eyewitnesses. The provenance of Paul's testimony is unprecedented in history.

> From what I’ve read the concept of, Virgin birth, death and 3 day resurrection, healing the sick, and turning water into wine, are all from mythology predating Christianity.

The reality is the “borrowed” theory is a dead issue for bible scholars. The doctrines of Christianity are rooted in Judaism and completely foreign to other mythology. 3 quick reasons why:

1. Composite fallacy (or false equivalence): “Borrowed religion” supporters will lump together pagan religions as if they were one religion – then compare that compilation to Christianity. However, when the individual myths themselves are studied individually we find major differences. I recommend Reinventing Jesus, Komoszewski, Sawyer and Wallace

2. Ambiguity of terms: “Borrowed religion” supporters try to substitute Christian terms to describe pagan beliefs, then assert parallel origins and meanings. I recommend Gospel and the Greeks, Ron Nash

3. Chronological fallacy. “Borrowed religion” supporters assert Christianity borrowed many of its ideas from [insert religion] when in fact the evidence typically reveals it was actually the other way around.

It’s historically supported that Christianity has Judaism, not [insert mythology], as its source.

> Ive read that the Jews of Rome were very militaristic and having uprisings due to the way the Romans treated them and their temples.

The Jews revolted from around 66-73 AD. The Roman Empire didn’t retaliate by writing manuscripts that support Jesus – a man the NT records they tortured and murdered for insurrection. That makes no sense.

Valid, actual documented history in fact shows the Roman Empire did what Empires do: retaliated to the Jewish Revolts with a systematic campaign to obliterate Jewish Jerusalem. Rome barricaded Jerusalem, famine ensues and Jerusalem falls. Titus orders Jerusalem razed, slaughters thousands, ransacks the Temple artifacts and destroys the Temple. The Jews scatter (diaspora), the Levitical priesthood ceases, the Sadducees (Temple sect) vanish and sacrifices come to an immediate halt. Qumran falls and the Zealots are crushed at Masada (73AD.)

> That’s pretty compelling and I’m struggling to believe.

I look forward to hearing why it’s so compelling. Thanks!

> I tried looking into historical evidence of the validity of Jesus and it’s wishy washy.

Jesus was a historical person. Credible secular and academic historians do not dispute that Jesus was a historical person. No one reasonably doubts Jesus was baptized, was a teacher with disciples and was killed for insurrection by the Roman authorities. “I can assure you as a historian, that whatever else you might want to say about Jesus, He certainly existed. The historical Jesus may not have been the person that people imagine today but he was a real person.” Bart Ehrman

Hey there! What a great story you have and thanks for sharing it with us! I encourage you to continue to search for Jesus in your journey and keep asking questions.

As for resources, I recommend two for you. The first is a Christian animation group called The Bible Project. They make quality videos that go into some depth about the Bible and all 66 books, but are very understandable. I recommend starting with their 'How to Read the Bible' series, as it talks about the context that the Bible was written in [historical, cultural, societal, etc] so it will help you understand how to better read & understand the Bible. https://bibleproject.com/explore/how-to-read-the-bible/

Secondly is a book that talks about the reliability of the Bible, and again gives lots of contextual info. It's called 'Reinventing Jesus' and you can find it at https://www.amazon.com/Reinventing-Jesus-J-Ed-Komoszewski/dp/082542982X#customerReviews. I would say that while it covers a lot of ground, it does so in a readable and interesting way.

I hope that these are helpful to you on your journey. Blessings to you!

>The History of God by Karen Armstrong

I don't mean to sound to harsh, but keep in mind when reading this that Armstrong's academic credentials consist of a BA in English.

I would also recommend Reinventing Jesus and A House for My Name

Reinventing Jesus – by J. Ed Komoszewski, M. James Sawyer, Daniel B. Wallace.

This book covers quite a bit of ground, including on the cannon of scripture. It is written by theologiana who are also professors, so the writing is not dry but engaging. It covers well worn ground, but puts its topics together in a response to thigns like 'The DaVinci Code' and other attacks on historical Christianity.

Reinventing Jesus

I highly recommend that you check it out!