The Mind Renewed : Thinking Christianly in a New World Order - TMR 059 : Interview : Dr. Paul L. Maier : Jesus Never Existed? ... Give Me a Break!

We are joined by Dr. Paul L. Maier, Russell H. Seibert Professor of Ancient History at Western Michigan University, for a wide-ranging, informative and entertaining interview on the evidence for Jesus' existence outside the Bible, and on the historical reliability of the New Testament. In characteristically ebullient and academically-combative style, Dr. Maier dismisses popular claims that "Jesus never existed" and that "Jesus is a myth", and demonstrates that the New Testament evidence for Jesus is corroborated by secular writings from antiquity.

Dr. Maier also addresses the so-called gnostic gospels, New Testament apocryphal writings, Joseph Atwill's hypothesis that Jesus was a Roman invention, Bart Ehrman's misrepresentation of textual criticism, the Birth Narratives, and answers questions commonly asked about the reliability of the New Testament.

(We apologise for the sound quality of this recording, which, at times, was plagued by technical difficulties.)

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Interview Notes

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[George Wells, Bertrand Russell, Christ myth theory, Zeitgeist, Tacitus, Suetonius, Pliny the Younger, Josephus, Testimonium Flavianum, Nero, Pontius Pilate, Caiaphas, gnostic gospels, Nag Hammadi, New Testament apochrypha, Joseph Atwill, Dan Brown, The DaVinci Code, Elaine Pagels, Helmut Koester, F. C. Bauer, Gospel of Thomas, Protevangelion of James, Israel Finkelstein, Saint John Fragment, Rylands Library Papyrus P52, Early Church Fathers, John A. T. Robinson, David Noel Freedman, Bart Ehrman, Rudolph Bultmann, Birth Narratives, Quirinius, Magi, Babylonian Talmud, Bible contradictions]