Richard Carrier on gMark parallel with Jesus ben Ananias

[ghost]

What is the etymology of "Ananias"? Why is this Jesus said to be son of an Ananias? Does Jesus son of Ananias have something to do with the Ananiases mentioned in Acts?

[ghost]

Parallels have been claimed between Caesar's passion and Jesus's passion. Isn't that also worth testing against the parallels with the passion of Jesus son of Ananias?

http://www.carotta.de/subseite/texte/esumma/45-50.html

[ghost]

[td]Pilate says to them, "Shall I crucify your king?" The chief priests responded, [bgcolor=yellow]"We have no king but Caesar."[/bgcolor] At that time therefore he handed him over to them, to be crucified[/td]

Why do the writers make them say this?

[maryhelena]

[td]Pilate says to them, "Shall I crucify your king?" The chief priests responded, [bgcolor=yellow]"We have no king but Caesar."[/bgcolor] At that time therefore he handed him over to them, to be crucified[/td]

Why do the writers make them say this?

As Pilate hands him over to be crucified, Jesus himself removes all doubt as to who is truly responsible for his death: “The one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin,” Jesus tells Pilate, personally absolving him of all guilt by laying the blame squarely on the Jewish religious authorities. John then adds one final, unforgivable insult to a Jewish nation that, at the time, was on the verge of a full-scale insurrection, by attributing to them the most foul, the most blasphemous piece of pure heresy that any Jew in first-century Palestine could conceivably utter. When asked by Pilate what he should do with “their king,” the Jews reply, “We have no king but Caesar!” (John 19:1–16). Thus, a story concocted by Mark strictly for evangelistic purposes to shift the blame for Jesus’s death away from Rome is stretched with the passage of time to the point of absurdity, becoming in the process the basis for two thousand years of Christian anti-Semitism.

Aslan, Reza (2013-08-08). Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth (Kindle Locations 2711-2716). Saqi. Kindle Edition.

One very good reason not to take the gospel story literally; one very good reason not to take this story as history.

[ghost]

Not sure I follow other than a Muslim is calling Christians anti-Semitic.

[Stephan Huller]

Can't we make this like Survivor and vote 'ghost' off the island? He takes trolling for a moronic idea to a level the others only dream of.

[ghost]

Can't we make this like Survivor and vote 'ghost' off the island? He takes trolling for a moronic idea to a level the others only dream of.

How are my questions not relevant to the matter of whether Jesus is based on Jesus son of Ananias?

[ghost]

Compare that to your "Jesus was a Jewish angel". If Jesus wasn't Jesus son of Ananias then how do we know "Jesus was a Jewish angel" is better than "Jesus was a Roman divus"?

[Stephan Huller]

Jesus was a Jewish angel for Justin among others. That's not my idea. It is a well recognized ancient position within Christianity and it has relevance at a forum devoted to ancient Christianity. Now let's compare that to the stupid nonsense you manage to pimp at every opportunity. Is there even ONE ancient witness to the moronic idea that Jesus was Caesar?

[ghost]

Jesus was a Jewish angel for Justin among others. That's not my idea. It is a well recognized ancient position within Christianity and it has relevance at a forum devoted to ancient Christianity. Now let's compare that to the stupid nonsense you manage to pimp at every opportunity. Is there even ONE ancient witness to the moronic idea that Jesus was Caesar?

Just a few posts ago you mentioned the Catholic tradition. Well, that's the answer: much of the Catholic tradition is witness to that. Granted, most Catholics won't tell you explicitly and literally, but that's what their traditions "say". For example, holy week, especially Good Friday, coincides with Caesar's funeral. In the 1950s there was already a theologian called Ethelbert Stauffer (not sure if he himself was Catholic) who compared the two.