Peter Kirby wrote:Michael BG wrote:I disagree. It is quite legitimate to state which parts of someone else’s case you find unconvincing. This does not oblige me to state an alternative case to try to convince them their case is wrong. I might be happy just to disagree. It might be that there are no convincing alternative cases.
Indeed.
But in the context of thread, nobody advanced the appeal to 1 Cor 9:5 as part of a "case" for anything (except Bernard, apparently).
Certainly not your interlocutors.
It's apparently a ghost argument. Nobody's making it. So why are we talking about it at all?
Well, it goes back to this utterance:
Michael BG wrote:Can you present a case to try to convince me that 1 Cor 9:5 is an interpolation or do you not see this a reference to a human Jesus?
Let's say we accept the pretense that you are simply asking a question, ignoring all the wrangling you've engaged in here.
Then the answer to the first part is "no," I cannot. It's not even an idea that seems to be floated much.
The answer to the second part is "yes," that I do not see this as as a reference in the way that you describe.
If this is simply a plain question, there's no need to talk about it further.
1 Cor 9:5 isn't an argument for anything until someone accepts the responsibility of making it an argument for something. Without that, it's nothing.
I accept that I raised (13 Sept.) “James the brother of the Lord” (Gal 1:19) and “the brothers of the Lord” (1 Cor 9:5) in relation to you raising the issue of interpolations in Paul’s epistles. Others joined in discussing these texts.
Posted 14 Sept (as can be seen my question was in response to a comment by MrMacson):
Michael BG wrote:
MrMacSon wrote:I think all references to Jesus in the Pauline texts stand a reasonable chance of being later redactions (to align them with the Synoptics as the Canon was being put together)
Can you present a case to try to convince me that 1 Cor 9:5 is an interpolation or do you not see this a reference to a human Jesus?
Later (16 Sept) Giuseppe supported the idea that 1 Cor 9:5 is an interpolation.
You re-entered with some evidence why “brothers of the Lord” could be seen as Christian brothers and I gave my reasons for not being convinced and then you declared it was my responsibility to provide a case for the historicity of Jesus.
So you are wrong, there was a context for my question regarding 1 Cor 9:5. It doesn't have to be part of some larger debate that you want to force on others.
You really need to come to terms that questions can be asked just to discover something. OK I receive the answers with scepticism and I will test the answers against my own current position. But it is my journey, why do you want to get in the way?
This is especially strange when you then write that you agree with my current position that 1 Cor 9:5 isn’t an interpolation. Then you state no one raised it, but that is not true even in this thread.
It is a long time since I wanted to prove anything regarding Christianity. I don’t wish to attempt to prove anything regarding the Christian texts or regarding the historicity of Jesus. I don’t want to prove anything regarding the letters of Paul. My desire is to discover what I think is
LIKELY. Along the way I will question and test positions I don’t agree with, and hopefully increase others thinking about how likely their position is. From time to time my positions will change. It was only a few years ago that I decided it was likely that 1 Cor 15:3-11 is an interpolation.
Peter Kirby wrote:
It has been my own work on the details of these problems -- starting with Josephus, proceeding through the Marcionite shorter readings that you and Michael dismiss with nary a moment's hesitation, and including a recent consideration of the text of the Ascension of Isaiah ...
I hope I never dismiss someone’s work without a moment’s hesitation. Maybe when you think I am doing this, all I am really saying is I haven’t seen the work and so am not convinced.
I find the idea that anyone here has to prove anything strange. Somewhere there might be a truth in these documents, but it is for each individual if they want to study them to make up their own minds regarding what they think is likely. We have moved along way from all having to accept one thing as “the Truth”.
If someone thinks that there is nothing in the gospels or the letters of Paul about someone called Jesus then they should make the case, but don’t expect you can prove it. That is too high an expectation.