"inability or unwillingness to discuss at the level of very minute details and specifics."
I have a difficult time with this comment, because I find it hard to believe that this perception could be true. I know that Doherty was very specific and tried to get mainstream scholars to address many specifics with him, but the opposite seemed to be true. Critics simply dismissed his points with broad strokes and didn't engage in details. Same largely goes for Carrier and Robert M. Price.
And here is the issue I have. Established biblical scholars act like their conclusions are unassailable when basic flaws in their methodology and conclusion are obvious.
But clearly when you have the biggest authorities in the field making claims that can easily be disproved with just a modicum of effort this is a significant problem. The field can't claim credibility and that doubting the mainstream positions is entirely without merit when many major claims can be disproved with simple analysis.
And much of this goes back to what I said previously, that there are far better explanations for many of the relationships between NT texts than the mainstream claims of "lost common sources". And now with the use of computers and more sophisticated algorithms the evidence is quickly mounting showing exactly how these texts were all derived from one another. The NT is clearly very incestuous and there is no place for "lost sources" anymore. We can see exactly who borrowed from who and its provable and concrete and it totally overturns the 20th century models of Q and "oral traditions". Those hypothesis are disproved, they are clearly wrong and without merit, and established scholars aren't keeping up with the research and the facts and where the evidence is pointing.
Clearly what we see is that the first Gospel is derived from the letters of Paul and the LXX and every other narrative about Jesus is derived from the first Gospel. That's been proven, its a fact. Yet, the vast majority of established biblical scholars refuse to acknowledge it.
Prof McGrath,
"inability or unwillingness to discuss at the level of very minute details and specifics."
I have a difficult time with this comment, because I find it hard to believe that this perception could be true. I know that Doherty was very specific and tried to get mainstream scholars to address many specifics with him, but the opposite seemed to be true. Critics simply dismissed his points with broad strokes and didn't engage in details. Same largely goes for Carrier and Robert M. Price.
And here is the issue I have. Established biblical scholars act like their conclusions are unassailable when basic flaws in their methodology and conclusion are obvious.
Here are some SPECIFIC examples: http://www.decipheringthegospels.com/examples.html
I'd love to see those specifics addressed.
But clearly when you have the biggest authorities in the field making claims that can easily be disproved with just a modicum of effort this is a significant problem. The field can't claim credibility and that doubting the mainstream positions is entirely without merit when many major claims can be disproved with simple analysis.
And much of this goes back to what I said previously, that there are far better explanations for many of the relationships between NT texts than the mainstream claims of "lost common sources". And now with the use of computers and more sophisticated algorithms the evidence is quickly mounting showing exactly how these texts were all derived from one another. The NT is clearly very incestuous and there is no place for "lost sources" anymore. We can see exactly who borrowed from who and its provable and concrete and it totally overturns the 20th century models of Q and "oral traditions". Those hypothesis are disproved, they are clearly wrong and without merit, and established scholars aren't keeping up with the research and the facts and where the evidence is pointing.
Clearly what we see is that the first Gospel is derived from the letters of Paul and the LXX and every other narrative about Jesus is derived from the first Gospel. That's been proven, its a fact. Yet, the vast majority of established biblical scholars refuse to acknowledge it.