Carolina QuotesMany Christians don't want to hear this, but the reality is that there are lots of other explanations for what happened to Jesus that are more probable than the explanation that he was raised from the dead. None of these explanations is very probable, but they are more probable, just looking at the matter historically, than the explanation of the resurrection. ... Historians can only establish what probably happened in the past, and by definition, miracles are the least probable of occurrences.
Bart D. Ehrman Carolinian
Source
Ch. 5: 'Liar, Lunatic, or Lord? Finding the Historical Jesus'
- work
- Jesus, Interrupted (2009)
- year
- 2009
Cite this record
“Many Christians don't want to hear this, but the reality is …” Bart D. Ehrman. Carolina Quotes, record CQ-BB81E99B6E. https://carolinaquotes.com/quote/bb81e99b6e
More from Bart D. Ehrman
One could argue as well that Jesus is the most important person in the history of the West, looked at from a historical, social, or cultural perspective, quite apart from his religious significance.
The question is then how can we decide what anybody in the ancient world said. We can't. We wish we could. It would be nice if we could. You would like to think that because you can go to the store and buy an edition of Plato that you are actually reading Plato, but the problem is that we just do not have the kind of evidence that we need in order to establish what ancient authors actually wrote.
If there is an all-powerful and loving God in this world, why is there so much excruciating pain and unspeakable suffering? The problem of suffering has haunted me for a very long time. It was what made me begin to think about religion when I was young, and it was what led me to question my faith when I was older. Ultimately, it was the reason I lost my faith.