Resurrection
Derek Pomery dpomery@cuc.edu
Sun, 31 Jan 1999 12:28:08 -0500 (EST) (00917825288, Pine.LNX.3.95.990131122342.28222A-100000@helix.cs.cuc.edu)
> >> BAKKE
> >> Establishing the location of a city is not the same things as
> >> establishing the existence of a person who was supposedly from that
> >> city. For example, many people doubt the existence of Jesus of
> >> Nazareth, but how many will doubt the existence of Nazareth? Why should
> >> it be any different with Joseph of Arimathea? Certainly, the Gospel
> >> writer(s) would know of the city and could weave it into their tale.
> >> That does not give the existence of Joseph any more validity.
> >
> > POMERY
> > In some cases however, such as Matthew's use of Bethlehem, the writer may
> > have been attempting to weave the city name into the story to make a case.
> > The actual location, or even existence, of Bethlehem at that time is, I
> > think, difficult to determine? I do not have a source for this comment,
> > to avoid the inevitable rejoinder.
>
> BAKKE
> I'm not aware of any controversies over either the existence or location
> of Bethlehem. Once again, such questions have little or no bearing on
> the validity of any stories concerning purported individuals who are
> associated in some way with that city. After all, nobody has to argue
> against the existence or location of London to argue that Sherlock
> Holmes is a fictional character.
It has relevancy due to the fact that Matthew is attempting to make Jesus
a fulfillment of prophecy. The fact that Bethlehem as a city might no
longer have existed in Jesus' time certainly seems relevant to me. I
believe I will attempt a source after all. Give me a few hours.
Your example is not clear to me however, for if Sherlock Holmes had been
placed in the magical city of Shang-ri La, would not the fact that
satellite photos of that area show no evidence of Shang-ri La have
bearing? If q depends on p and p is false, what happens to q? You could
argue the lack of a dependancy, but that's another issue.