Jesus Archives • Richard Carrier Blogs

The Sleeping Terror: 1 Peter Might Be Authentic … and Thereby Prove Jesus Did Not Exist! (Part 2: Consequences)

Richard Carrier — Wed, 04 Nov 2026 22:38:32 +0000

Previously I explained why I find Elizabeth Myers’ study Intertextual Borrowing between 1 Peter and Hebrews (2020) convincing enough to admit it should have some mathematical effect on my estimated probability that Jesus existed. Here I work out what I think that consequence might be, along with some other consequences of accepting that 1 Peter […]

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The Sleeping Terror: 1 Peter Might Be Authentic … and Thereby Prove Jesus Did Not Exist! (Part 1: Authenticity)

Richard Carrier — Tue, 03 Nov 2026 16:31:42 +0000

In Obsolete Paradigm (37) I noted that Elizabeth Myers made a recent case for the authenticity of 1 Peter that is data driven and not a product of doctrinal reasoning. I have since spent time examining her case closely and I must say I’m convinced. Even if I am not certain, this still has consequences […]

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Why Is a Historical Jesus an Obsolete Paradigm?

Richard Carrier — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 14:39:23 +0000

So James McGrath is a liar for Jesus, defending Christian dogma with slander and lies about me and my work, desperately, childishly, trying to get people to not read it lest they discover his lies and uncover the truth. He is clearly so terrified of this that he is willing to abandon his morality and […]

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James McGrath Has Now Defamed Me and Lied about My Work in a Professional Journal. Will the Field Do Anything About It?

Richard Carrier — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 20:22:33 +0000

Christian apologist James McGrath published a brief review of The Obsolete Paradigm of a Historical Jesus in the latest Booklist Issue of the Journal for the Study of the New Testament. We know from precedent that McGrath is not a reliable operator. See my entry for McGrath in my ongoing List of Responses to Defenders […]

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Speaking in Atlanta This Sunday … and Tabling in Huntsville This October

Richard Carrier — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 14:29:43 +0000

Atlanta might be my only public talk this year (IRL). But I will also be attending and tabling (not presenting) at the Rocket City Reason Con this October in Huntsville, Alabama (so if you want to meet there and get a book signed, check that out; it’s going to a groovy conference, with great presenters […]

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Three Genuinely Good Lay Treatments of Bible History

Richard Carrier — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 19:48:42 +0000

Today I want to introduce you to three books about the Bible not written by PhDs yet are outstanding enough to be well worth reading. As always, I get a commission on anything you buy on Amazon after clicking any link on my website—in fact, on everything in your cart when you check out within […]

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Why Christians Are So Bad at This: Paulogia vs. Inspiring Philosophy on the Bayesian Argument for the Resurrection

Richard Carrier — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 20:10:46 +0000

Recently, Than Christopoulos produced a silly and absurdly wordy insistence that Bayes’ Theorem proves Jesus rose from the dead in Paulogia…It’s Time To Stop. I was recently interviewed about this on Modern Atheism (you can watch that here) and as promised I am here writing up the main issues. Christopoulos frames this as a response […]

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Hardback Edition of Hitler Homer Bible Christ

Richard Carrier — Mon, 11 May 2026 19:08:10 +0000

In preparation for a new anthology I have coming out later this year, which will be available in all formats, I just created a hardback edition of its companion volume. So if you want a complete set of my anthologies in hardback, you can start collecting now! The old book coming into hardback is Hitler […]

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The Last Three Objections to Jesus Being a Myth

Richard Carrier — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 19:34:10 +0000

In my recent update on the “Jesus Myth” debate, in The Obsolete Paradigm of a Historical Jesus, I note that, now, the best reason to be sure Jesus didn’t exist is that everyone who insists he did has to strangely ignore a lot of evidence (even pathologically avoid it), or else make up fallacious arguments […]

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Ken Dark on the Historicity of Jesus

Richard Carrier — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 21:25:26 +0000

In my last article (on The Historicity of Nazareth) I mentioned in the course of a mostly positive review of Ken Dark’s new book (Archaeology of Jesus’ Nazareth) that he completely shits the bed when it comes to arguing that “surely” Jesus existed to contemplate as a Nazarene. You get a foreshadowing of this when […]

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