No Reason to Trust the Gospels
Kevin R. Henke
October 11, 2022
In Henke (2022b) and Henke (2022au), I stated the following:
“Lundahl (2022a) also makes the following statement to me about nature and our consciousness:
“Other takeaway in CSL's [C.S. Lewis’] Miracles, you carry around yourself two very clear indications that nature is not all there is - neither reason nor morality can be reduced to matter and energy affected by each other in accordance with laws of physics and chemistry. The ‘hard problem of consciousness’ - to take it from a somewhat different angle - remains hard. We don't just need an intelligent designer who arranged our brains for optimal consciousness, we need (for purposes we take for granted, like refuting or like blaming) something other than just brain arrangements in our consciousness.”
I fully admit that I’m no expert on consciousness. Contrary to what Lundahl (2022a) and Lewis (1960, his chapter 3, etc.) indicate in this quotation, our thoughts are electrical and our brains are matter. Lewis (1960, chapter 3, etc.) questioned the ability of humans to rationally understand our surroundings through naturalism and he argued that we should seriously consider that miracles occur. However, Lewis (1960) had the burden of evidence to demonstrate his claims for miracles and he failed to do so. Now, investigators are still looking for miracles at revival meetings, among psychics, at supposedly haunted houses, and elsewhere, and not finding any evidence for them.
Who we are, including our reason and moral values, arise from interactions between our brains and our surroundings. We observe, test and confirm with the help of others our conclusions about events in nature. Our brains, thoughts and surroundings are all ultimately controlled by the laws of chemistry and physics. That is, we can imagine what it would be like to be able to magically levitate objects only using our thoughts, but the laws of chemistry and physics don’t actually allow us to do it. Nevertheless, there is a danger that when we recognize that our brains are nothing but matter and energy that we might be tempted to trivialize this electrical activity and think that it has no serious consequences. That is, considering how much damage the electrical activity in Putin’s brain is doing to millions of people in the Ukraine, we cannot underestimate the power of a single human brain to manipulate other humans and weapons in his/her environment. This is why millions of people hope that Putin’s brain soon ceases to function and that more rational and empathetic brains will replace him.
Our morals and reasoning abilities arise in response to our surroundings, including how we interact with other humans. By getting confirmation from our fellow humans and doing experimental testing, we can make reliable discoveries about our environment. We can send spacecraft to Moon, understand why severe earthquakes occur in certain areas and not others, and we understand what causes influenza, etc. The supernatural is not needed to explain these discoveries. Because of the power of the human brain and our ability to adequately understand what’s going on in our surroundings, we can have a huge impact on our surroundings. Unfortunately, humans can also do extensive damage to our environment.
No gods, angels, demons or a Bible are also needed to figure out how people should try to function in our environments. We should develop rules (morality) through reason and not Biblical dogma so that we can live peacefully with each other and our environment. No sane person wants to live in poverty, misery and violence. Ukrainian soldiers are the only sane individuals wanting to move to eastern Ukraine.
We should also recognize that not all brains function well. Mental illness and deficiency are real. As rational research shows, chemicals, traumatic experiences and genetics can certainly cause mental illness. Demons aren’t required.” [my emphasis]
Lundahl (2022s) then gives the following response to my bolded statement:
“Could occur, as per these chapters. He [C.S. Lewis] then gave a consideration of the miracles that are in the Gospels, and whether the treatment on the historical side is jejune or not, it is there. C. S. Lewis knew the genres of fiction likely to be found in the First Century AD, and the Gospels aren't one of them.”
Well, mythicist and atheist Carrier (2014) is an expert on the New Testament and other ancient Greek literature, and he extensively argues that the four Gospels are works of fiction disguised as “history.” Contrary to Lundahl (2022s), fiction occurs in all literary genres (Carrier 2014, p. 389). It's not just the miracles that he finds unbelievable, Carrier (2014, pp. 387-509) lists numerous non-miraculous examples in the Gospels that are unreasonable to believe.
I agree with Carrier (2014, pp. 387-509). The stories in the Gospels are too unrealistic to be historical. For example, I argued in Henke (2022am):
“After supposedly witnessing the first multiplication of the loaves of bread and fish in Mark 6:30-44, one might wonder why the disciples would be so unbelievably stupid as to ask in Mark 8:4 where the extra food would come from for the second multiplication. Most likely, Mark included two versions of a fictitious story, see Price (2017, pp. 58-59).”
Also, see Carrier (2014, footnote #63, p. 417). Carrier (2014) provides other examples of fictional materials in the Gospels, such as, the Barabbas story in Mark (pp. 402-408), Matthew’s humorous misinterpretation of Zechariah 9:9 (p. 459, also see Price 2003, p. 293), the use of Roman myths in the Emmaus story in Luke 24 (pp. 480-484), and the evidence of corruption and rewriting in John (pp. 491-506). If Mr. Lundahl is actually willing to look up my recommended references for once, I’m willing to discuss them in more detail. Price (2007) is also rightfully critical of the New Testament’s claims about the Resurrection. Again, C.S. Lewis’ views of the Gospels are decades out of date.
References:
Carrier, R. 2014. On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt, Sheffield Phoenix Press: Sheffield, UK, 696pp.
Lewis, C.S. 1960. Miracles, 2nd ed., printed 1974: Harper One: HarperCollinsPublishers, 294pp.
Price, R.M. 2003. The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man: How Reliable is the Gospel Tradition?, Prometheus Books: Amherst, NY, USA, 389pp.
Price, R.M. 2007. Jesus is Dead, American Atheist Press: Cranford, NJ, USA, 279pp.