An example of rational questioning

Last edited June 25, 2008
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An Example of Rational Questioning
Presuming an historical Jesus Christ, did he have a human father - analysis of DNA known to be from Jesus would settle the question - or was his mother a virgin at the time of his birth?

Whether or not there is any or enough surviving evidence to decide, the claims embedded in such questions are falsifiable, each with a definite answer, ascertainable in the (unlikely) event relevant evidence became available, as are:

Did Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead?
Did Jesus come alive again, three days after being crucified?

Among the questions which might be posed about scriptural evidence, and which should be of particular interest to those inclined to see it as supporting belief in an Abrahamic god:

Who wrote it, and when?
How did they know what to write?
Did they, in their time, really mean what many people, in our time, understand them to be saying?
Were the authors disinterested observers, or did they have an agenda which coloured their writing?
What selection criteria determined which "gospels" made it into the Christian bible, and what was in those gospels excluded and "outlawed"?
Was Joseph really a direct descendant of King David? Where was Jesus born? What was his occupation? Bible sources contradict each other on these and other such points (as well as conflicting with independent historical sources).

(see: Richard-Dawkins' "The God-Delusion")

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