Raphael Lataster, Ph.D. (2017), University of Sydney, is an associate lecturer at that university. He has published monographs and articles on God’s existence and Jesus’ existence, including The Case Against Theism (Springer, 2018).

• ForewordAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1Which Jesus?2A Debate among Atheists3The Problem4The Philosopher’s Probabilistic ApproachPart 1: The Case for Historicity1Ehrman’s Dual Approach towards the Gospels1A (Mostly) Wonderful Start2The Gospels and the Folly of the Hypothetical Source2Beyond the Gospels1The Problem of Paul3Casey’s Superfluous ‘Scholarship’1Poisoning the Well2‘Method’3Why the Gospels Ought to Be Trusted, but Only When We Feel like It4After the Case5Even Worse than Ehrman: Offensive and Facetious6Crossan’s Brief AttemptPart 2: The Case for Agnosticism4Inadequate Methods1History Concerns What Probably Happened2Criteria for Authenticity3Faith and Inconsistency4A Bayesian Alternative5The Criteria vs. Bayes5Inadequate Sources1The Silence of the Primary Sources2‘Other’ Christian Sources3(Non-Christian) Extrabiblical Sources4Josephus5Tacitus6Thallus (and Phlegon)7Pliny, Suetonius, and Mara Bar Serapion8The Talmud9The Less Interesting Books of the New Testament10The Canonical Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke-Acts, and John11Mark’s Burden12The Genre of the Gospels13Burridge’s Take on the Gospels’ Genre14Mark’s Failure6The Problem of Paul1The Docetic/Marcionite Jesus2The Earliest Witness’ Sources3Paul’s Minimal, Unquotable Jesus4Paul’s Cosmic Christ5Philo’s Pre-Christian and Pre-Pauline ‘Celestial Jesus’6The Evolution of Jesus7Fictitious Founders8The Revelation of/from Paul9Agnosticism is RationalPart 3: The Case for Mythicism7Prior Probabilities1The Problem2The Hypothesis of Historicity3The Hypothesis of Myth4Background Knowledge (Christianity)4.1Elements of Christian Origin4.2Elements of Christian Religion5Background Knowledge (Context)5.1Elements of Political Context5.2Elements of Religious and Philosophical Context 5.3Elements of Literary Context6The Prior Probability8Consequent Probabilities1Primary Sources2Extrabiblical Evidence3The Evidence of Acts4The Evidence of the Gospels5The Evidence of the Epistles9Calculations1Carrier’s Calculations2Alternative Calculations3Devil’s AdvocateConclusions1The Glory of Agnosticism2Mainstream Scholars Already Agree with UsBibliographyIndex

Raphael Lataster, Ph.D. (2017), University of Sydney, is an associate lecturer at that university. He has published monographs and articles on God’s existence and Jesus’ existence, including The Case Against Theism (Springer, 2018).

• ForewordAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1Which Jesus?2A Debate among Atheists3The Problem4The Philosopher’s Probabilistic ApproachPart 1: The Case for Historicity1Ehrman’s Dual Approach towards the Gospels1A (Mostly) Wonderful Start2The Gospels and the Folly of the Hypothetical Source2Beyond the Gospels1The Problem of Paul3Casey’s Superfluous ‘Scholarship’1Poisoning the Well2‘Method’3Why the Gospels Ought to Be Trusted, but Only When We Feel like It4After the Case5Even Worse than Ehrman: Offensive and Facetious6Crossan’s Brief AttemptPart 2: The Case for Agnosticism4Inadequate Methods1History Concerns What Probably Happened2Criteria for Authenticity3Faith and Inconsistency4A Bayesian Alternative5The Criteria vs. Bayes5Inadequate Sources1The Silence of the Primary Sources2‘Other’ Christian Sources3(Non-Christian) Extrabiblical Sources4Josephus5Tacitus6Thallus (and Phlegon)7Pliny, Suetonius, and Mara Bar Serapion8The Talmud9The Less Interesting Books of the New Testament10The Canonical Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke-Acts, and John11Mark’s Burden12The Genre of the Gospels13Burridge’s Take on the Gospels’ Genre14Mark’s Failure6The Problem of Paul1The Docetic/Marcionite Jesus2The Earliest Witness’ Sources3Paul’s Minimal, Unquotable Jesus4Paul’s Cosmic Christ5Philo’s Pre-Christian and Pre-Pauline ‘Celestial Jesus’6The Evolution of Jesus7Fictitious Founders8The Revelation of/from Paul9Agnosticism is RationalPart 3: The Case for Mythicism7Prior Probabilities1The Problem2The Hypothesis of Historicity3The Hypothesis of Myth4Background Knowledge (Christianity)4.1Elements of Christian Origin4.2Elements of Christian Religion5Background Knowledge (Context)5.1Elements of Political Context5.2Elements of Religious and Philosophical Context 5.3Elements of Literary Context6The Prior Probability8Consequent Probabilities1Primary Sources2Extrabiblical Evidence3The Evidence of Acts4The Evidence of the Gospels5The Evidence of the Epistles9Calculations1Carrier’s Calculations2Alternative Calculations3Devil’s AdvocateConclusions1The Glory of Agnosticism2Mainstream Scholars Already Agree with UsBibliographyIndex

Raphael Lataster, Ph.D. (2017), University of Sydney, is an associate lecturer at that university. He has published monographs and articles on God’s existence and Jesus’ existence, including The Case Against Theism (Springer, 2018).

• ForewordAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1Which Jesus?2A Debate among Atheists3The Problem4The Philosopher’s Probabilistic ApproachPart 1: The Case for Historicity1Ehrman’s Dual Approach towards the Gospels1A (Mostly) Wonderful Start2The Gospels and the Folly of the Hypothetical Source2Beyond the Gospels1The Problem of Paul3Casey’s Superfluous ‘Scholarship’1Poisoning the Well2‘Method’3Why the Gospels Ought to Be Trusted, but Only When We Feel like It4After the Case5Even Worse than Ehrman: Offensive and Facetious6Crossan’s Brief AttemptPart 2: The Case for Agnosticism4Inadequate Methods1History Concerns What Probably Happened2Criteria for Authenticity3Faith and Inconsistency4A Bayesian Alternative5The Criteria vs. Bayes5Inadequate Sources1The Silence of the Primary Sources2‘Other’ Christian Sources3(Non-Christian) Extrabiblical Sources4Josephus5Tacitus6Thallus (and Phlegon)7Pliny, Suetonius, and Mara Bar Serapion8The Talmud9The Less Interesting Books of the New Testament10The Canonical Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke-Acts, and John11Mark’s Burden12The Genre of the Gospels13Burridge’s Take on the Gospels’ Genre14Mark’s Failure6The Problem of Paul1The Docetic/Marcionite Jesus2The Earliest Witness’ Sources3Paul’s Minimal, Unquotable Jesus4Paul’s Cosmic Christ5Philo’s Pre-Christian and Pre-Pauline ‘Celestial Jesus’6The Evolution of Jesus7Fictitious Founders8The Revelation of/from Paul9Agnosticism is RationalPart 3: The Case for Mythicism7Prior Probabilities1The Problem2The Hypothesis of Historicity3The Hypothesis of Myth4Background Knowledge (Christianity)4.1Elements of Christian Origin4.2Elements of Christian Religion5Background Knowledge (Context)5.1Elements of Political Context5.2Elements of Religious and Philosophical Context 5.3Elements of Literary Context6The Prior Probability8Consequent Probabilities1Primary Sources2Extrabiblical Evidence3The Evidence of Acts4The Evidence of the Gospels5The Evidence of the Epistles9Calculations1Carrier’s Calculations2Alternative Calculations3Devil’s AdvocateConclusions1The Glory of Agnosticism2Mainstream Scholars Already Agree with UsBibliographyIndex