Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1187956 in Books
• Published on: 1991-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 516 pages

Customer Reviews

Very interesting discussion of Skepticism, Science, Religion
It is interesting that although the original edition of this book was written in 1986, much of the discussion on Jesus and the origins of Christianity were recently reinforced by the excellent PBS special titled "From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians" which first appeared April 1998, and in which many notable religious scholars provided material that concurs with that presented in this book. Kurtz draws on numerous historical sources to provide background on the historical Jesus: "In order to evaluate their [the four Gospels] historical accuracy, it is important that we find independent corroboration. Thus we need to examine nonbiblical literature of the first few centuries C.E. I am referring here (1) to any parallels between Christianity and pagan or Jewish presursors; (2) to any secular references by pagan and Jewish authors; (3) to what the early critics of Christianity had to say; and (4) to the extensive apocryphal literature, gospels, and epistles that were subsequently rejected by the church." Kurtz presents the material in a very accessible and well researched manner. An excellent book.

Good But Dense Exploration of the "Need" for Religion
Contrary to what one reviewer (below) has said, ther are no eyewitnesses to Christ. The gospels were all written from 50 to 90 years after the purported death of Christ and St Paul, whose letters are the oldest documents in the NT, likewise did not know Christ and in any event offers little or no detail about the events of the life of Christ.

presents a poor case for his claims
Kurtz claims that u.f.o.s, religion and all other beliefs result from something called the "transcendental temptation" which is simply another way of saying that such beliefs are wishful thinking. The entire book is devoted to critically examining the claims of the paranormal. What is intresting is how Kurtz uses evidence in a twisted way. He rejects eye witness accounts of the life of Christ and the testimony of the Bible, yet quotes the pagan Celsus as a source for saying that Jesus was a magician. Why should we reject the testimony of the Bible for the testimony of Celsus? Why should Celsus have any more validity? This quoting of sources to support his viewpoints runs throughout the book. There is nothing wrong with this if it is done in an unbiased way, but Kurtz is far from being unbiased. This book is not a search for truth, but simply another persons biased opinion. What is remarkable about this book is that because it is written by a philosphy professor, it is believed by many to carry the stamp of truth. It does not. One finds truth by looking at all the evidence, not just part of it. Unfortunately, Kurtz is as guilty of special pleading as any other biased believer in his religion. This clearly shows through in his book. The truth is that people believe whatever they want to believe no matter what the evidence is, and some skeptics fall into the same trap. The great philosopher Mill is right when he wrote that the wise are few in number.