Too much dogma, not enough data
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“In general, this podcast overlooks the radical discontinuity between the historical Jesus and the character of Jesus portrayed on the pages of the gospels - see March 18 episode.
There is very little evidence (or data, if you will) which helps us objectively verify what the historical Jesus actually did and said. This has been the overwhelming consensus of mainstream historians for the last 150 years. Even self-professed Christians like Dale Allison, Jr. and Helen Bond who’ve been on the podcast openly and repeatedly maintain we can know exceedingly little about the actual deeds and words of the historical Jesus. Secular biblical and classical scholars are even more suspicious regarding efforts to reconstruct the historical Jesus because they understand any reliance on various methodological criteria is ad hoc and overly dependent on hypothetical written sources (Q, M, L, etc.) and unrecoverable oral traditions. I imagine Dan McClellan knows this but chooses not share these unsettling facts on the podcast in an effort to advocate for an intellectually respectable version of Christianity as a refuge for the thousands and thousands of believers who are fleeing conservative churches (including his own Mormon church).
I am quite sympathetic to this podcast’s mission, and I appreciate the hosts’ desire to combat the spread of religious misinformation. However, Dan McClellan has a blind spot when it comes to his beliefs about the historical Jesus. He seems unwilling to align with mainstream scholars regarding the quest of the historical Jesus and instead displays a need for the Jesus of the gospels to be very nearly identical to the Jesus of history.
As podcast guest Dale Allison wrote in his 1998 book, ‘Jesus of Nazareth’: “Appeals to shared criteria may, we can pray, assist us in being self-critical, but when all is said and done we look for the historical Jesus with our imaginations - and there, too, is where we find him, if we find him at all.”
The historical Jesus has been forever lost to us, and all that remains are the unverifiable and unfalsifiable claims of his later followers. That is the true state of affairs when data has the final word over dogma.”
D W Freeman via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
04/16/24
More reviews of Data Over Dogma
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“Loved the Stavrakopoulou interview! Best episode. The others are fine, but I was surprised that there wasn’t much that dealt with deeper themes of the narratives. It felt like a good bit of it was like listening to a SparkNotes summary of the narrative, which is obviously fine but you want it to...”Read full review »
N.Hason via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
04/26/23
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“Love this podcast! Thanks guys!”
Superslinky via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
06/27/23
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“Been watching Dan on Tic Tak. Thank you for your honesty and transparency. I applaud your attempt to democratize Biblical scripture. I have been waiting for 60 years for your approach. Look forward to all you can teach us.”
Fjordski via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
04/11/23
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