Amherst Conference

In my previous blog about The Jesus Project I promised a two-parter, the first on the Project in general, the next on December's conference specifically (it's been more than a week, I know, but a lot's being going on of late). This time my remarks will be rather long, as quite a lot went on, spanning the whole weekend. But all this was newsworthy, IMO.

Appearing at La Verne

I will be speaking on the historicity of Jesus at the University of La Verne in southern California in the Founders Hall Auditorium, which is next to the La Fetra Auditorium (1950 3rd St. in La Verne, California) the night of Monday, March 9 (7pm) 2009, for the campus Religion & Philosophy Club, aka The Most Greatest Club Ever. It's free and open to the public, and afterwards I'll be signing and selling my book Sense and Goodness without God (and possibly The Empty Tomb and remotely possibly a new book Not the Impossible Faith that updates and collects my work against J.P. Holding).

The talk will be "Why I Think Jesus Didn't Exist" and will essentially resemble my Stanford talk on that same subject in 2006, slightly updated in light of my current work On the Historicity of Jesus Christ (in progress). In a sense this will be a precis of the argument of that book, but greatly condensed and simplified. Per the official description, "Dr. Carrier will summarize some of the arguments of his forthcoming book On the Historicity of Jesus Christ, suggesting there is a reasonable case to be made that Jesus might not have been a historical person, but was instead a mythical cosmic being who became ‘historicized’ over time like other Greco-Roman gods and heroes. Even if you disagree with the conclusion, you will likely find the evidence fascinating and thought-provoking."

Teaser: I will also be debating William Lane Craig (the topic is awaiting official approval but likely will be the Resurrection of Jesus) at Northwest Missouri State University on Wednesday, March 18 (2009). When all the details are finalized at NMSU I'll blog that event in detail.