Sources of the Jesus Tradition: Separating History from Myth by R. Joseph Hoffmann

Author:R. Joseph Hoffmann
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2010-11-20T20:58:00+00:00

(0) Most importantly, is my theory falsifiable (testable)? Can one at least imagine a way it could be proven wrong? This is the zeroeth commandment of all science. Only propositions that can be tested-at least in the imagination-fall within the realm of science.

(1) Are any facts already known that are incompatible with my theory? If so, do they completely rule out my theory or merely require a minor revision of details?

(2) Are there any facts that clearly indicate my theory is probably true?

(3) How well does my theory fit available facts? Does it fit the facts better than other theories do?

(4) Does the theory have heuristic value? Does it help us discover new facts? Does it allow us to make useful predictions? Does it allow us to explain things hitherto inexplicable or mysterious?

We must resolve to make the study of religions a science. No longer can we afford to allow magical thinking to intrude into our investigations. No longer can we allow traditional modes of thinking to compromise our objectivity. No longer can we let ourselves substitute the world of wishes for the world of reality.

Religion is arguably the most powerful force on earth. We must understand it in order to guide it out of the valley of the shadow of death, that it might lead us into the green pastures of a sustainable life for our species.

Martin Luther once said, "Gott macht Kinder, der wird sie auch ernahren" (God makes children, and he feeds them too). But, like many popes who have agreed with him, he was wrong. He was not thinking scientifically. Children everywhere are starving. No illusion is going to feed them. Only science and a calm and unemotional objectivity will show us how to feed them or prevent the problem.

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