>>5126338521. BAYESIAN "GAME RIGGING" (AKA GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT)
Carrier picks priors like a schizoposter cherry-picking evidence.
Assigns arbitrary probability values to fit his conclusion (e.g., "Paul thinks Jesus is a space ghost: 90% likely!").
Actual statisticians (like Dr. Richard Swinburne) call this "not even wrong."
MFW Bayes Theorem is just a pseudoscience fig leaf.
2. PAUL'S LETTERS: CARRIER VS. REALITY
Claims "brother of the Lord" (Galatians 1:19) means "spiritual bros in Christ's cult!"
WRONG:
Ancient Greek ("adelphos") + Jewish context ("kyrios") = BIOLOGICAL KIN (Josephus uses same phrasing for blood relatives).
Paul distinguishes "brothers of the Lord" from "other apostles" (1 Cor 9:5).
Even atheist scholar Bart Ehrman: "This is utter bullshit."
3. "CELESTIAL JESUS" COPE
Carrier: "Early Christians thought Jesus was crucified by DEMONS in a DIMENSION CLOUD!"
Evidence? Literally zero 1st-century texts support this.
Paul says Jesus born of woman (Gal 4:4), descended from David (Rom 1:3), executed by earthly rulers (1 Cor 2:8).
Carrier's "support": 2nd-century GNOSTIC texts (like Ascension of Isaiah). That's like citing Star Wars to explain WWII.
4. JOSEPHUS & TACITUS: "IT'S ALL FORGERIES!" (SEETHING)
Josephus' Testimonium Flavianum has Christian edits? Fine, scholars agree. But Carrier says the ENTIRE REFERENCE to James (Jesus' brother) is fake too.
Why? Because it wrecks his theory. Tacitus' mention? "Forgery!" (Actual evidence: ZERO).
Meanwhile, Carrier cites Mara Bar-Serapion (a 3rd-century Syrian) as "evidence" for mythicism. Brainlet take.
5. THE OCCAM'S NUCLEAR BOMB
Carrier's theory:
A secret "Jesus cult" hallucinates a cosmic savior
Within 20 years, everyone "forgets" he was a space ghost
They invent a human biography in Galilee (a backwater shithole)
Zero dissent in early texts about Jesus suddenly becoming human
Historians' theory:
A apocalyptic preacher (Yeshua) got crucified by Romans
Followers claimed he rose, movement spread.