DAVID
The early NT preachers often copied the portions of scripture [from the OT] that they would use for their texts etc and take them to “church”. Thus they unwittingly coorborated the authenticity of the OT.

@ Georgie Porgie | November 26, 2012 at 10:12 AM |
“Zoe gives a list of books which are accepted by contemporary folk to be accurate. He points out that often after just a short period of time, very few copies of these books could be found. Whereas for the Biblical manuscripts several [hundreds] of copies have been found”

It’s a pit- or maybe just a failing on the part of your god- that none of those books were written by Chinese authors or in any of the many languages found is the Far East. Not even in Indian Sanskrit by the spiritual gurus of old.

Is your god a one-eyed man that can only see the Western side of human civilization? There are and have always been more people living in the East than in the West and with much older civilizations. The size and peoples of the Asian continent and its subcontinent India must be taken into account in any discussion or debate about God. Or do you like Zoe consider them to be heathens and infidels that will never see the face of your god.
Thank heavens, the one and true God of humankind is beneficent enough to shine its light from East to West without fear or favour both on the just and the unjust.

robert ross | November 26, 2012 at 7:13 AM |

“But Zoe: the argument is circular – it takes us nowhere. You are back to words and not words written contemporaneously with the words spoken either. And the premises remain constant…the Bible is “God’s Word”.

“Mind – you will still have to deal with the concept of the Apostolic priesthood, what Jesus actually meant in the words you quote – ‘I will build my Church’ – which begs all the questions, and whether God did indeed fumble and mumble in the OT, a condition which a throat operation cured in the New.”

No RR, the argument is most certainly not circular, that’s your illogical perception!

First, ‘Reason, that is the ability to think, critically, honestly, is necessary for Revelation, (God’s Word) to be coherent, as coherence is our only criterion for TRUTH. Which by definition is absolute!

As G. K. Chesterton said: “The man who begins to think without proper first principles, i.e., logic, goes MAD, he begins to think at the wrong end.”

Or, as Gordon Clark says: “Anyone who disparages or belittles logic, must use logic in his attack, thus undercutting his own argument.”

It is EITHER/OR, but NOT BOTH/AND!

The Historic Judeo/Christian worldview, essentially contains claims about reality, which are either TRUE or FALSE.

Therefore, any worldview, must be subjected to, and must sustain to (3) test in order to be considered valid.

1) Logical Consistency
2) Empirical Adequacy
3) Experiential Relevancy

The only religious Worldview, across comparative difficulties, premised on warranted credible facts, evidence and truth, that meet and sustain all three of these test, is the Historic/Judeo Christian worldview.

Secondly, and intricately connected to the above criteria for validity, every system must also demonstrate and deal with the following:

1) Origin
2) Meaning (of life)
3) Morality
4) Destiny

Again, the theistic Christian world view, is the Only one, that convincingly demonstrate and sustain to, the above questions, unparalleled with any other religious world view.

This, of course is just scratching the surface of the Historic Christian world view.

Surely, Robert R, you can see from the above, that, this is most certainly not circular reasoning!

Zoe

Sorry to say you’re not understanding the point – and haven’t answered me either.

Truth: an absolute….so…God’s Word’ in the OT was what in the New? And ‘adequacy’ means no more than that something serves for a time. Things may ‘cohere’ and yet be false. And as for ‘relevancy’ – ex hypothesi we are not dealing with absolutes.

Interesting you should quote Chesterton – a devout Roman Catholic

Now say something about the ‘true Church of Christ’.

Who said the ‘corpus of doctrine was once for all delivered’? Man or God?
If ‘God’, how do we know? And if man…? Aren’t we then in the business of ‘control’? Or vainglory?

From what I understand, the Laity took a different position from the Houses of Clergy and Bishops on the ground that the provisions in the Measure were inadequate to protect the interests of Anglo-Catholics who could not accept episcopal obedience to a female bishop. This might have demonstrated a level of sensitivity not possessed by the rest – though, as I said above, I see nothing wrong at all in ordaining female bishops in the name of what Zoe would call logical consistency – the logic, that is, of the consequences of ordaining to the priesthood..
So: it is the povisions of THIS Measure which are objected to Not ordaining female bishops in principle.

End of story

Well not quite. All we’re saying here is that 2000 years after Jesus there is no noticeable or recordable change in the nature of men. But then, why should there be? We all know that churchgoing is no guarantee of ‘goodness’ and that neither the clergy nor the bishop to whom they owe obedience are any ‘better’ than the rest of us. Do they think they are or are we destined to disappointment in supposing that they must be?

isn ,t it amazing that after all the time jesus spent preaching about the traditiions of man and the hindrance and roadblocks which the laws caused that the modern church has learnt nothing. the very same traditiions/are the same ones causing the problems in modern day church today.

The Bible was written in three different languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

The writings contained in the Bible belong to a great variety of literary types including history, law, poetry, educational discourses, parables, biography, personal correspondence, and prophecy.

Books written by men have no unity of thought on even one subject. Some of them invariably disagree with others. But there is perfect unity between the books of the Bible — which speak of hundreds of subjects in many fields. There is no contradiction among them.

Who but God could produce such a book?

Supernatural Origin
Some of the Bible writers recorded their own sins which brought them into disgrace. Many times their lives and worldly interests were imperiled because of what they wrote. Human nature causes people to do the opposite.

The writers claim a supernatural origin for their writings. Nearly 4,000 times expressions like “Thus says the Lord,” “The word of the Lord came unto me,” etc., are recorded in the Bible.

If the Bible is not God’s Word, then the Bible is full of lies. Could a book so filled with lies cause millions of people to turn from their sins — including lying?

Witness Of Fulfilled Prophecies
Hundreds of prophecies of future events were recorded in the Bible — some of them centuries before fulfillment — and not one detail of any of them has ever failed!

No other “religious book” foretells the future.

No one can refute the Bible’s accurate prediction of future events with facts. All they can do is try to get you to ignore these marvelous facts.

Could man — especially dozens of men, writing in different countries and different times — foretell the future so accurately? Never! Only God could do such a tremendous thing.

No one but God could reveal the future in such detail, often hundreds of years before the events occurred. Not only the future of cities, nations, and the world, but also concerning the future birth, ministry, death, and resurrection of Christ.

LOL@ Islandgal. You are a piece of work…. 🙂
…is it God you are talking about – or one of your admirers?

Picture it…
Goat #73245 to Goat #209786
“So….. What has Lowdown done for us lately…? ….and every night he down here looking for milk to help out Caswell….”

Goat 209783 chimes in…”Yea, and every so often he comes down here and another brother or sister is marched of to the land of mutton.

SURELY, he cannot be serious!!! Who he think he is?!?

Moral of the story.

Goat talk can’t affect Lowdown!!!

The Miracles of Jesus
37 New Testament Miracles of Jesus Christ

By Mary Fairchild, About.com Guide
See More About:miracle she alingn bible stories changed lives

Jesus walks on water and invites Peter to come to him.

Is Jesus Really God?

Discover the Evidence From Scholars About Jesus’ Claims to be God
God can change your life
http://www.LifesGreatestQuestion.com
Learn from this true life story How God can give you new hope

Miracles of Jesus Christ
All About Jesus
Who Is Jesus
Jesus Healing
Miracles
During his earthly ministry, Jesus Christ touched and transformed countless lives. The four Gospels record 37 miracles of Jesus, only a small portion of the multitudes of people who were made whole by our Savior. The closing verse of John’s Gospel says, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” (John 21:25, NIV)

Below is a list of the miracles of Jesus described in the New Testament, along with corresponding Bible passages. These supernatural acts of love and power drew people to Jesus, revealed his divine nature, opened hearts to the message of salvation, and caused many to glorify God.

As much as possible, these miracles of Jesus are presented in chronological order.

The Miracles of Jesus

37 Miracles of Jesus
# Miracle Matthew Mark Luke John
1 Jesus Turns Water into Wine 2:1-11
2 Jesus Heals an Official’s Son 4:43-54
3 Jesus Drives Out an Evil Spirit 1:21-27 4:31-36
4 Jesus Heals Peter’s Mother-in-Law 8:14-15 1:29-31 4:38-39
5 Jesus Heals Many Sick at Evening 8:16-17 1:32-34 4:40-41
6 First Miraculous Catch of Fish 5:1-11
7 Jesus Cleanses a Man With Leprosy 8:1-4 1:40-45 5:12-14
8 Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant 8:5-13 7:1-10
9 Jesus Heals a Paralytic 9:1-8 2:1-12 5:17-12
10 Jesus Heals a Man’s Withered Hand 12:9-14 3:1-6 6:6-11
11 Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son in Nain 7:11-17
12 Jesus Calms a Storm 8:23-27 4:35-41 8:22-25
13 Jesus Casts Demons into a Herd of Pigs 8:28-33 5:1-20 8:26-39
14 Jesus Heals a Woman in the Crowd 9:20-22 5:25-34 8:42-48
15 Jesus Raises Jairus’ Daughter to Life 9:18,
23-26 5:21-24,
35-43 8:40-42,
49-56
16 Jesus Heals Two Blind Men 9:27-31
17 Jesus Heals a Man Unable to Speak 9:32-34
18 Jesus Heals an Invalid at Bethesda 5:1-15
19 Jesus Feeds 5,000 14:13-21 6:30-44 9:10-17 6:1-15
20 Jesus Walks on Water 14:22-33 6:45-52 6:16-21
21 Jesus Heals Many Sick in Gennesaret 14:34-36 6:53-56
22 Jesus Heals a Gentile Woman’s Demon-Possessed Daughter 5:21-28 7:24-30
23 Jesus Heals a Deaf and Dumb Man 7:31-37
24 Jesus Feeds 4,000 15:32-39 8:1-13
25 Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida 8:22-26
26 Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind 9:1-12
27 Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon 17:14-20 9:14-29 9:37-43
28 Miraculous Temple Tax in a Fish’s Mouth 17:24-27
29 Jesus Heals a Blind, Mute Demoniac 12:22-23 11:14-23
30 Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman 13:10-17
31 Jesus Heals a Man With Dropsy on the Sabbath 14:1-6
32 Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers 17:11-19
33 Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead 11:1-45
34 Jesus Restores Sight to Bartimaeus 20:29-34 10:46-52 18:35-43
35 Jesus Withers the Fig Tree 21:18:22 11:12-14
36 Jesus Heals a Servant’s Severed Ear 22:50-51
37 Second Miraculous Catch of Fish 21:4-11

The Greatest Miracle of all, is His Gift of Eternal Life, where He transforms us, FROM WITHIN, through the New Birth, being ‘Born Again’ from above, this has NOTHING to do with dead, religious formalism, or ritualistic sacramentalism, or sacerdotalism as found in Roman Catholicism.

@Zoe | November 26, 2012 at 4:43 PM |
“But there is perfect unity between the books of the Bible — which speak of hundreds of subjects in many fields. There is no contradiction among them.”

That statement is patently untrue.
The book of Matthew is at odds with that of Luke regarding Jesus’s origins and birth. According to Matthew Jesus was “an aristocrat-if not a rightful and legitimate king- descended from David via Solomon”. Luke just placed him and his family as lowly members from the large house of David.

How comes, according to Luke, Jesus on his birth was visited by shepherds but in Matthew’s book he was visited by wise men?

What about the day of his crucifixion? According to John’s Gospel “the Crucifixion occurred on “the day before the Passover”. According to Mark, Luke and Matthew “the crucifixion occurred on the day after” (the Passover).
What about his depiction as a meek lamblike saviour by Luke compared to Matthew’s figure of a “powerful and majestic sovereign who comes not to bring peace but a sword”.

And last but not least the last words said by the mythical god ending life as an ordinary dying man on a cross and mockingly called Jesus King of the Jews:
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Matthew & Mark. How human to the very end asking his Father in the sky for a place in paradise.
“Father into thy hands I commend my spirit”: Luke
“It is finished”: In the words of John

“The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail” can bear new testament to the above ‘unimpugnable contradictions’.

Both you, Zoe, and your other intellectual sidekick (not PhD but GP) can deal with those inconsistencies and contradictory so-called testaments.
But I doubt very much, you quack of biblical scholarship.

@nunnaki, Man, all of these apparent contradictions raised by numerous critics, is nothing new, and each and every one of them, have been soundly put in the garbage heap, where they belong.

Here is the reasonable answer, to your “the crucifixion occurred on the day before the Passover….the crucifixion occurred on the day after” the Passover” contradiction of accounts.

The Timing of the Passover Meal

Matthew seems to say that it was the night before Jesus’ crucifixion, but John seems to say that it was the following night (the day of Jesus’ crucifixion). This is an alleged contradiction that Bible critic Bart Ehrman brings up in his book, Misquoting Jesus (p. 10). Let’s take a look.

Matthew 26:18-20 says, “And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.” 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover. 20 When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve.”

You know the rest of the story. Jesus’ disciples enjoyed their final meal, the Passover meal, with their friend and Lord before His crucifixion. If you were to read the rest of the story we learn that this meal took place the night before Christ was crucified. Ahh, but John seems to contradict that by saying that the Passover meal was actually eaten the next day, on the day of Jesus’ crucifixion (24 hours later). Turn over to John’s gospel, Chapter 18.

John 18:28 says, “Then they [this speaks of the people that arrested Jesus] led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, [The Praetorium was the headquarters for the commanding officer of the Roman military –WHY did they not want to be defiled? John says…] but that they might eat the Passover [When? Later that day, the day after Jesus and his disciples ate the passover].”

Hold on! I thought the Passover meal was already eaten the night before. That’s what Matthew 26 told us. John seems to place the Passover meal 24 hours later than the other three Gospels. There seems to be a problem here doesn’t there? Was the Passover meal eaten the night before Jesus was crucified as Matthew tells us? Or Was it eaten the following day as John tells us? Well, the critic says: “This is a contradiction!!” A student of the Scriptures says “Not at all.”

Here’s the solution: The Passover meal was historically eaten on two different days. How do we know that? Two different extra-Biblical sources.

1. Josephus
2. The Mishna

Josephus, of course, is that historian who lived in the first century A.D. The Mishna is a compilation of the writings of well-known Jewish scholars that was completed in the third century A.D.

These two sources reveal to us that the Pharisees and the Sadducees (the two popular religious parties in Jesus’ day) disagreed about the day of the week on which to celebrate the Passover. The reason why is this: There was a disagreement over when a day began. When God rescued His people from Egypt, He instructed them in Exodus 12:18 to celebrate the Passover on “the 14th day of the first month at twilight.” The Jews knew that. But when did a day begin? The Jews who lived in Northern Israel believed that a day began with the sunrise. Northern Israel included the region of Galilee, where Jesus and all the disciples, except Judas, had grown up. The Pharisees also believed that a day began with sunrise. So they calculated days from sunrise to sunrise. The Jews who lived in Southern Israel—which included Jerusalem, the priests who lived there, and the Sadducees—calculated days from sunset to sunset. This difference in opinion, as to when a day started, is what led Jesus and His disciples from Northern Israel to celebrate the Passover a day before those who lived in the south did.

So once again, with a little research, an alleged contradiction is cleared up. The Passover meal was eaten on two different days.
http://www.alwayabeready.com

NUNNAKI, Keep bowling your NO-BALLS!

There is no contradiction at all, between Luke’s account of the shepherds, who visited Jesus at his birth, (Luke 2: 8-20) and Matthews account of the wise men from the East (Matt. 2: 1-12), as there were two separate and distinct visitations, with Luke recording the shepherds, and Matthew the wise men from the East.

Shepherds Visit Jesus (Luke 2: 8-20)

Jesus was born in a stable and laid to sleep in a manger. The shepherds came to see firsthand the things the angel had told them.

That night, some shepherds were in the fields near Bethlehem, keeping watch over their flocks of sheep. An angel appeared to them and gave them the good news that a Savior, the Messiah, had been born. The angel told the shepherds they could find Jesus lying in a manger. Suddenly a whole group of angels appeared saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

The shepherds hurried into Bethlehem and found Jesus in the manger, just as the angel had told them. After they had seen Jesus, they spread the news, and everyone who heard was in awe.

Wise Men Visit Jesus (Matt. 2: 1-12).

Wise men from the East came to worship Jesus, bringing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Some time later, wise men, or magi, from eastern countries saw a star in the sky that signaled the birth of a new king. They came to Judea, the region around Jerusalem and Bethlehem, to worship Jesus, the new king.

A man named Herod was the king of Judea. He called the wise men to a meeting and told them to find the new king so he could go and worship him, too.

The wise men continued on to Bethlehem and followed the star until it was directly above the house where Jesus was. They found Mary and Jesus in the house and knelt down to worship Him. They brought Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, some of the finest things in the ancient world. Frankincense was burned to make a sweet smell, and myrrh was an expensive perfume.

After visiting Jesus, the wise men had a dream that warned them not to go back to King Herod, so they took a different route home.

@ Zoe | November 26, 2012 at 10:01 PM |

Here is a bit of cutting & pasting something you are exceedingly good at.
Is what is written below the word of your god too or Amon Ra?

The story of Horus can be found in “The Egyptian Book of the Dead (also known as the “Papyrus of Ani”) written over 3,000 years before the birth of Christ.
Identical Life Experiences
(1) It is written that both Horus and Jesus existed before their incarnations.
(2) Horus was born of the virgin Isis on December 25th in a cave/manger.
(3) Horus’ birth was announced by a star in the East and attended by three wise men.
(4) The infant Horus was carried out of Egypt to escape the wrath of Typhon. The infant Jesus was carried into Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod. Concerning the infant Jesus, the New Testament states the following prophecy: “Out of Egypt have I called my son.” (Matt. 2:15)
(5) He was a child teacher in the temple and was baptized by Anup the Baptizer when he was thirty years old.
(6) He had twelve disciples and performed miracles such as feeding bread to the multitude and walking on water.
(7) He raised one man, El-Azar-us, from the dead.
(8) He transfigured on a mount.
(9) He also had titles such as the “way, the truth, the light, the Messiah, God’s anointed Son, the Son of Man, the good shepherd, the lamb of God, the Word, the Morning Star, the light of the world.
(10) He was “the Fisher,” and was associated with the lamb, lion and fish (“Ichthys”).
(11) Horus’s personal epithet was “Iusa,” the “ever-becoming son” of “Ptah,” the “Father.”
(12) Horus was called “KRST,” or “Anointed One.
(13) He was crucified, buried in a tomb and resurrected.

@ Miller

You posted something in another place – LGBT – and asked a question of ‘Anonymous’. At 2.25am Tuesday, he is now 136. Mark this nonsense will you.

Note the following link.

Almost half of the lay members of the Church of England General Synod who voted down women bishops were themselves women, official voting returns show.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9703820/Half-of-women-bishops-opponents-in-Synod-were-women.html

tradition with a healthy dose of indoctrination is hard to break. as we enter the xmas season millions of people world wide still belive in santa claus and celebrates xmas as the birthday of jesus.

not included in this authentic book are the gospels of Mary! Peter! and Thomas! another proof that hich was included was to intimidate and put fear in the hearts of men. the question as to why these important pieces of literature were excluded from the bible reveals that a lot of it had to do with withholding the truth from the masses out of fear that which was recorded would be more in line with the politics of religion and total control of the church.

AC

The Kingdom is within you – Luke says it; Thomas says it. There are other parallels with the synoptics Thomas is a book of sayings not doings. Most say it is second century. I have no problem with the notional 25th as the Feast of the Christ Child nor the season which comes before. Most of us watch and wait in one way or other – with hope. And Santa ? Well, it’s a good way of combining east and west and besides – he appeals to the child in all of us….the child which, who knows, one day will lead the lion and lamb.

Bushie why don’t you stop trying to antagonize me? You feel that I have to agree with you and your archaic ideas and that I should be walking behind you and not with you. THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!

If those stupid women in the church would vote against women becoming Bishops then they have been brainwashed by the corrupt and voodoo doctrines of the church. They were probably handpicked by the men so that they can be controlled. Stupid bitches!

@ Islandgal
“Bushie why don’t you stop trying to antagonize me”
***********
…and do Wuh?
You can’t see that Onions up foot and run ever since Bajans start cussing the BLP bout selling out the family silver?

….Caswell won’t budge.

Bushie can’t make head or tail of what ac is on about..and Miller does cuss and get on too bad when you say anything bout Mia or Kerrie….

…..um is only you left back chile! 🙂

@ Zoe | November 27, 2012 at 8:58 AM |

Zoe we want you to respond on the similarities in the myths identified between your Jew Sweet Jesus and the Egyptian Horus.

Go ahead and prove island girl wrong that you are not some kind of “frauds posing as educated wannnabes”. Answer, nuh!

If you don’t I will further expose your NT writers as a bunch of plagiarists and copy cat propagandists to indoctrinate and control the minds of people like you.

millertheanunnaki | November 27, 2012 at 9:52 AM |
@ Zoe | November 27, 2012 at 8:58 AM |

“Zoe we want you to respond on the similarities in the myths identified between your Jew Sweet Jesus and the Egyptian Horus”.

Nunnaki, The ONLY MYTH here, IS* the Egyptian Horus, NOT one iota of historical verasity, NONE, ALL MYTHOLOGICAL SATANIC LIES!

One the other hand, JESUS WAS/IS Incarnate Deity, the man Jesus WAS/IS Historically authenticated, beyond any reasonable doubt, by not only N.T. documents, but by external sources, within the then Roman Empire, historians, et al.

“Go ahead and prove island girl wrong that you are not some kind of “frauds posing as educated wannnabes”. Answer, nuh!”

The burden of PROOF rest with her, NOT with me! I substantiate with facts, evidence, what I resolutely KNOW to be TRUE! Not with ad hominem and voidless, empty rhetoric as SHE DOES!

“If you don’t I will further expose your NT writers as a bunch of plagiarists and copy cat propagandists to indoctrinate and control the minds of people like you.”

Be my guest Nuki, go right ahead!

Did Jesus Really Exist?

“Harpur devotes an entire chapter of his book to the idea that Jesus never existed as a literal person in history. He laces his argument with patronizing rhetoric”:

“I am fully aware that the discussion that follows will be at first quite intimidating for some…To claim that a historical figure who has inspired so much love and devotion over centuries is in fact a mythical copy of many preceding saviors is somewhat of a shock, I know…But in matters of faith, as in all else, truth demands my allegiance over everything…[2]”

“He repeatedly assures the reader that his belief that Jesus of Nazareth never actually existed was not an easy conclusion to accept, and uses persuasive language intended to make his reader feel as if they are in dire need of enlightenment about the truth of the matter. He liberally tosses around phrases such as “most Bible theologians agree” to give artificial authority to his assertions, and discounts the Gospels by claiming late authorship dates. But as the late F.F. Bruce (distinguished scholar of biblical history and literature) remarked, “The historicity of Christ is as axiomatic for an unbiased historian as the historicity of Julius Caesar. It is not historians who propagate the ‘Christ-myth’ theories.”[3]

“A significant problem in Harpur’s estimation is what he considers a virtual lack of first-century extra-biblical evidence for the existence of Jesus. He says, “apart from the four Gospels…and the Epistles, there is no hard, historical evidence for Jesus’ existence coming out of the first century at all.”[4] It seems that Harpur didn’t research this supposition sufficiently. There are in fact several credible first-century secular sources that refer to Jesus as a historical person. Secular sources are particularly good; their records of a religious leader and the events surrounding his life can be taken into consideration without suspicion of religious motive.”
htto://hcchristianwordpress.com

“Interestingly, Harpur does believe that the Apostle Paul was a historical figure, even though there is no more extra-biblical attestation to his existence than Jesus’.[10] Concerning Paul’s letters, however, Harpur argues that those writings do not attest to a historical Jesus, but rather take an esoteric, allegorical approach.[11] He says, “Paul never once mentions the man Jesus, in the full historical sense…most Bible theologians agree that even when he [mentions Jesus], he is not talking about a man of flesh and blood, a historical person.”[12] Contrary to this fantastical notion, there are quite a few passages in Paul’s letters that are easily interpreted as referring to a literal man. For example, Paul says in Romans 1:1-3, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh.”[13] The phrase “born…according to the flesh” has the obvious connotation of an actual physical birth. Various passages in other letters mention Jesus eating a meal and having brothers (such as the aforementioned James). I Timothy6:13 mentions Jesus testifying before Pontius Pilate (a historical figure) and numerous passages talk about Jesus’ subsequent crucifixion and death. It’s clear that Paul considered Jesus a real man; Harpur’s claim to the contrary is utterly groundless.”
htpp://hcchristianwordpress.com