2026-10-03 07:41 UTC
Did Christ actually talk that much about the literal end of the world
Nobody knows exactly what he talked about, but the view that he passes the bar for historicity but seems to have been more of a the-end-is-nigh witch doctor type character as the new baseline has gained a lot of ground, especially with biblical scholars like Bart Ehrman breaking into popular science writing.
Also John’s apocalypse has the whole coded anti-roman-empire screed going for it beyond the psychedelia, so it’s arguable Jesus was the more direct doom prophet, but for a more distinctly jewish flavored apocalypse.
Replies (1)
-
@rmf@awful.systems 2026-10-03 10:01
tbc I’m not a mysticist at all, and I generally understand and agree with the historicity arguments. I haven’t read Ehrman, though. Do you know if his work is where does the “end-is-nigh witch doctor” idea comes from? Afaik neither Paul nor Josephus nor Tacitus describe him as such, and as I understand those are the main sources we have. Like, I can understand that this is a hypothesis someone floated around but I’m curious why this would be the consensus among historians.