Richard Carrier recently finished his Ph.D. at Columbia University in ancient history, with a specialization in science, philosophy, historical method, and Greco-Roman religious and intellectual history. He is perhaps best known for his extensive and numerous writings on the Secular Web covering such topics as atheism, ancient history, debate, ethics and values, faith and reason, and science and creationism. Among these are a number of articles and essays on Christianity, the New Testament, and the figure of Jesus. As an example, Carrier has produced a detailed examination of why he doesn’t buy the resurrection story.

In addition to his many writings online, Carrier also contributed three chapters to the book The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond The Grave, covering theories in great detail that the body of Jesus was stolen, misplaced, or raised only in the spirit realm. Here is a description of the book:

Did Jesus rise from the dead? Although 19th- and early 20th-century biblical scholarship dismissed the resurrection narratives as late, legendary accounts, Christian apologists in the late 20th century revived historical apologetics for the resurrection of Jesus with increasingly sophisticated arguments. A few critics have directly addressed some of the new arguments, but their response has been largely muted. The Empty Tomb scrutinizes the claims of leading Christian apologists and critiques their view of the resurrection as the best historical explanation.

He has also authored a book length defense of metaphysical naturalism, or the world view that takes nature as all that exists, in Sense and Goodness Without God: A Defense of Metaphysical Naturalism. Here is the book description:

If God does not exist, then what does? Is there good and evil, and should we care? How do we know what’s true anyway? And can we make any sense of this universe, or our own lives? Sense and Goodness answers all these questions in lavish detail, without complex jargon. A complete worldview is presented and defended, covering every subject from knowledge to art, from metaphysics to morality, from theology to politics. Topics include free will, the nature of the universe, the meaning of life, and much more, arguing from scientific evidence that there is only a physical, natural world without gods or spirits, but that we can still live a life of love, meaning, and joy.

According to his webpage, Carrier is “also an experienced speaker, lecturing on critical thought and skepticism, and debating issues in philosophy and history.” He has “appeared on the national television program Faith Under Fire, and debated issues before large audiences at UCLA and in Michigan.” He has also appeared in the Brian Flemming documentary, The God Who Wasn’t There

Carrier is now soliciting donations to help him finance the writing and publication of a book on the historicity of Jesus. According to his blog:

The book I propose would take the approach of arguing first and foremost for a logical historical method that all reasonable people could agree on, which would allow any objective investigator to ascertain whether Jesus probably did or didn’t exist, simply by plugging in the facts known to them. Then my book would survey what I find to be the most important facts, and apply the presented method to them to demonstrate what my view now is and why, and how it could be changed (since new facts, or legitimate corrections to the facts I use, could change my conclusion, and this may happen even in the course of my final research for the book, but in any case the result will be my honest and well-informed expert opinion).

Such a book would considerably advance the debate in two important respects: First, as I am now (certainly by the time of completion) a qualified Ph.D. (in ancient history, the relevant field), and I will work to meet the standards required to get a serious academic publisher for the book (I’ll approach my alma maters first, University of California Press and then Columbia University Press, but in any case something comparable), it will be the most academically rigorous discussion of the issue yet in print. Second, my approach will be to actually facilitate progress in the debate (toward either conclusion) by articulating a clear and defensible method for resolving it (and presenting a case for what further research is needed to do that). Both qualities will help bring this debate to the attention of academic experts so a more informed consensus can eventually develop among those most qualified to judge the issue.

He has now received enough support to justify going ahead with the project, with a manuscript to be completed in four months (with the actual book being published in 2009). Given the quality of his online articles I have no doubt that this book will rock. I have already donated, and I am sure that Richard could use some more help. If you donate, he will send you a copy of the manuscript when it is near completion so that you can check it out and give him feedback (or just stare in awe). If you donate at least $250 he will send you two free copies of the book when it is completed (get a friend to donate $125 with you and you can each have a free copy!).

Donations are being brokered through Atheist United, and the instructions are rather inconveniently located in a long note at the bottom of his blog post.

Links

Richard Carrier’s Home Page
Richard Carrier’s Blog
Richard Carriers Writings