Quote:
Originally Posted by Actor
"It (docetism) ... started from the conviction that a divinity, such as Jesus would have been, could not truly enter into matter, that the very idea of God in human flesh was repugnant and indeed impossible." - Earl Doherty, The Jesus Puzzle, Appendix 3.
"Later ... the dosetic stance shifted." Opus Citatum.
"... the so-called Docetists insisted that he only seemed to have a real body of flesh but in fact had lived on earth as a phantom." - G.A. Wells, Did Jesus Exist?
If you insist that Jesus existed as a spiritual being then that is a different question altogether, viz., does the supernatural exist?
This entire line of argument is a straw man. If you apply the same approach to the question of geocentrism or the cause of disease you will find no ancient writings supporting heliocentrism or germ theory, yet it is highly doubtful that peer review well ever falsify heliocentrism or germ theory.
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It's not a different question. The "so-called" Docetists" did not deny Jesus' existence. They simply denied that he existed as a human being. Denying events in Christ's life is not the same as denying his existence. Denying the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is not analogous to denying his existence.
And by the way, the apostle John (an eyewitness to the risen Christ) warned Christians about this heresy (cf. 1Jn 4:2; 2Jn 7; Jn 1:14).
