Dr. Price is one of the most prominent scholars in the Jesus-mythicist camp, which is to say that he concludes that we do not know anything reliable about the life of a real Jesus with historical certainty. To my Christian readers: if your only exposure to mythicism is from the likes of the Rational Response Squad, you owe it to yourself to give Dr. Price a try. You may not be convinced, but you’ll certainly be surprised (and most likely, impressed).
The Barna Group, as many of you know, is a professional research organization — run by conservative Christians, mind you — that collects data about American Christianity and Christian beliefs and practices. Notably, the folks at Barna follow accepted research methods; as far as I can tell, it’s every bit as good as a secular polling outfit (and probably better than the Zogbys of the world).
* 59% of professing Christians agree or strongly agree that Satan “is not a living being but a symbol of evil.”
* Similarly, 58% of professing Christians agree or strongly agree that the Holy Spirit is a symbol, rather than an actual, living being.
* Sadly (and weirdly), however, 54% of Christians continue to believe that people can be under the influence of demons or evil spirits, which I guess explains the persistence of people who believe in exorcisms. Well, that, and powerful imagination.
Anyway, I don’t want to spoil the rest of the fun. Go read it!
Evaluating Christianity 