This is a phrase you'll never see me utter -- not just on this particular topic, but on all historical, legal, and scientific questions.TRANSPONDER wrote: ↑Tue Jun 14, 2022 11:45 am
I have little scholarly support for my take on the gospels, and yet I'm sure it's right.
It's not that I haven't read differing views or encountered alternative theories on a wide array of issues -- in fact, quite the contrary. It's just that, outside of my own profession and area of expertise, I always defer to the consensus of experts.
My own research into the history and composition of the gospels, for example, is certain to be limited, and likely skewed by what I have chosen to read, compared to scholars who have devoted their entire careers to that topic.
Question for debate:
1. Should we (as non-experts) always defer to the consensus of experts?
2. Does that include deferring to the consensus of scholars regarding the history and composition of the gospels?
3. Under what conditions, if any, can we (as non-experts) claim to be "sure" we are right and the experts are wrong?