Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
A Christian apologist calling himself "King of Knives" calls in to ask Dr. Richard Carrier why anyone doubts Jesus existed — and leads with the calendar argument: we date our years from Jesus, therefore Jesus was real. Carrier takes about ten seconds to explain why that's a non-sequitur (and why the calendar is based on a medieval monk's math error in the first place).
From there, the caller pivots to "Israel existed for thousands of years," and Carrier walks through why that has nothing to do with the historicity of Jesus either — with a detour through China, the Monkey God, and iron chariots. It's a clean, patient teardown of two of the most common bad arguments for Jesus, from one of the few professional historians who actually argues mythicism.
Richard Carrier is the guest; John (Godless Engineer) hosts the call-in.
⏱️ CHAPTERS
============================================================
0:00 — "King of Knives" calls in: the setup
0:21 — The two arguments: "Israel for thousands of years" + the calendar
1:09 — Carrier: "the calendar argument is a terrible argument"
1:52 — Why the calendar is a non-sequitur (and based on a math error)
2:31 — Matthew (~6 BC) vs Luke (~5-6 AD): neither is 1 AD
3:46 — The "Israel for thousands of years" argument
4:47 — China has a better claim — so is the Monkey God real?
6:01 — "God's a super letdown": Israel kept losing, iron chariots
9:01 — One-in-three odds (and Chrissy Hansen's one-in-four)
10:05 — Carrier: when I debate the resurrection, I assume historicity
11:24 — The virgin-birth "linguistic mistake" and the boot
12:13 — "The Christian apologist calls himself King of Knives?"
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📚 MORE RICHARD CARRIER
▶ Richard Carrier's website/blog: [PLACEHOLDER — add Carrier's site URL]
▶ Books mentioned in this clip (Hitler Homer Bible Christ; Resurrection: Faith or Fact?): [PLACEHOLDER — add Carrier's book links]
Watch the full call-in stream: [PLACEHOLDER — add full VOD / "The Line" source link]
#RichardCarrier #JesusMythicism #Atheism #Apologetics #DidJesusExist #Skeptic #CounterApologetics #GodlessEngineer
Get Jesus From Outerspace Audio Book: amzn.to/3EGj5Vb
Daily Bible Podcast: ge.hopp.to/DailyBiblePodcast
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A Christian apologist calling himself "King of Knives" calls in to ask Dr. Richard Carrier why anyone doubts Jesus existed — and leads with the calendar argument: we date our years from Jesus, therefore Jesus was real. Carrier takes about ten seconds to explain why that's a non-sequitur (and why the calendar is based on a medieval monk's math error in the first place).
From there, the caller pivots to "Israel existed for thousands of years," and Carrier walks through why that has nothing to do with the historicity of Jesus either — with a detour through China, the Monkey God, and iron chariots. It's a clean, patient teardown of two of the most common bad arguments for Jesus, from one of the few professional historians who actually argues mythicism.
Richard Carrier is the guest; John (Godless Engineer) hosts the call-in.
⏱️ CHAPTERS
============================================================
0:00 — "King of Knives" calls in: the setup
0:21 — The two arguments: "Israel for thousands of years" + the calendar
1:09 — Carrier: "the calendar argument is a terrible argument"
1:52 — Why the calendar is a non-sequitur (and based on a math error)
2:31 — Matthew (~6 BC) vs Luke (~5-6 AD): neither is 1 AD
3:46 — The "Israel for thousands of years" argument
4:47 — China has a better claim — so is the Monkey God real?
6:01 — "God's a super letdown": Israel kept losing, iron chariots
9:01 — One-in-three odds (and Chrissy Hansen's one-in-four)
10:05 — Carrier: when I debate the resurrection, I assume historicity
11:24 — The virgin-birth "linguistic mistake" and the boot
12:13 — "The Christian apologist calls himself King of Knives?"
▶ SUBSCRIBE: ge.hopp.to/SubToGe
▶ SUPPORT THE CHANNEL / PATREON: patreon.com/godlessengineer
▶ MERCH: store.godlessengineering.com
▶ DISCORD / COMMUNITY: ge.hopp.to/JoinGEDiscord
📚 MORE RICHARD CARRIER
▶ Richard Carrier's website/blog: [PLACEHOLDER — add Carrier's site URL]
▶ Books mentioned in this clip (Hitler Homer Bible Christ; Resurrection: Faith or Fact?): [PLACEHOLDER — add Carrier's book links]
Watch the full call-in stream: [PLACEHOLDER — add full VOD / "The Line" source link]
#RichardCarrier #JesusMythicism #Atheism #Apologetics #DidJesusExist #Skeptic #CounterApologetics #GodlessEngineer
Get Jesus From Outerspace Audio Book: amzn.to/3EGj5Vb
Daily Bible Podcast: ge.hopp.to/DailyBiblePodcast
Subscribe to this channel: ge.hopp.to/SubToGe
Join the Skeptic Mafia: ge.hopp.to/JoinSkepticMafia
Available Deals
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Get the Tariff shirt: ge.hopp.to/DefineTariffTShirt
I didn't vote for President Musk Shirt: ge.hopp.to/DidntVoteForPresidentMuskEitherShirt
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Merch
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Download CHRESTUS: ge.hopp.to/CHRESTUS
Get your "Citation Fucking Needed" Shirt: ge.hopp.to/citationfuckingneeded
"got evidence?" shirt: ge.hopp.to/GotEvidenceShirt
"btw, evolution is a fact" shirt: ge.hopp.to/BTWEvolutionIsAFact
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Discord Server: ge.hopp.to/JoinGEDiscord
