Probably, which is why you (I) would get to choose which guests to pair up, which to exclude from dining together. Nothing more frustrating than to have several interesting conversations going of which you could only hear one.
ETA: (Or me, for that matter. The point is these are great minds the likes of us can only look on with awe and hope we catch something and don’t make fools of ourselves.)
ETA ETA: Oh, I’ve got you now. That makes sense.
[nitpick] Reform Jew[/nitpick].
I’ve met Jesus, post Resurrection, so would have no problems with it. But even if you don’t invite Him, you still have a second chance and one that doesn’t require belief just a open and kind heart:
Revelation 3:20
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
Me, I’d have to resist the urge to say, “Hey, man, how’s it hanging?”
Quoth pseudotriton:
Just because the religion didn’t exist during his lifetime doesn’t mean he’s not the central figure of it. That’s like trying to argue that Spartacus wasn’t the central figure of that Kirk Douglas movie, just because he wasn’t alive for it.
I would. As I see it, even if I lay aside the numerous people who have seen, felt, or spoken with Jesus since his death and resurrection, the historical existence that we have for him is more full than for almost any other figure in the ancient world. (As for the language barrier, I’ve heard the Holy Spirit can conquer that problem.)
I’d still like to hear what words he spoke, what acts he committed, what incidents in his life you feel so certain actually happened that you would include them in a description. “Jesus, you know, the Son of God I believe in with all my heart and soul” simply doesn’t cut it. That gets you a BZZZZT! This is a description of a person living on earth who has some tangible acts, deeds, words to his credit. Would you specify that he was born in Bethlehem? Lived in Nazareth? Was called Yehosuah, the son of a woman called Miriam? What?
Name one. Please provide proof. Mere assertions are not evidence.
This is complete baloney. We don’t actually have any dispositive evidence at all for the existence of Jesus. Hell, we have more evidence for the existence of Pontius Pilate than we do for Jesus. I know it’s a common apologist canard to make this claim, but I assure you it’s bullshit. If you want to assert it, then back it up. What exactly is the evidence for this historicity of Jesus and what makes it stronger than the evidence for, say, Augustus Caesar, Herod the Great or Pliny the Elder?
I would write: “Jesus Christ, who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, and on the third day rose from the dead.” If there are two people with that name who meet that description, then I guess I’d be out of luck.
Do you get to videotape the event? If not, your choice would be to keep quiet about the momentous event during your entire life, or tell all and be treated like an eccentric at best. I suppose a good writer might be able to publish an account, albeit one inevitably and ironically criticized as unrealistic.
Does anyone remember a show that used to be on PBS in the 70’s where every week would basically be a roundtable discussion between various historical figures? They would have like three or four people a week, and and you might have, for instance, actors playing Leonardo da Vinci, Emmanuel Kant and Paganini sitting around discussing and debating the Bible. It tried to portray their opinions and personalities accurately and discussed some interesting philosophical questions. It had a regular host (Steve Allen, maybe?), and I think it was called something like “Masterminds,” but Google doesn’t help me there…I get a game show. I’m pretty sure it had the word “minds” in it. I remember watching it as a kid. Anybody know what I’m talking about? i didn’t dream about it, did I? It was pretty much a dramatized enactment of “what four historical figures would you like to have dinner with?”
I believe you’re thinking of Meeting of Minds (1977-1981) or perhaps The Philosopher’s Football Match.
For the former, Steve Allen hosted and devoted 2 episodes to each round table.
Episode list: Meeting of Minds - Season 4 - IMDb
Edited to add: I’d take the risk of having Jesus as a dinner guest. Maybe I’d recruit Sprong or Karen Armstrong so that He could be subjected to a meaningful set of questions.
If there’s one person who meets that description, I’ll be hornswoggled, but in for a penny, in for a pound, I suppose…some of it seems superfluous, though. Everybody born in Pontius Pilate’s day has “died,” by now, so need to specify that, and most were buried, too. “Rose from the dead,” though, is much rarer, and would be sufficient in itself, if you’re so positive that’s what happened you’re willing to forego all your other dinner guests for this one.
What, and risk Lazarus crashing the party with his smelly cigars and boring stories about the chariot races?
The Bible says canonically that Lazarus did not have a stench.
And I still don’t see what’s wrong with “central figure of the Christian religion”. To whom else could that apply?
Theoretically, to Paul.
I think you all are way over thinking this. It’s meant to be a silly provocative conversation starter. You’re not supposed to take the logistics that seriously. When people answer Jesus, they usually mean “Jesus as he’s depicted in the Bible.”
Unless you actually are Jesus, getting long dead people to come to dinner is going to be a little difficult.
Even if you do manage to get Socrates, Jesus, Ashoka, and Confucius to your dinner, and get a Star Trek style universal translator; they’ll hate modern cuisine and will spend most of the time screaming in terror about the metal monsters with people inside them.
Okay, but the question of how you’d be able to describe the person you want so you don’t end up with Abe Lincoln, country dentist, is I think an interesting one. I just made it a little higher stakes so people don’t just go, “Oh you know who who I mean, and if you don’t give me the right Abe Lincoln, I’ll just keep trying.”
You wouldn’t run out of food, that’s for sure.