Christ myth theory

But the sociological fashion reflected in the rise of Formgeschichte leads colour to Christ-myth theories and indeed to all theories which regard Jesus as an historical but insignificant figure.

— Christ myth theory jesus

John Robertson is prepared to concede the possibility of an historical Jesus perhaps more than one having contributed something to the Gospel story. A teacher or teachers named Jesus, or several differently named teachers called Messiahsof whom many are on record may have uttered some of the sayings in the Gospels.

— Christ myth theory jesus

His published work on the Synoptic Problem had already contributed towards exploding the theory of the “Christ-myth”—that Jesus as a historical person never existed—by providing the two oldest records of His life to be genuine historical documents.

— Christ myth theory life

on the one hand, literal acceptance of everything in the New Testament as the veridical record of what happened, and, on the other, some form of Christ-myth theory which denies that there ever was a Jesus.

— Christ myth theory men

There have even been learned and intelligent men who have denied that Jesus ever existed: the so-called Christ-myth theory.

— Christ myth theory men

For as extreme a critic as Rudolf Bultmann, the existence of the historical Jesus is a necessity; and if historical criticism could successfully establish the Christ-myth theory, viz., that Jesus never really lived, Bultmann’s enture theological structure would be shaken.

— Christ myth theory success

The Christ-Myth theory that Jesus never lived had a certain vogue at the beginning of this century but is not supported by contemporary scholarship.

— Christ myth theory jesus

The radical solution was to deny the possibility of reliable knowledge of Jesus, and out of this developed the Christ myth theory, according to which Jesus never existed as a historical figure and the Christ of the Gospels was a social creation of a messianic community.

— Christ myth theory knowledge

This skeptical way of thinking reached its culmination in the argument that Jesus as a human being never existed at all and is a myth. In ancient times, this extreme view was named the heresy of docetism seeming because it maintained that Jesus never came into the world in the flesh, but only seemed to; I John 4:2 and it was given some encouragement by Pauls lack of interest in his fleshly existence. Subsequently, from the eighteenth century onwards, there have been attempts to insist that Jesus did not even seem to exist, and that all tales of his appearance upon the earth were pure fiction. In particular, his story was compared to the pagan mythologies inventing fictitious dying and rising gods. paragraph break Some of the lines of thinking employed to disprove the Christ-myth theory have been somewhat injudicious.

— Christ myth theory god

This view Christ Myth theory states that the story of Jesus is a piece of mythology, possessing no more substantial claims to historical fact than the old Greek or Norse stories of gods and heroes

— Christ myth theory god

In Germany, England, Holland, America, and France, a group of scholars developed the hypothesis that Christ had never lived at all, the Christ-myth theory.

— Christ myth theory man

If this account of the matter is correct, one can also see why it is that the Christ-myth theory, to the effect that there was no historical Jesus at all, has seemed so plausible to many

— Christ myth theory jesus

Defense of Biblical criticism was not helped by the revival at this time of the Christ-Myth theory, suggesting that Jesus had never existed, a suggestion rebutted in England by the radical but independent F. C. Conybeare.

— Christ myth theory time

Price uncritically embraces the dubious methods and results of the Jesus Seminar, adopts much of the discredited Christ-Myth theory from the nineteenth century in which it was argued that Jesus never lived, and so on.

— Christ myth theory jesus

Zindler depends on secondary works and writes with the aim of proving the Christ-Myth theory, namely, the theory that the Jesus of history never existed.

— Christ myth theory history

Scholars such as Bruno Bauer, Arthur Drews, and G. A. Wells have argued that the Jesus tradition is virtually—perhaps entirely—fictional in nature i.e., “legendary” as we are using the term.Some scholars we could include in this category, such as Robert Price, would back off this thesis slightly and argue that we simply lack sufficient information to decide whether a historical Jesus existed. Here, a sort of “Jesus agnosticism” emerges.

— Christ myth theory art

As we have noted, some legendary-Jesus theorists argue that, while it is at least possible, if not likely, an actual historical person named Jesus existed, he is so shrouded in legendary material that we can know very little about him. Others i.e, Christ myth theorists argue that we have no good reason to believe there ever was an actual historical person behind the legend.

— Christ myth theory jesus

Despite countless variations including a still-rampant obsession with indemonstrable astrological theories of Gospel interpretations that you wont find much sympathy for here, the basic thesis of every competent mythologist, then and now, has always been that Jesus was originally a god just like any other god properly speaking, a demigod in pagan terms; an archangel in Jewish terms; in either sense, a deity, who was later historicized, just as many other gods where

— Christ myth theory god

The terms mythicism and mythicist may be new to many people, even though they have been around for a couple of centuries. Mythicist was first coined in German and English to describe people who doubted the historical veracity of the Judeo-Christian Bible. The word is used these days particularly to define scholars, researchers and others who investigate whether or not the New Testament character of Jesus Christ was a real, historical person or a myth along the lines of the gods, godmen and heroes of other cultures, such as Hercules, Mithra or Horus.D.M. Murdock/Acharya S, in What is a Mythicist?

— Christ myth theory god

Now until some convincing piece of evidence about a Biblical, historical or purely mythical Jesus or the beliefs of the earliest Christians is found in future, it seems that the most rational position on Jesus would be a complete rejection of the ‘Christ of Faith’ or ‘Biblical Jesus’, and holding to an agnostic-type position on a more mundane, ‘Historical Jesus’. Maybe there was such a Jesus, maybe there was not. In the absence of convincing evidence, it is possible, but not necessarily probable, and certainly not certain.Raphael Lataster, in There Was No Jesus, There Is No God

— Christ myth theory god

There is, lastly, a group of writers who endeavor to prove that Jesus never lived--that the story of his life is made up by mingling myths of heathen gods, Babylonian, Egyptian, Persian, Greek, etc. No real scholar regards the work of these men seriously. They lack the most elementary knowledge of historical research. Some of them are eminent scholars in other subjects, such as Assyriology and mathematics, but their writings about the life of Jesus have no more claim to be regarded as historical than Alice in Wonderland or the Adventures of Baron Munchausen.

— Christ myth theory life

An extreme view along these lines is one which denies even the historical existence of Jesus Christ—a view which, one must admit, has not managed to establish itself among the educated, outside a little circle of amateurs and cranks, or to rise above the dignity of the Baconian theory of Shakespeare.

— Christ myth theory jesus

But in contrast to the Christ-myth theories which proliferated at an earlier time, it would seem that today almost all reputable scholars do accept that Jesus existed and that the basic facts about him are well established.

— Christ myth theory life

Virtually all biblical scholars acknowledge that there is enough information from ancient non-Christian sources to give the lie to the myth still, however, widely believed in popular circles and by some scholars in other fields--see esp. G. A. Wells which claims that Jesus never existed.

— Christ myth theory knowledge

The scholarly mainstream, in contrast to Bauer and company, never doubted the existence of Jesus or his relevance for the founding of the Church.

— Christ myth theory jesus

To sum up, modern critical methods fail to support the Christ-myth theory. It has again and again been answered and annihilated by first-rank scholars. In recent years no serious scholar has ventured to postulate the non-historicity of Jesus—or at any rate very few, and they have not succeeded in disposing of the much stronger, indeed very abundant, evidence to the contrary.

— Christ myth theory jesus

In the late nineteenth century some very skeptical historians proposed that Jesus of Nazareth never existed. He was a myth, based on the Egyptian sun god and other pagan myths. No one takes these arguments seriously anymore. There is virtually universal agreement that there was such a person as Jesus.

— Christ myth theory god

The data we have are certainly adequate to confute the view that Jesus never lived, a view that no one holds in any case

— Christ myth theory jesus

Although it is held by Marxist propaganda writers that Jesus never lived and that the Gospels are pure creations of the imagination, this is not the view of even the most radical Gospel critics.

— Christ myth theory imagination

Although Wells has been probably the most able advocate of the nonhistoricity theory, he has not been persuasive and is now almost a lone voice for it. The theory of Jesus nonexistence is now effectively dead as a scholarly question. and The nonhistoricity thesis has always been controversial, and it has consistently failed to convince scholars of many disciplines and religious creeds Biblical scholars and classical historians now regard it as effectively refuted.

— Christ myth theory jesus

Today, nearly all historians, whether Christians or not, accept that Jesus existed and that the gospels contain plenty of valuable evidence which has to be weighed and assessed critically. There is general agreement that, with the possible exception of Paul, we know far more about Jesus of Nazareth than about any first or second century Jewish or pagan religious teacher.

— Christ myth theory christian

If one were able to survey the members of the major learned societies dealing with antiquity, it would be difficult to find more than a handful who believe that Jesus of Nazareth did not walk the dusty roads of Palestine in the first three decades of the Common Era. Evidence for Jesus as a historical personage is incontrovertible.

— Christ myth theory jesus

There are those who argue that Jesus is a figment of the Church’s imagination, that there never was a Jesus at all. I have to say that I do not know any respectable critical scholar who says that any more.

— Christ myth theory men

No reputable scholar today questions that a Jew named Jesus son of Joseph lived; most readily admit that we now know a considerable amount about his actions and his basic teachings.

— Christ myth theory jesus

I think that there are hardly any historians today, in fact I dont know of any historians today, who doubt the existence of Jesus So I think that question can be put to rest.

— Christ myth theory jesus

It is no surprise then that there is no New Testament scholar drawing pay from a post who doubts the existence of Jesus. I know not one. His birth, life, and death in first-century Palestine have never been subject to serious question and, in all likelihood, never will be among those who are experts in the field. The existence of Jesus is a given.

— Christ myth theory life

I dont think theres any serious historian who doubts the existence of Jesus. There are a lot of people who want to write sensational books and make a lot of money who say Jesus didnt exist. But I dont know any serious scholar who doubts the existence of Jesus.

— Christ myth theory books

Frankly, I know of no ancient historian or biblical historian who would have a twinge of doubt about the existence of a Jesus Christ - the documentary evidence is simply overwhelming.

— Christ myth theory men

Theres no serious question for historians that Jesus actually lived. There’s real issues about whether he is really the way the Bible described him. There’s real issues about particular incidents in his life. But no serious ancient historian doubts that Jesus was a real person, really living in Galilee in the first century.

— Christ myth theory life

No serious historian of any religious or nonreligious stripe doubts that Jesus of Nazareth really lived in the first century and was executed under the authority of Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea and Samaria. Though this may be common knowledge among scholars, the public may well not be aware of this.

— Christ myth theory knowledge

From time to time people try to suggest that Jesus of Nazareth never existed, but virtually all historians of whatever background now agree that he did, and most agree that he did and said a significant amount at least of what the four gospels say he did and said.

— Christ myth theory time

Scholarship, like everything else, is subject to fashion, and it was the fashion, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, for some to deny that Jesus existed. No serious scholar holds that view now, and it is hard to see how it ever took hold, for the evidence of Jesuss existence is abundant.

— Christ myth theory jesus

The thesis that Jesus never existed has hovered around the fringes of research into the New Testament for at least a century but it has never been accepted as a mainstream theory. This is for good reason. It is simply a bad hypothesis based on arguments from silence, special pleading, and an awful lot of wishful thinking. It is ironic that certain atheists will buy into this idea and leave all their pretensions of critical thinking behind.

— Christ myth theory men

Historians disagree over the extent to which claims about Jesus’ miraculous nature – and, in particular, his resurrection – are supported by the historical evidence. However, when we turn to the question of whether there was an historical Jesus, we find a clear consensus emerges. The vast majority believe that Jesus’ existence and crucifixion, at least, are firmly established one rare exception being Robert M. Price.

— Christ myth theory art

I should also mention that the biggest reason for the shyness of scholars with respect to the non-historicity thesis had/has to do with academic appointments as in security thereofrather than common sense. As a middle-of-the road Hegelian like Strauss discovered.

— Christ myth theory men

When all the evidence brought against Jesus historicity is surveyed it is not found to contain any elements of strength.

— Christ myth theory men

The historical reality both of Buddha and of Christ has sometimes been doubted or denied. It would be just as reasonable to question the historical existence of Alexander the Great and Charlemagne on account of the legends which have gathered round them The attempt to explain history without the influence of great men may flatter the vanity of the vulgar, but it will find no favour with the philosophic historian.

— Christ myth theory time

It would be easy to show how much there enters of the conjectural, of superficial resemblances, of debatable interpretation into the systems of the Drews, the Robertsons, the W. B. Smiths, the Couchouds, or the Stahls The historical reality of the personality of Jesus alone enables us to understand the birth and development of Christianity, which otherwise would remain an enigma, and in the proper sense of the word, a miracle.

— Christ myth theory christianity

Anyone who talks about reasonable faith must say what he thinks about Jesus. And that would still be so even if, with one or two cranks, he believed that He never existed.

— Christ myth theory faith

In the last analysis, the whole Christ-myth theorizing is a glaring example of obscurantism, if the sin of obscurantism consists in the acceptance of bare possibilities in place of actual probabilities, and of pure surmise in defiance of existing evidence. Those who have not entered far into the laborious inquiry may pretend that the historicity of Jesus is an open question. For me to adopt such a pretence would be sheer intellectual dishonesty. I know I must, as an honest man, reckon with Jesus as a factor in history This dialectic process whereby the Christ-myth theory discredits itself rests on the simple fact that you cannot attempt to prove the theory without mishandling the evidence.

— Christ myth theory history

I.e. if we leave out of account the Christ-myth theories, which are hardly to be reckoned as within the range of serious criticism.

— Christ myth theory christ

Of course, there can be no toleration whatever of the idea that Jesus never existed and is only a concoction from these pagan stories about a god who was slain and rose again.

— Christ myth theory god

That both in the case of the Christians, and in the case of those who worshipped Zagreus or Osiris or Attis, the Divine Being was believed to have died and returned to life, would be a depreciation of Christianity only if it could be shown that the Christian belief was derived from the pagan one. But that can be supposed only by cranks for whom historical evidence is nothing.

— Christ myth theory life

Of course the doubt as to whether Jesus really existed is unfounded and not worth refutation. No sane person can doubt that Jesus stands as founder behind the historical movement whose first distinct stage is represented by the oldest Palestinian community.

— Christ myth theory men

Such Christ-myth theories are not now advanced by serious opponents of Christianity—they have long been exploded

— Christ myth theory christianity

Despite the prejudices and theological preconceptions of the evangelists, they record many incidents that mere inventors would have concealed—the competition of the apostles for high places in the Kingdom, their flight after Jesus arrest, Peters denial, the failure of Christ to work miracles in Galilee, the references of some auditors to his possible insanity, his early uncertainty as to his mission, his confessions of ignorance as to the future, his moments of bitterness, his despairing cry on the cross; no one reading these scenes can doubt the reality of the figure behind them. That a few simple men should in one generation have invented so powerful and appealing a personality, so lofty an ethic and so inspiring a vision of human brotherhood, would be a miracle far more incredible than any recorded in the Gospel.

— Christ myth theory reading

In the early years of this century, various theses were propounded which all assert that Jesus never lived, and that the story of Jesus is a myth or legend. These claims have long since been exposed as historical nonsense. There can be no reasonable doubt that Jesus of Nazareth lived in Palestine in the first three decades of our era, probably from 6-7 BC to 30 AD. That is a fact.

— Christ myth theory jesus

Whatever else Jesus may or may not have done, he unquestionably* started the process that became Christianity

— Christ myth theory art

The alternative thesis that within thirty years there had evolved such a coherent and consistent complex of traditions about a non-existent figure such as we have in the sources of the Gospels is just too implausible. It involves too many complex and speculative hypotheses, in contrast to the much simpler explanation that there was a Jesus who said and did more or less what the first three Gospels attribute to him.

— Christ myth theory jesus

The pseudoscholarship of the early twentieth century calling in question the historical reality of Jesus was an ingenuous attempt to argue a preconceived position.

— Christ myth theory reality

We do not need to take seriously those writers who occasionally claim that Jesus never existed at all, for we have clear evidence to the contrary from a number of Jewish, Latin, and Islamic sources.

— Christ myth theory jesus

We can be certain that Jesus really existed despite a few highly motivated skeptics who refuse to be convinced, that he was a Jewish teacher in Galilee, and that he was crucified by the Roman government around 30 CE.

— Christ myth theory men

Apart from the occasional fringe attempt to show that Jesus was born among the Gentile population of Palestine, or that Jesus never existed but was merely a mythic creation, there is no doubt that Jesus of Nazareth was born, lived, taught, and died as a Jew in the land of Israel in what we call the first century A.D.

— Christ myth theory art

An extreme instance of pseudo-history of this kind is the “explanation” of the whole story of Jesus as a myth.

— Christ myth theory history

Some writers may toy with the fancy of a Christ-myth, but they do not do so on the ground of historical evidence. The historicity of Christ is as axiomatic for an unbiased historian as the historicity of Julius Caesar. It is not historians who propagate the Christ-myth theories.

— Christ myth theory writers

While The Christ Myth alarmed many who were innocent of learning, it evoked only Olympian scorn from the historical establishment, who were confident that Jesus had existed The Christ-myth theory, then, won little support from the historical specialists. In their judgement, it sought to demonstrate a perverse thesis, and it preceded by drawing the most far-fetched, even bizarre connection between mythologies of very diverse origin. The importance of the theory lay, not in its persuasiveness to the historians since it had none, but in the fact that it invited theologians to renewed reflection on the questions of faith and history.

— Christ myth theory faith

In the academic mind, there can be no more doubt whatsoever that Jesus existed than did Augustus and Tiberius, the emperors of his lifetime. Even if we assume for a moment that the accounts of non-biblical authors who mention him - Flavius Josephus, Tacitus, Suetonius, Pliny the Younger and others - had not survived, the outstanding quality of the Gospels, Pauls letters and other New Testament writings is more than good enough for the historian.

— Christ myth theory life

In fact, there is more evidence that Jesus of Nazareth certainly lived than for most famous figures of the ancient past. This evidence is of two kinds: internal and external, or, if you will, sacred and secular. In both cases, the total evidence is so overpowering, so absolute that only the shallowest of intellects would dare to deny Jesus existence. And yet this pathetic denial is still parroted by the village atheist, bloggers on the internet, or such organizations as the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

— Christ myth theory religion

Some nineteenth-century rationaists maintained that he never existed, that the gospels portrayed an ideal Jew who never was. A clutch of German and British writers was capable of that historical nonsense, some of which has resurfaced. It would be easier to establish that there never was an emperor Nerva, a name invented to fill the gap of ignorance of the years between Domitian and Trajan.

— Christ myth theory writers

Mythicism isnt about treating historical sources in the same way across the board. It is entirely the purview of people with a vendetta against Christianity, although even in such circles there are plenty who do not find it persuasive. And it must be emphasized that it is taken no more seriously among mainstream historians than in Biblical studies.

— Christ myth theory christianity

A phone call from the BBC’s flagship Today programme: would I go on air on Good Friday morning to debate with the aurthors of a new book, The Jesus Mysteries? The book claims or so they told me that everything in the Gospels reflects, because it was in fact borrowed from, much older pagan myths; that Jesus never existed; that the early church knew it was propagating a new version of an old myth, and that the developed church covered this up in the interests of its own power and control. The producer was friendly, and took my point when I said that this was like asking a professional astronomer to debate with the authors of a book claiming the moon was made of green cheese.

— Christ myth theory power

The very logic that tells us there was no Jesus is the same logic that pleads that there was no Holocaust.

— Christ myth theory jesus

Along with the scholarly and popular works, there is a good deal of pseudoscholarship on Jesus that finds its way into print. During the last two centuries more than a hundred books and articles have denied the historical existence of Jesus. Today innumerable websites carry the same message Most scholars regard the arguments for Jesus non-existence as unworthy of any response—on a par with claims that the Jewish Holocaust never occurred or that the Apollo moon landing took place in a Hollywood studio.

— Christ myth theory books

You know that you can try to minimize your biases, but you cant eliminate them. Thats why you have to put certain checks and balances in place Under this approach, we only consider facts that meet two criteria. First, there must be very strong historical evidence supporting them. And secondly, the evidence must be so strong that the vast majority of todays scholars on the subject—including skeptical ones—accept these as historical facts. Youre never going to get everyone to agree. There are always people who deny the Holocaust or question whether Jesus ever existed, but theyre on the fringe.

— Christ myth theory people

If I understand what Earl Doherty is arguing, Neil, it is that Jesus of Nazareth never existed as an historical person, or, at least that historians, like myself, presume that he did and act on that fatally flawed presumption. I am not sure, as I said earlier, that one can persuade people that Jesus did exist as long as they are ready to explain the entire phenomenon of historical Jesus and earliest Christianity either as an evil trick or a holy parable. I had a friend in Ireland who did not believe that Americans had landed on the moon but that they had created the entire thing to bolster their cold-war image against the communists. I got nowhere with him. So I am not at all certain that I can prove that the historical Jesus existed against such an hypothesis and probably, to be honest, I am not even interested in trying.

— Christ myth theory war

A hundred and fifty years ago a fairly well respected scholar named Bruno Bauer maintained that the historical person Jesus never existed. Anyone who says that today—in the academic world at least—gets grouped with the skinheads who say there was no Holocaust and the scientific holdouts who want to believe the world is flat.

— Christ myth theory world

When they say that Christian beliefs about Jesus are derived from pagan mythology, I think you should laugh. Then look at them wide-eyed and with a big grin, and exclaim, Do you really believe that? Act as though youve just met a flat earther or Roswell conspirator.

— Christ myth theory art

The denial that Christ was crucified is like the denial of the Holocaust. For some its simply too horrific to affirm. For others its an elaborate conspiracy to coerce religious sympathy. But the deniers live in a historical dreamworld.

— Christ myth theory world

I just finished reading, The Historical Jesus: Five Views. The first view was given by Robert Price, a leading Jesus myth proponent The title of Price’s chapter is Jesus at the Vanishing Point. I am convinced that if Prices total skepticism were applied fairly and consistently to other figures in ancient history Alexander the Great, Ptolemy, Cleopatra, Nero, etc., they would all be reduced to the vanishing point. Prices chapter is a perfect example of how someone can always, always find excuses to not believe something they dont want to believe, whether that be the existence of Jesus or the existence of the holocaust.

— Christ myth theory reading

The Jesus mythers will continue to advance their thesis and complain of being kept outside of the arena of serious academic discussion. They carry their signs, Jesus Never Existed! They won’t listen to me! and label those inside the arena as Anti-Intellectuals, Fundamentalists, Misguided Liberals, and Flat-Earthers. Doherty & Associates are baffled that all but a few naïve onlookers pass them by quickly, wagging their heads and rolling their eyes. They never see that they have a fellow picketer less than a hundred yards away, a distinguished looking man from Iran. He too is frustrated and carries a sign that says The Holocaust Never Happened!

— Christ myth theory art

It is almost cruelty to begin picking on the methodological wowsers implied in the reasoning of the mythtics–-the Jesus-deniers--who conflate God denying and Jesus denying as though they were on the same level of discussion and susceptible of the same kinds of proof. Embarrassing–-really–-because these same folk who hold up the scientific method to religionists want to walk past the complex evidence of textual and linguistic studies as though it weren’t there.In their own areas, it would be as though the supporters of flat earth theory and spontaneous generation were given equal time at the podium and a spotlight to scoff at astronomy and biology, but—the impoverished reasoning seems to run—this is Biblical studies—how serious do you have to be?

— Christ myth theory god

In a society in which people still claim the Holocaust did not happen, and in which there are resounding claims that the American president is, in fact, a Muslim born on foreign soil, is it any surprise to learn that the greatest figure in the history of Western civilization, the man on whom the most powerful and influential social, political, economic, cultural and religious institution in the world -- the Christian church -- was built, the man worshipped, literally, by billions of people today -- is it any surprise to hear that Jesus never even existed?

— Christ myth theory history

I think Im not alone in feeling that to show the ill-informed and illogical nature of the current wave of mythicist proponents is a bit like having to demonstrate that the earth isnt flat, or that the sun doesn’t revolve around the earth, or that the moon-landings werent done on a movie lot.

— Christ myth theory art

I especially wanted to explain late Jewish eschatology more thoroughly and to discuss the works of John M. Robertson, William Benjamin Smith, James George Frazer, Arthur Drews, and others, who contested the historical existence of Jesus. It is not difficult to pretend that Jesus never lived. The attempt to prove it, however, invariably produces the opposite conclusion.

— Christ myth theory art

1 The Jesus of the Talmud, who was stoned and hanged over a century before the traditional date of the crucifixion, may really have existed and have contributed something to the tradition.

— Christ myth theory jesus

2 An historical Jesus may have preached a political doctrine subversive of the Roman rule, and . . . thereby met his death ; and Christian writers concerned to conciliate the Romans may have suppressed the facts.

— Christ myth theory death

3 Or a Galilean faith-healer with a local reputation may have been slain as a human sacrifice at some time of social tumult ; and his story may have got mixed up with the myth.

— Christ myth theory faith

1 An actual man at some point named Jesus acquired followers in life who continued as an identifiable movement after his death

— Christ myth theory life

2 This is the same Jesus who was claimed by some of his follower to have been executed by the Jewish or Roman authorities

— Christ myth theory jesus

If any one of these premises is false, it can fairly be said there was no historical Jesus in any pertinent sense, And at least one of them must be false for any Jesus Myth theory to be true.

— Christ myth theory jesus

1 At the origin of Christianity, Jesus Christ was thought to be a celestial deity much like any other.

— Christ myth theory christianity

2 Like many other celestial deities, this Jesus communicated with his subjects only through dreams, visions and other forms of divine inspiration such as prophecy, past and present.

— Christ myth theory dreams

3 Like some other celestial deities, this Jesus was originally believed to have endured an ordeal of incarnation, death, burial and resurrection in a supernatural realm.

— Christ myth theory death

4 As for many other celestial deities, an allegorical story of this same Jesus was then composed and told within the sacred community, which placed him on earth, in history, as a divine man, with an earthly family, companions, and enemies, complete with deeds and sayings, and an earthly depiction of his ordeals.

— Christ myth theory art

5 Subsequent communities of worshipers believed or at least taught that this invented sacred story was real and either not allegorical or only additionally allegorical.

— Christ myth theory believe

UNQUESTIONABLY: The proposition has been questioned, but the alternative explanations proposed—the theories of the “Christ myth school,” etc.—have been thoroughly discredited.

— Christ myth theory school

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