The Jesus Myth Theory, the belief that Jesus never existed and that the Gospels are based on pagan myths, just does not seem to go away. The recent appearance of a mythicists on the Unbelievable? podcast shows how much more prominent mythicist ideas are becoming. More and more books and websites are appearing that argue what is considered to be a fringe theory.
At the same time, I frequently see requests from Christians looking to know about this theory. Here are five things that you need to know about the Jesus Myth Theory:
- Not every mythicist who believes Jesus was based on pagan myths necessarily denies that there was a real historical Jesus at the core.
- Mythicists hold a historical standard for Jesus that no professional historian would hold to any other ancient figure.
- There is a consensus among Josephus scholars that Josephus did mention something about Jesus, even though there were later Christian additions.
- Mythicists are betting on the fact (usually accurately so) that most people will not read the original myths to find out if what they are saying is true.
- Mythicists define a “virgin birth” as any conception, even if it includes sexual intercourse, as long as there is a supernatural element to it.
These are some of the basics about the Jesus Myth Theory.
This post originally appeared here.
