One of the best refutations of the Jesus Myth Theory is book that does not even address the JMT directly but is still devastating to it. This is Mystery Cults of the Ancient World by Hugh Bowden.
Religion in the Greco-Roman world took various forms. There was the formal worship of the Olympian gods that was closely connected with the state. There definitely was no separation of “church and state” in the ancient world. But there were also mystery cults.
Mystery cults may have included devotion to one of the more popular gods (e.g. Dionysus) but this was not a community event that everyone was invited to. It was only for those who had been initiated into the cult.
Hugh Bowden gives an excellent introduction to the nature of mystery cults in general and the details (as much as we know) of the most common mysteries.
But doesn’t the Apostle Paul talk about mystery in his letters? Doesn’t this suggest that Christianity is a mystery religion? This is a common claim of mythicists.
For Paul, the mystery was not something that a person was initiated into but was the answer to the question of how the Gentiles would be included with Israel. That answer was Jesus and it was shared widely as the gospel. Christianity was not a mystery religion.
Bowden makes comparisons when appropriate between Christianity and the mystery religions, and it is usually in terms of context. There is a wide religious chasm between the worship of Jesus and the worship of Mithras, Dionysus, etc.
What makes this book especially helpful in responding to the Jesus Myth Theory is that Bowden shares the information that we have about Mithras and the others. And what we know is very different from what mythicists usually suggest are aspects of the god that are supposedly inspirations for Jesus.
If you are wondering how Christianity fits with mystery religions, I highly recommend Mystery Cults of the Ancient World.
