A Christian Response by Stephen J. Bedard
One of the Jesus Mythicists that is not as well know is that of Edwin Johnson. Johnson lived 1842–1901 was known for his radical ideas about Christian historiography. Not surprisingly, Johnson rejected the historicity of Jesus. He used the same methods as other contemporary mythicists: supposed lack of evidence and similarity to pagan myths. But … Read More “Edwin Johnson: Radical or Consistent Mythicist?” »
Peter Clarke, in his article, summarizes Richard Carrier’s argument for the Jesus Myth Theory with a third point. It is a response to the argument from embarrassment that uses details that are not helpful to the story as evidence for historicity. The response is this: But the premise of this argument is false because there … Read More “Responding to Richard Carrier’s Jesus Myth Arguments: Part Three” »
I am continuing to respond to Peter Clarke’s summary of Richard Carrier’s case for the Jesus Myth from this article. The second argument is this: Jesus only appears as a real person in texts that are highly mythological, i.e., the Gospels. This basically means we only have one book that talks about Jesus as a … Read More “Responding to Richard Carrier’s Jesus Myth Arguments: Part Two” »
Peter Clarke, in an article, provides a summary of Richard Carrier’s argument for Jesus not being a historical figure. I am going to respond to each part separately. The earliest Christian literature—in particular the letters of Paul—never places Jesus in history; instead, he is only ever seen from revelation. For example, Paul has no knowledge … Read More “Responding to Richard Carrier’s Jesus Myth Arguments: Part One” »
One of the challenges that Jesus Mythicists have in claiming credibility for the idea that Jesus was never a historical figure is the lack of scholars who support their theory. Traditionally, the Jesus Myth was presented by self-taught scholars or scholars with PhDs in fields not directly relevant to the topic. In order for there … Read More “Scholars Who Support the Jesus Myth Theory” »
Peter Clarke, in his article Jesus Mythicism Is About to Go Mainstream, attempts to argue that the Jesus Myth Theory is soon to be widely held, or at least move from its current fringe position. Is he correct in this assessment? It is true that the Jesus Myth has gained some traction. This is for … Read More “Why the Jesus Myth Will Likely Never Go Mainstream” »
If Jesus really existed, where is all of the archaeological evidence? Not textual evidence but monuments, coins, and other artifacts from Jesus’ lifetime that prove Jesus was a historical figure? There are some early archaeological evidence for Jesus, but not during his lifetime. This article by Peter S. Williams shares some of that evidence. Is … Read More “Where is the Archaeological Evidence For Jesus?” »
If Jesus never existed as a historical figure but was only a spiritual symbol, you would expect that there would be evidence of the early church seeing Jesus as ahistorical and then gradually historizing him. But that evidence is not there. I have spent a lot of time demonstrating that the New Testament presents Jesus … Read More “Jesus Myth and the Early Church” »
There are probably more Jesus Mythicists now than at any other time in history. But why? Why would someone want to be a Jesus Mythicist? I don’t want to speak for all Mythicists, nor do I want to suggest that all Mythicists have the same motivations. But I do think I can say something about … Read More “Why Would Someone Want to Be a Jesus Mythicist?” »
Some of the best resources to use against Jesus Mythicism are not necessarily books that were written in response to this theory. One of the reasons for this is that most scholars have decided that the JMT is not worth responding to. One book that I have read a couple of times is Structure and … Read More “Structure and History in Greek Mythology and Ritual” »
