As I write this post, we are in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Along with everything else that goes with it, it is has unleashed a new wave of conspiracy theories.
We have heard everything from a Chinese plot to Bill Gates’s secret plans. People, including some I know personally, are getting caught up with this.
Why do I bring this up and what does this have to do with the Jesus Myth?
I believe that for some, it is the same lure for the Jesus Myth as there is to pandemic conspiracy theories.
I have not studied conspiracy theories in an academic context but I have notice to things.
The first is that there is a mistrust of authority. Doctors can’t be trusted. Researchers can’t be trusted. Government can’t be trusted. Historians can’t be trusted. New Testament scholars can’t be trusted.
It goes beyond not assuming that an expert is always right. There is a shift to presuming that most people who claim to be experts, even if they have appropriate academic credentials, are either wrong or purposely misleading.
The second thing I noticed is that there is a draw to being one of the few to see the truth. This could perhaps be called “sociological gnosticism.” The person who holds to the theory feels superior because they know something that the masses (the “sheeple”) don’t know.
This is true for those who see conspiracy theories regarding Covid-19. It is equally true of some Mythicists that not only believe that Jesus is unhistorical but that the church has sought to fool the masses. Theologians and clergy are actively seeking to deceive the people with their claims of a historical Jesus.
This pandemic helps us to understand the psychological forces that are at work in many people’s lives.
