Dionysus, known as Bacchus to the Romans, wad the god of wine. He was considered on of the Twelve Olympians. There are various accounts of his birth. One has him the result of the union of Zeus and Persephone. Dionysus was killed and dismembered by the titans but was rescued by Zeus and was attached … Read More “Dionysus” »
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The criteria of double dissimilarity is one of the tools that critical scholars use to sort through texts to determine which have a higher degree of certainty of going back to the historical Jesus. The idea is that if a saying in the Gospels does not look too Jewish or too Christian, it more likely … Read More “Double Dissimilarity” »
Bart Denton Ehrman (1955-) is a former evangelical Christian and present agnostic scholar in the area of the New Testament. Many of Ehrman’s books have been aimed at shaking confidence in the reliability of the New Testament. Atheists have been attracted to Ehrman’s work but were surprised that he did not support the Jesus Myth … Read More “Ehrman, Bart” »
Gnosticism was an early Christian heresy that favoured a secret knowledge (Greek: gnosis). This knowledge was that we are truly spirit. The emphasis of spirit over body comes from Platonic influence. This also led to a rejection of the Old Testament as that God created the material world, which Gnostics know to be evil. Mythicists … Read More “Gnosticism” »
Thomas William Harpur (1929–2017) was a Canadian religion writer. A former Anglican priest, he later became the religion editor for the Toronto Star. The majority of his writings were on the liberal side of Christianity but his book The Pagan Christ was a radical departure with his embrace of the Jesus Myth Theory. In this … Read More “Harpur, Tom” »
The attempt to discover who Jesus was as a historical figure as opposed to the Christ of faith. It attempts to strip away the supernatural to leave the historical kernel. This was a focus of German biblical scholarship in the nineteenth century.
Horus is an Egyptian god who is the son of Osiris and Isis. He was very important, especially in the transition from one Pharaoh to the next. The one who had just died was identified with Osiris and the new one was identified with Horus. Despite claims by mythicists, Horus was not virgin born. His … Read More “Horus” »
Titus Flavius Josephus (37-100) was born Yosef ben Matityahu. This younger contemporary of Paul was a Jewish general during the first war against the Romans. He was captured by the Romans and was able to find patronage from the future Roman Emperor. Flavius is the Roman name he took from that family. Josephus was a … Read More “Josephus” »
Luke is the third of the canonical Gospels. It is believed to have been written by Luke, an associate of Paul and likely the only Gentile author in the Bible. Luke’s Gospel uses part of Mark, as well as Q (Material in common between Matthew and Luke but absent from Mark) plus material unique to … Read More “Luke, Gospel of” »
Mark is generally accepted as the earliest of the canonical Gospels, usually dated from the mid-50s to around 70. Evangelicals accepts that Mark was written by John Mark, who is found in the Acts of the Apostles, and according to tradition wrote down the preaching of Peter. Mark is believed to be one of the … Read More “Mark, Gospel of” »