One of the more prominent Jesus Mythicists is Robert Price. Despite having a PhD in New Testament, I often find myself underwhelmed by his arguments.
In the following video, he addresses a number of things related to the Jesus Myth Theory. I will only focus here on what he says about the Spirit revealing things about Jesus in the Gospel of John this starts around 1:25.
The audio is not great but the passage he is referring to is this:
“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:25-26)
What Price seems to be saying is that the words of Jesus were not spoken by a historical figure but that the early Christians received them by what they thought were revelations from the Holy Spirit.
There are so many problems with this. One is that even if they thought the teachings of Jesus were coming by the Spirit, it does not explain the narratives about the life of Jesus.
Plus, when one reads the gospels, especially the synoptic gospels, the sayings do not come across as spiritual revelations coming to a person in a vision. I could see that in something like the Gospel of Thomas but not the canonical gospels.
There is nothing in the passage from John that suggests that everything that was said by Jesus would come by spiritual revelation. It actually assumes that they are hearing words from Jesus himself. The Spirit is said to aid them as they recall what the historical Jesus had previously said.
Robert Price is known more about his provocative assertions than his careful exegesis. I’m sure a Mythicist will find his claim convincing but reading the passage by itself does not seem to suggest what he claims.
