THE JESUS PUZZLE
Was There No Historical Jesus?
Earl Doherty
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What's New!
March 24, 2008: Reader
Feedback
Rfset28.htm:
(Responses to Ben,
Doug, Tim, Keith, Jim, Michael, Warwick). Also available through Reader
Feedback
Index: Rfindex.htm
December 25, 2007: Supplementary Article No. 15
"Born of
Woman"? Reexamining Galatians 4:4: A fresh and surprising look at
perhaps the most cited passage by apologists to 'prove' that Jesus was
regarded by Paul as a human man. This article examines "born of woman,
born under the Law" from two points of view: that it was authentic to
Paul, and that it was an interpolation. In neither case do we need to
interpret the phrase as a reference to an historical man, either in the
recent known past or in some unknown past, but tracing the phrase's
appearance, and non-appearance, through the record of two centuries
brings us closer to choosing interpolation as the more likely option.
November 26, 2007: Supplementary Article No. 14
The Cosmic
Christ of the Epistle to the Hebrews: A thorough and comprehensive
study in three parts of a key document of the New Testament, one which
has suffered the most misinterpretation by traditional scholarship and
the one best positioned to demonstrate that cultic Christianity began
with an entirely mythical Son of God. Includes material on the
background derivation of this mythical Son in the Redeemer Mythology of
the time (both Greco-Roman and Jewish), detailed examination of modern
scholarship on the document, and a thorough dissection of the dramatic
"smoking gun" verse of 8:4, in which the writer tells us that Jesus was
never on earth.
June 23, 2007: Book Review
The Pre-Nicene New Testament: Fifty-four Formative
Texts
by Robert M. Price, Signature Books, Salt Lake City, 2006. A monumental
work offering new translations and commentaries on all 27 books of the
New Testament plus 27 other books covering a wide range of
non-canonical writings, both orthodox and unorthodox. A dramatic and
eye-opening presentation of the diverse state of early Christianity.
April 25, 2007: Responding to Critiques of the
Mythicist Case
Chris Zeichman - A response to his "Fear
and Loathing in a Lost Gospel: Earl Doherty and the Case of Q", a
critique of my approach to Q in The
Jesus Puzzle. This is a lengthy rebuttal (over 26,000 words),
not only because there is so much to refute in Zeichman's critique, but
because it has given me the opportunity to develop further my argument
that no historical Jesus lies at the root of the Q document and the Q
movement. There is a lot of new material on the question in this
article, making it an important contribution to my presentation of the
mythicist case.
April 10, 2007: Supplementary Articles Nos. 13A, 13B,
13C, 13D
The Mystery Cults and Christianity: A
comprehensive set of 4 articles (totalling 60,000 words) surveying the
major Graeco-Roman mystery cults and addressing all aspects of the
question of comparing them with ancient Christianity. Are such
comparisons legitimate? Did Paul borrow (even if unconsciously) from
theological and ritual aspects of the cults in fashioning his
interpretation of rites like baptism, as well as his views of Christ
and how he interacted with believers? To what extent did the Gospel
writers consciously imitate Greek and other savior god myths and
ancient world hero traditions in fashioning their tale of Jesus of
Nazareth? How do modern scholars deal with the similar concepts and
story-elements between the mysteries and Christianity, and are their
objections valid? Examining apologetic-oriented scholars such as Walter
Burkert, Everett Ferguson, Jonathan Z. Smith, Hugo Rahner, and Gunter
Wagner.
February 11, 2007: Reader
Feedback
Rfset27.htm:
(Responses to Javier,
Chris, John, Frederick, Bart, Philip, Frank, Joey, Nyk). Also available through Reader
Feedback
Index (with individual links): Rfindex.htm
July 15, 2006: Responding to Critiques of
the Mythicist Case
Alleged Scholarly
Refutations of the Mythicist Case - Part One / Part Two / Part Three
The first ever response to a century of attempted refutations of the
Jesus Myth theory, covering books and book chapters by Shirley J. Case
(1912), Maurice Goguel (1926), R. T. France (1985), Graham Stanton
(1986), Robert Van Voorst (2000) and others. Also addressed are
comments contained in the Internet article "A History of Scholarly
Refutations of the Jesus Myth" by Christopher Price.
March 5, 2006: Reader
Feedback
Rfset26.htm:
(Responses to Robert,
Brendan, Mac,
Rob, Dan, Reg, Malachi, Carla, Brian). Also available through Reader
Feedback
Index (with individual links): Rfindex.htm
December 17, 2005: Responding to Critiques of
the Mythicist Case
Mike Licona - A response to his review
of Brian Flemming's documentary film and DVD "The God Who Wasn't
There." The DVD included several on-camera and telephone interviews,
one of the latter being with myself. Here
I address Licona's arguments against Flemming, atheism and the Jesus
Myth theory. Included is an
Addendum of my
posting on the IIDB about the recent refusal of the Fourth R, the
magazine of the Jesus Seminar, to discuss the Jesus Myth theory.
October 10, 2005: Responding to Critiques of
the Mythicist Case
GakuseiDon
- Part Two: Following my response to
his critique on my Second Century Apologists chapter of The Jesus Puzzle,
GDon presented a rebuttal. This is my rebuttal in turn.
September 12, 2005: Reader
Feedback
Rfset25.htm:
(Responses to Brad, Bruce, Dmitry, Kevin, Gordon, Connor, Nigel,
Robert, Doug, Jason).
Also available through Reader
Feedback
Index (with individual links): Rfindex.htm
August 9, 2005: Responding to Critiques of
the Mythicist Case
GakuseiDon:
An Australian apologist who frequents the Internet Infidels Biblical
Criticism and History forum has posted a critique of my chapter "Jesus
in the Christian Apologists" from The Jesus Puzzle.
This is a reply to that critique.
June 19, 2005: "A Magdalene Triptych" - a three-part book
review of
-
The Da Vinci Code,
by Dan Brown
- The Da Vinci Fraud,
by Robert Price
- The Secret Magdalene,
an historical novel by Ki Longfellow
March 16, 2005: New Series: Responding to Critiques of
the Mythicist Case
Bernard Muller (Part One): Several
critiques of The Jesus Puzzle, book and website, have been posted on
the Internet over the last few years. (I have already responded to that
of J. P. Holding.) This new series of articles will address the most
significant of these, beginning with Bernard Muller.
Bernard Muller (Part Two)
Bernard Muller (Part Three)
February 7, 2005: Book Reviews: The Case for the Jesus
Myth
THE PAGAN CHRIST: Recovering the Lost Light
by Tom Harpur, Thomas Allen Publishers, Toronto 2004. The Toronto Star religion writer
underwent an epiphany when reading the works of Gerald Massey and Alvin
Boyd Kuhn, discovering that the Jesus story is another version of more
ancient myths. My response to the author's recasting of his own faith
makes this book review equally relevant to The Age of Reason website.
November 7, 2004:
The
Age of Reason
website has been revamped in response to the re-election of George W.
Bush to the presidency of the United States. It will be primarily
devoted to the issue of the great divide and conflict between Religion
and Rationality in our current society, and will feature news, articles
and comments both by myself and other contributors.
November 7, 2004: Reader
Feedback
Rfset24.htm:
(Responses to Doug, R.C., Mario, Pat, Raymond, Eric, Bryan, Dick, Frank)
Also available through Reader
Feedback
Index (with individual links): Rfindex.htm
Including an extended initial
section of letters and responses on the subject of Religion and
Rationality.
July 11, 2004: Reader
Feedback
Rfset23.htm:
(Responses to Brian, Matthew, Gerald, Bruce, Lowell, Ray, Major, Mike)
Also available through Reader
Feedback
Index (with individual links): Rfindex.htm
Including an extended initial
section of letters and responses on the subject of religion and
rationality.
March 12, 2004: A review of the most controversial film
of the year
Mel
Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. This
review by Earl Doherty focuses not on the question of Jesus' existence,
but on the nature of Christian soteriology (theory of salvation) which
Gibson's film highlights in a way he would not have intended. On the Age of Reason website. (Comments are
welcome for the Age of Reason Reader Feedback.)
March 7, 2004: Book Reviews:
The
Case for the Jesus Myth
THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING SON OF MAN by
Robert M. Price, Prometheus Books, 2003
A tour-de-force in critical scholarship of the Gospels. Price
demonstrates that the four Gospels were an exercise in storytelling,
employing midrash on the Hebrew bible to create the events of Jesus'
birth, ministry, death and resurrection, with no perceivable connection
to history. If you read only one book on New Testament research this
year, it has to be this one.
December
5, 2003: Special
Feature
Challenging
Doherty: Critiquing the Mythicist Case (including a response to Dr.
Paula Fredriksen's comments on my first website article)
November 28, 2003: Reader
Feedback
Rfset22.htm:
(Responses to Brian, Rick, Gerry, Julian, Malcolm)
Also available through Reader
Feedback
Index (with individual links): Rfindex.htm
July 5, 2003: Book Reviews:
The
Case for the Jesus Myth
THE JESUS THE
JEWS
NEVER KNEW by Frank R. Zindler, American Atheist Press, 2003
A review of the latest book in the Jesus
mythicist
arsenal, being a study of the alleged references to Jesus in the Jewish
Talmuds, in early historians and commentators such as Josephus and
Philo,
and a definitive study of the Sepher Toldoth Yeshu. "The fourth
pillar" in the case against the non-existence of Jesus. Highly
recommended.
. . . . .
SPECIAL FEATURE
An in-depth review and commentary
on
the most important body of historical fiction ever produced: Vardis
Fisher's
"Testament of Man." This monumental series of eleven novels by an
American
rationalist author of the mid-20th century traces the development of
religious
and social ideas from the dawn of human intelligence two million years
ago to the Christian Middle Ages. On the Age of Reason website.
Vardis
Fisher's "Testament of Man"
Available as a full-length book, 272 pages, with
revisions,
expanded Notes and Index.
For description, contents and reviews, plus how to
purchase,
see:
CHALLENGING
THE VERDICT: A Cross-Examination of Lee Strobel's The Case for
Christ
For complete reviews on Amazon.com, see: CTV
Reviews
To read extensive excerpts from the book, see: Challenging
the Verdict
April 9, 1999: SPECIAL
ITEM
My novel, The Jesus Puzzle, is now posted complete
(170,000 words, 17 chapters plus an Epilogue) on the site, in seven
linked
files. These are "pdf" files, requiring the Adobe Acrobat Reader. The
link
below leads to an introductory page (a standard "htm" file) containing
some preliminary remarks and a "cover blurb" to provide a capsule
description
of the story. A link to the Adobe site is also provided for those who
may
wish to download the Reader.
[Don't miss the opening scene: a (fictional) meeting of the Jesus
Seminar
in which some unusual goings-on take place!] - THE
JESUS PUZZLE: A Novel About the Greatest Question of Our Time