Jesus Myth Hypothesis

Resurrection of Christ by Carl Bloch

The Jesus myth hypothesis, or simply Jesus myth, refers to the theory that Jesus never existed, and that his story is actually a syncretism of previous myths and mystery religions that were prevalent in the ancient world. According to this theory, the figure of Jesus is a mythical composite character based on earlier belief systems or historical persons. This hypothesis is distinct from Euhemerization—the belief that Jesus was a real person whose life was later mythologized—and Docetism—the belief that Jesus' physical existence was an illusion.

The hypothesis was first proposed by historian and theologian Bruno Bauer in the nineteenth century and was influential in biblical studies during the early twentieth century. Authors such as Earl Doherty, Robert M. Price and George Albert Wells have recently re-popularized the theory, though it carries little weight among the majority of modern historians and scholars. The consensus of most biblical scholars and historians is that Jesus was a historical figure, and the hypothesis of Jesus' non-historicity is rarely discussed in current academic literature.

History of the hypothesis

The term Jesus myth covers a broad range of ideas that share the position that Jesus of Nazareth portrayed in the Gospels was not based on a historical person. These theories arose from nineteenth century scholarship resulting from the quest for the historical Jesus, particularly the work of Bruno Bauer, which benefited from the burgeoning field of mythography in the works such as Max Müller. Müller argued that religions originated in mythic stories of the birth, death, and rebirth of the sun. James Frazer further attempted to explain the origins of humanity's mythic beliefs in the idea of a "sacrificial king," associated with the sun as a dying and reviving god and its connection to the regeneration of the earth in springtime. Frazer did not doubt the historicity of Jesus, however, stating, "my theory assumes the historical reality of Jesus of Nazareth…. The doubts which have been cast upon the historical reality of Jesus are  … unworthy of serious attention." The earlier works by George Albert Wells drew on the Pauline Epistles and the lack of early non-Christian documents to argue that the Jesus figure of the Gospels was symbolic, not historical. Earl Doherty proposed that Jewish mysticism influenced the development of a Christ myth, while John M. Allegro proposed that Christianity began as shamanic religion based on the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms. Most recently Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy have popularized the Jesus-myth concept in their book The Jesus Mysteries. Some, including Freke and Gandy, have suggested that the idea that Jesus's existence is legendary is itself as old as the New Testament, pointing to 2 John 1:7, though scholars of the period believe that this passage refers to docetism, the belief that Jesus lacked a genuinely physical body, and not the belief that Jesus was a completely fabricated figure.

Richard Burridge and Graham Gould note that the Jesus Myth hypothesis is not accepted by mainstream critical scholarship. Robert E. Van Voorst has stated that biblical scholars and historians regard the thesis as "effectively refuted."

Graham Stanton writes, "Today nearly all historians, whether Christians or not, accept that Jesus existed and that the gospels contain plenty of valuable evidence which has to be weighed and assessed critically. There is general agreement that, with the possible exception of Paul, we know far more about Jesus of Nazareth than about any first- or second century Jewish or pagan religious teacher."

Early Proponents

Two early proponents of the idea that Jesus was a mythical character were Constantin-François Volney and Charles François Dupuis, radical French Enlightenment thinkers who published books in the 1790s that argued Christ was based upon a combination of Persian and Babylonian mythology.

The first scholarly proponent was probably the nineteenth century historian, philosopher and theologian Bruno Bauer, a Hegelian thinker who concluded "that the Alexandrian Jew Philo, who was still living about 40 C.E. but was already very old, was the real father of Christianity, and that the Roman stoic Seneca was, so to speak, its uncle." Bauer theorized that Philo had adapted the Greek concept of the "logos" to Judaic tradition, initiating the process that led to the fully developed Christian narrative. He argued that what we now know as Christianity was a form of ancient socialism, and was only clearly defined in the reign of the emperor Hadrian, when, in his view, the earliest gospel - Mark - was written. Bauer "regarded Mark not only as the first narrator, but even as the creator of the gospel history, thus making the latter a fiction and Christianity the invention of a single original evangelist." Mark, according to Bauer, was an Italian, influenced by Seneca's Stoic philosophy.

Other authors included Edwin Johnson, who argued that Christianity emerged from a combination of liberal trends in Judaism and Gnostic mysticism. Other versions of the theory developed under Bible scholars such as A. D. Loman and G. I. P. Bolland. Loman argued that episodes in Jesus's life, such as the Sermon on the Mount, were fictions written to justify compilations of pre-existing liberal Jewish sayings. Bolland developed the theory that Christianity evolved from Gnosticism and that Jesus was a symbolic figure representing Gnostic ideas about God.

By the early twentieth century, a number of writers had published arguments in favor of the Jesus myth hypothesis, ranging from the highly speculative to the more scholarly. These treatments were sufficiently influential to merit several book-length responses by traditional historians and New Testament scholars. The most influential of the books arguing for a mythic Jesus was Arthur Drews' The Christ Myth (1909) which brought together the scholarship of the day in defense of the idea that Christianity had been a Jewish Gnostic cult that spread by appropriating aspects of Greek philosophy and Frazerian death-rebirth deities. This combination of arguments became the standard form of the mythic Christ theory. In "Why I Am Not a Christian" (1927), Bertrand Russell stated, "Historically, it is quite doubtful whether Christ ever existed at all, and if He did we do not know anything about Him, so that I am not concerned with the historical question, which is a very difficult one." Others, like Joseph Wheless in his 1930 Forgery In Christianity, went even further and claimed there was an active effort to forge documents to make the myth seem historical beginning as early as the second century.

Recent Proponents

In recent years, the Jesus myth hypothesis has also been advocated by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy, who are both popular writers on mysticism, in their books The Jesus Mysteries and Jesus and the Lost Goddess. Another proponent is Earl Doherty. Doherty suggests that Jesus was a mythic figure, whom the early Christians experienced in visions. He disagrees with the mainstream scholars on the strength of the case against the theory, and comments that the widespread "contempt" in which the theory is held "is not to be mistaken for refutation." He states that "interests, both religious and secular, have traditionally mounted a campaign against it", and adds that mainstream scholarship is guilty of a "notable lack of proper understanding of the mythicist case," leading to "the non-professional scholar" and "well-informed amateur on the internet" becoming those who he regards as "quite educated (meaning largely self-educated) in biblical research."

Advocates of the Jesus-myth theory also do not agree on the dating and meaning of the early Christian texts, with advocates like Doherty holding to traditional scholarly dating that puts the gospels toward the end of the first century, and others, like Hermann Detering (The Fabricated Paul), arguing that the early Christian texts are largely forgeries and products of the middle to late second century.

A special case is Robert M. Price, a biblical scholar, who does not style himself as a Jesus-myth proponent but tries to demonstrate that if we apply the critical methodology (which has been developed in the area) with "ruthless consistency" then we should come to complete agnosticism regarding Jesus' historicity, and that the burden of proof is on those holding to Jesus' historicity. This position, however, is more closely related to euhemerism than to a strictly non-historical Christ.

Specific arguments of the hypothesis

Earliest recorded references

Epistle to the Romans (fragment)

The earliest references to Jesus are by Christian writers (in the New Testament, Apostolic Fathers and the NT Apocrypha).

The letters of Paul of Tarsus are among the earliest surviving Christian writings. The epistles ascribed to Paul, who did not meet Jesus during his lifetime, do not discuss Jesus' life and ministry in level of detail used by the Gospels, though they do make several claims that he was human; for instance, "… concerning his Son who was a descendant of David with reference to the flesh," "… By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh …" or "Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified…." Barnett lists 15 details gleaned from Paul's letters including: 1) descent from Abraham, 2) direct descent from David, 3) 'born of a woman', 4) lived in poverty, 5) born and lived under the law, 6) had a brother called James, 7) led a humble life style, 8) ministered primarily to Jews, etc.

G. A. Wells argues that the historical Jesus in the Pauline epistles is generally presented as "a basically supernatural personage only obscurely on Earth as a man at some unspecified period in the past". Wells considers this to be the original Christian view of Jesus, based not on the life of a historical figure but on the personified figure of Wisdom as portrayed in Jewish wisdom literature.

A more radical position is taken by Earl Doherty, who holds that these early authors did not believe that Jesus had been on Earth at all. He argues that the earliest Christians accepted a Platonic cosmology that distinguished a "higher" spiritual world from the Earthly world of matter, and that they viewed Jesus as having descended only into the "lower reaches of the spiritual world". Doherty also suggests that this view was accepted by the authors of the Pastoral epistles, 2 Peter, and various second-century Christian writings outside the New Testament. Doherty contends that apparent references in these writings to events on earth, and a physical historic Jesus, should in fact be regarded as allegorical metaphors. Opponents regard such interpretations as forced and erroneous (for example, in the Pastoral letter to Timothy the author speaks of Jesus as being 'revealed in the flesh').

Mythicists claim significance that Paul never uses the term "Jesus of Nazareth," never claims Jesus was crucified at Calvary or buried in Jerusalem, never accuses Pilate of crucifying him, and insists that Cephas and James never added to his knowledge of the Gospel.

Early non-Christian references to Jesus

Four early writers are typically cited in support of the actual existence of Jesus: Josephus, Tacitus, Suetonius, and Pliny the Younger. However even some supporters of a historical Jesus admit that each of these references has some problems.

• The Antiquities of Josephus (37 C.E. - c. 100 C.E.), written in 93 C.E. contain two references to Jesus. The text comprising the first reference, the Testimonium Flavianum, states that Jesus was the founder of a sect, but the verse is believed to have been altered or added to by persons other than Josephus. Grammatical analysis indicates significant differences with the passages that come before and after it, while some phrases would be inconsistent with a non-Christian author like Josephus. This leads scholars to believe the Jesus reference was either altered or added by persons other than Josephus. However, several scholars have proposed that the core witness to a Jesus as a leader of a sect is reliable. The second reference states that in the year 62 C.E., the newly appointed high priest "convened the judges of the Sanhedrin and brought them a man called James, the brother of Jesus who was called the Christ, and certain others. He accused them of having transgressed the law and delivered them up to be stoned." However, Kenneth Humphreys has argued that based on successive lines,

Whereupon Albinus complied with what they said, and wrote in anger to Ananus, and threatened that he would bring him to punishment for what he had done; on which king Agrippa took the high priesthood from him, when he had ruled but three months, and made Jesus, the son of Damneus, high priest.

that the Jesus talked about in this passage is not the Jesus of the Bible but rather another man with the name of Jesus who also had a brother named James.

• Tacitus (circa 117 C.E.) in the context of the Great Fire of Rome refers to "some people, known as Christians, whose disgraceful activities were notorious. The originator of that name, Christus, had been executed when Tiberius was emperor by the order of Pontius Pilate. But this deadly cult, though checked for a time, was now breaking out again." However it has been pointed by experts on both sides there is no way to tell where Tacitus got the information for this passage and state there are hints in the passage that suggest that the information did not come from Roman records. For example R. T. France, writes:

The brief notice in Tacitus Annals xv.44 mentions only his title, Christus, and his execution in Judea by order of Pontius Pilatus. Nor is there any reason to believe that Tacitus bases this on independent information-it is what Christians would be saying in Rome in the early second century …. No other clear pagan references to Jesus can be dated before AD 150, by which time the source of any information is more likely to be Christian propaganda than an independent record.

• Suetonius, who wrote in the second century, made reference to unrest among the Jews of Rome under Claudius caused by "instigator Chrestus". This has sometimes been identified with Jesus Christ, though in this case it must refer to indirect posthumous effects and gives no biographical information. Critics argue that "Chrestus" was in fact very common Greek name and may have been a person of that name living under Claudius rather than a misspelling of Christ. Furthermore, it is pointed out that Suetonius refers to Jews not Christians in this passage even though in his Life of Nero he shows some knowledge of the sect's existence indicating that "Chrestus" was not "Christus."
• There are references to Christians in the letters of Pliny the Younger, but they give no specific information about the founder of this movement.

The Babylonian Talmud contains several references that have been traditionally identified with Jesus of Nazareth. References to Yeshu which talk about his disciples being put to death, of him being "repulsed with both hands," and of people healing and teaching in his name. However, these same passages have been used to show that Jesus supposedly lived ca. 100 B.C.E. and that the Biblical Jesus is a Euhemerisation. Furthermore, even tradition has the Babylonian Talmud being complied in the late third to early fourth century limiting its value to determining events of the first century C.E.

Apparent omissions in early records

Many proponents of the Jesus-myth hypothesis claim that there is an unusual lack of non-Christian documents that make reference to Jesus before the end of the first century, and note the survival of writings by a number of Roman and Jewish commentators and historians who wrote in the first century but which lack mention of events described in the Gospels, taking this as evidence that Jesus was invented later. Opponents of the hypothesis argue that arguments from silence are unreliable.

Justus of Tiberias wrote at the end of the first century a history of Jewish kings, with whom the gospels state Jesus had interacted. Justus' history does not survive, but Photius, who read it in the ninth century, stated that it did not mention "the coming of Christ, the events of His life, or the miracles performed by Him." The Jewish historian Philo, who lived in the first half of the first century also fails to mention Jesus, as do other major contemporary writers

In response to Jesus myth proponents who argue the lack of early non-Christian sources, or question their authenticity, R. T. France counters that "even the great histories of Tacitus have survived in only two manuscripts, which together contain scarcely half of what he is believed to have written, the rest is lost" and that the life of Jesus, from a Roman point of view, was not a major event.

James Charlesworth writes: "No reputable scholar today questions that a Jew named Jesus son of Joseph lived; most readily admit that we now know a considerable amount about his actions and basic teachings …"

R.T. France states that Christianity was actively opposed by both the Roman Empire and the Jewish authorities, and would have been utterly discredited if Jesus had been shown as a non-historical figure. He argues that there is evidence in Pliny, Josephus and other sources of the Roman and Jewish approaches at the time, and none of them involved this suggestion.

Comparisons with Mediterranean mystery religions

Some advocates of the Jesus Myth theory have argued that many aspects of the Gospel stories of Jesus have remarkable parallels with life-death-rebirth gods in the widespread mystery religions prevalent in the Hellenistic culture in which Christianity was born. However, James H. Charlesworth writes, "It would be foolish to continue to foster the illusion that the Gospels are merely fictional stories like the legends of Hercules and Asclepius. The theologies in the New Testament are grounded on interpretations of real historical events…."

The central figure of one of the most widespread Mediterranean myths was the syncretistic Osiris-Dionysus, who was consistently localized and deliberately merged with local deities in each area, since it was the mysteries which were imparted that were regarded as important, not the method by which they were taught. In the view of some advocates of the Jesus Myth theory, most prominently Freke and Gandy in The Jesus Mysteries, Jewish mystics adapted their form of Osiris-Dionysus to match prior Jewish heroes like Moses and Joshua, hence creating Jesus.

Several parallels are frequently cited by these advocates, such as Jesus' parallels with Horus and Mithras. Horus was one of the life-death-rebirth deities, and was connected and involved with those of Osiris.

Another prominent mystery religion that was widespread in the Roman Empire durng the second and third centuries was Mithraism. Mithraic sanctuaries ("Mithraea") featured images of the tauroctony, the killing by Mithras of a bull, and included astrological elements, possibly associating Mithras with the Sun. Initiates progressed through seven grades associated with planets, and may have conceived their souls as ascending away from Earth and the material world. An inscription from the Mithraeum at Santa Prisca has an uncertain text but may refer to the shedding of the bull's blood as having "saved us".

Mithraic practices have been compared to those of the early Christians, including baptism, confirmation and communion. However, Mithraists may not have sanctified Sunday as the day of the Sun. Images in Mithraea show Mithras being born from a rock, and it has been conjectured that his worshippers celebrated his birth on December 25, since this is known to have been regarded as the "birthday" of Sol Invictus. The Christian apologist Justin Martyr referred to the use of bread and water in Mithraic ritual, which he regarded as a demonic imitation of the Christian Eucharist. Grape-imagery in Mithraea has been taken to show that wine was also consumed by Mithraists. Mithraea included bathing pools or basins, and Tertullian, discussing non-Christian rituals comparable to Christian baptism, referred to Mithraic initiation "by means of a bath". Papyrus fragments preserve what may be a kind of Mithraic "catechism," "in which an officiant questions an initiate, who must give the required answers".

In 1962, the scholar of Judaism Samuel Sandmel cautioned against what he described as "Parallelomania": "We might for our purposes define parallelomania as that extravagance among scholars which first overdoes the supposed similarity in passages and then proceeds to describe source and derivation as if implying a literary connection flowing in an inevitable or predetermined direction."

Opponents of the Jesus Myth theory regularly accuse those who advocate the existence of such parallels of confusing the issue of who was borrowing from whom, a charge which was also made in ancient times by prominent early Christians. More recently in the book Reinventing Jesus, the authors put forth the position that "Only after 100 C.E. did the mysteries begin to look very much like Christianity, precisely because their existence was threatened by this new religion. They had to compete to survive."

However, some prominent early Christians, e.g. Irenaeus and Justin Martyr actually argued for the existence of some of these parallels; Justin specifically used several to attempt to prove that Christianity was not a new cult, but that it was rooted in ancient prophecy.

Michael Grant does not see the similarities between Christianity and pagan religions to be significant. Grant states that "Judaism was a milieu to which doctrines of the deaths and rebirths, of mythical gods seemed so entirely foreign that the emergence of such a fabrication from its midst is very hard to credit." He also states the Christ Myth Hypothesis fails to satisfy modern critical methodology, and is rejected by all but a few modern scholars.

Historiography and methodology

Earl Doherty argues that the gospels are inconsistent concerning "such things as the baptism and nativity stories, the finding of the empty tomb and Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances" and contain numerous "contradictions and disagreements in the accounts of Jesus' words and deeds." He concludes that the evangelists freely altered their sources and invented material, and therefore could not have been concerned to preserve historical information.

It has also been noted that the dates in canonical and non-canonical sources do not match up. For example, it is stated in the Talmud that Jesus was killed under Alexander Jannaeus, also known as Alexander Jannai/Yannai), king of Judea from (103 B.C.E. to 76 B.C.E.), son of John Hyrcanus. The Gospel of Luke and Matthew have different birth dates that are nearly a decade apart. However, the value of using the Talmud, which was written between the third and sixth century, as a reliable witness in this matter is both highly questionable and inconsistent if one questions the validity of works whose dating range put them as close as being written within 20 years of Jesus' death.

Opponents of the theory, including skeptical commentators such as the Jesus Seminar, founded in 1985 by the late Robert Funk and John Dominic Crossan under the auspices of the Westar Institute, argue that some reliable information can be extracted from the Gospels if consistent critical methodology is used.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

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External links

All links retrieved October 7, 2022.

For the Jesus myth theory

• Debunking the Historical Jesus by Dan Barker, Freedom from Religion Foundation
• Review of 'The Jesus Mysteries' by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy by Vexen Crabtree, 2003.
• Jesus Myth - The Case Against Historical Christ by R.G. Price, January 3, 2007, Rational Revolution.

For a historical Jesus

• A History of Scholarly Refutations of the Jesus Myth by Christopher Price, Bede's Library.
• The Historical Jesus - Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ by Gary R. Habermas

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