The Jesus Puzzle- Did Christianity Begin with a Mythical Christ
The Jesus Puzzle: Did Christianity begin with a mythical Christ? is a thorough presentation of my argument that no historical Jesus existed. Full and comprehensive survey of the question, from the epistles to the Gospels, canonical and non-canonical documents, from Jewish and pagan philosophers and historians to the second century Christian apologists.
The book is largely an original work, not a compilation of website articles, although my “Second Century Apologists” article is reproduced as the final chapter. There are new insights and discussions not hitherto found on the site, such as on the origin of the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Thomas, gnosticism and docetism, the second century (Apostolic Fathers, Papias, Marcion, Acts of the Apostles, etc.). My views on Flavius Josephus have been given some reworking and expansion. Like the website itself, I have styled the book for the general reader, though the scholarly community should find it of value as well.
390 pages, complete with extensive and informative notes, appendices, bibliography, and index. Softcover edition, with full-color, laminated cover and fine-quality paper.
Here are some typical reviews of The Jesus Puzzle, from professional scholars to the average lay reader:
“A remarkable book it is. Extremely well-written and very persuasive.” Darrell Doughty, Professor of the New Testament, Drew University, Fellow of the Jesus Seminar and co-editor of “The Journal of Higher Criticism”
“This is the most compelling argument ever published in support of the theory that Jesus never existed as an historical person.” Frank R. Zindler, editor of “American Atheist”
“I have never read such scholarship in so easy a style. You have a wonderful way of conveying quite complex ideas in an easy to understand manner. I’ve read a great many books challenging (Jesus’) historicity, but nothing as ‘dead on’ as your book.” Judith Hayes, author of “In God We Trust…But Which God?”
“The research is impeccable, and the conclusions you make are amazing. After spending most of my life drowning in fundamentalist Christianity, I feel that a great burden has been lifted from my shoulders.” Adam C., a reader from Amazon.com
“(Your book) is fresh, vigorous and carries the reader forward with real style…It is my opinion that the book makes the case as masterfully and concisely as it could. I started the book determined to discredit it. By the time I reached the middle of the book, you had made your case. By the time I finished the book, I had an entirely new sense of what it means to “study the Bible as literature.” Greg G., a reader from Massachusetts
“He is a clear writer, as clear as I’ve read.” Oscar G., a reviewer on Amazon.com
"Change!" The word of the day… Yes, there is the election of Barack Obama to the US presidency. And, yes there is the mind-boggling financial crisis affecting the entire world. But there is also the more gradual, and in the long run a very significant change that already has and will continue to have impact not only the religions of the world, but also the world at large.A present day illustration is that I write this review for an organization, The Center for Progressive Christianity, that is one of the organizations of the new progressive Christian movement. Such a movement and organization could not have existed until recently.The conflicts among the numerous and diverse Christian groups, as spoken of by Paul, went on into the early fourth century, when, with the support of the Emperor Constantine, the power of politics and brute force brought about an "Orthodoxy" that existed in large part up to the 19th century. But while the question of the "real" Jesus could be said to have begun with Tatian in the first century, it began to come to life in the 18th century, with the work of Herman Samuel Reimarus, then with William Werde, and then in 1906 with Albert Schweitzwer, in his "The Search for the Historical Jesus". But it was the archeological finds in the ‘40's that put it into top gear, where it has continued to the present.Most Bible scholars are in agreement that the question of origins of the stories of what Jesus said and what he in fact did exist with considerable uncertainty. We are now more aware of the varied elements of the Jewish and Greek culture that existed prior to and during the birth of the new religious faith. And we are more clear about the influence of the pre-existing religious myths on the developing Christian groups.So, "progressive Christians" are those who take the position that there was most probably a "real human being" behind the picture which has been so rooted in an acceptance of a complete alteration of the "natural world". Progressive Christians hold that the "real human Jesus" can and does have a very significant role for us living today, without having to claim that he was the "One and only Son of God", born in a miracle, bringing about miracles during his life, and rising after death in still another miracle.The "Jesus Seminar" is a widely respected group of scholars who come from a variety of religious backgrounds and have different beliefs. They have many colleagues in the field, but they are unique in being a group who meet together to arrive at the most probable truths about the words and actions of Jesus. But there is one thing they have in common which is considered a barrier in the search for truth by those who approach the Jesus issue from a step further back. They do not address the even more fundamental question: Is there sufficient evidence to support the belief that there was, in fact, a historical Jesus? They begin their quest with the unexamined assumption that there was such a person. "But, of course, who doesn't begin with that assumption?" The answer is that very few persons, Christians or non-Christians, lay or professional scholars, don't begin without that seldom examined assumption. After-all, the Christian religion is the world's largest religion and is, still the fastest growing religion in the world. How could such a world-wide movement grow so fast and last for two thousand years unless it was based on a core historical reality? For many of the faith, the very asking of such a question is absolutely a scandalous and immoral thing to do. Nevertheless, is it possible that there are valid, soundly based reasons to bring such a question to life? Many, without further thought would argue that bringing such a question into the public arena would cause destructive chaos, not only in our Christian culture, but to the world at large… What would most members of The Center for Progressive Christianity think of giving even minimal credence to such a "far out" position? A book such as the Jesus Puzzle" had better have a very strong foundation of verifiable data and sound rational conclusions from that "hard data". The Jesus Puzzle meets that requirement. This is my second attempt to write a review of the book. I was impressed with it from reading it the first time and wrote a review giving my impressions. But the more I thought about it, the more it became clear to me that I needed to probe still more deeply into the subject, which I did. This book and topic are too important to receive cursory treatment. In my probing I came across a person and his review of the Doherty book which is deserving of the attention of any who take this issue seriously.Richard Carrier, M.A, M.Phil, Ph.D in Ancient History, is a young (38 yr. old) widely known writer in the fields of Ancient History and Religion. Prior to his reading Doherty's book he considered himself a "historicist", one who believed in the existence of a Jesus in history. He writes a rather lengthy and very erudite review in which he state: First of all, let me say this: having read the entire book carefully, and having checked those facts I did not already know, I can honestly say as an expert that Doherty's facts are generally all in line. He does not make anything up or fudge the truth. And as far as I could tell, he doesn't leave out anything significant. Where he puts his own spin on things, he is usually explicit about that and argues for his particular interpretation rather than asserting it as given . . .to a remarkable extent, I can sincerely vouch for the fact that lay readers can trust him as an historian and translator. . . . .this book must be taken seriously. It is not a quack theory, it is not shoddy work, it is not amateurish.Carrier goes on at considerable length to present and analyze the information and arguments Doherty makes in his book.In the lengthy conclusion of his 35 page review, Carrier states: . . In other words, Doherty's theory is simply superior in almost every way in dealing with all the facts as we have them . . .until a better historicist theory is advanced, I have to conclude it is at least somewhat more probable that Jesus didn't exist then that he did. I say this even despite myself, as I have long been a proponent of a historicity.So, in my own conclusion, let me say that this has been an exceptionally interesting and challenging book to research and review. Let me re-emphasize my suggestion that those who consider this an important issue, look up the "Jesus Puzzle" website, jesuspuzzle.com & org. That will lead to the review by Richard Carrier and to other sources of information on the topic. I will welcome thoughtful reviews by the likes of Borg, Crossan, and John Cobb. I hope they will soon undertake such a task.