Varieties of Jesus Mythicism: Did He Even Exist?

By John W. Loftus and Robert M. Price

Book Overview

To most people on the planet, the existence of Jesus is a given: "Of course he did!" They take it for granted that he existed simply because it reaffirms their faith. But to the rest of us who don't believe in a supernatural Jesus, the question of the historicity of Jesus is not simple. There are thousands of different ideas about to what extent the Jesus tales were based on a real man, or men, or woman... Did Jesus even exist, and if not, what best explains the rise of such a character in the New Testament?

That is where John W. Loftus and Robert M. Price come in. Each with decades of experience in the fields of theology and Christian history, Loftus and Price have compiled essays from some of the top authorities on Jesus mythicism to establish the world's first academic catalogue of mythicist beliefs. Experts who provided chapters include David Fitzgerald, Joseph Atwill, Michael Lockwood, and more!

The question is no longer simply, "Did Jesus even exist?" In this compilation, you'll find yourself questioning everything about the Christ story and how it truly began.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1839191589
• ISBN13: 9781839191589
• Release Date: June 2022
• Publisher: Hypatia Press
• Length: 408 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Useful anthology by Jesus mythicists, and rejoinders to prominent historicists like Bart Ehrman

Don't judge this anthology by its cover. It's better than it looks. Serious, professional chapters are aimed at the general college-educated reader, particularly those who have read Bart Ehrman, James McGrath, or other popular historicists. Several chapters directly address the question of whether Jesus of Nazareth was historical or fictional. Other chapters present research that implies mythicism. These include Jesus as a dying-and-rising god, astrology in the Gospel of Mark, the sacrificial king of antiquity, parallels between Christianity and Buddhism, the early use of the term IHS/IH rather than "Jesus", the gospel of Mark as a narrative based on a performed play, and more. This is an excellent introduction to the field. In my opinion, it would be useful for a reading club or a college class as well.