Jesus Christ in comparative mythology
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/* Jesus as unhistorical myth */ earl mentioned again later- repetition
{{jesus}}
The study of Jesus from a [[mythography|mythographical]] perspective is the examination of the narrative of [[Jesus]], the [[Christ]] ("the [[Anointing of Jesus|Anointed]]") of the [[gospel]]s, [[Christian theology]] and [[folk Christianity]] as a central part of [[Christian mythology]]. Such study may also involve comparison between Christian beliefs about Jesus and beliefs about other gods or mythological characters.
Examination of such parallels may seek to uncover common elements of human myth-making or analyse [[mytheme]]s (the component elements of myth) in the gospel presentation of Jesus. Alternatively it may identify historically specific parallels in contemporary [[mystery religion]]s of the [[Roman Empire]] such as [[Mithraism]] and the myths of [[life-death-rebirth deity|rebirth deities]] and [[sacral kingship]]. The New Testament narrative explicitly employs earlier mythology, notably claiming [[Claimed Messianic prophecies of Jesus|fulfillment of Messianic prophecies]] of [[Hebrew mythology]], and by [[Paul the Apostle]] in [[Athens]] as he took up the motif of the "[[Unknown God]]" ({{bibleref2|Acts|17:16–34|NIV}}).
The study of Jesus Christ as myth is popularly associated with a [[skeptic]]al position toward the [[historicity of Jesus]], the claim of a purely mythical Jesus with no base in history, sometimes dubbed the "[[Jesus-Myth theory]]". However, study of parallels between the narrative of Christ and other mythological figures does not prejudice Jesus' historicity, and is open to several interpretations besides ahistoricity:
# interpretation of mythological parallels as "diabolical imitation" of Christ (so [[Justin Martyr]])
# interpretation of pre-Christian myth as a product of degraded ''[[Urmonotheismus|Monotheism]]'' (various 20th century [[Christian apologetics]])
# interpretation of the Christ narrative as "true myth" (so [[C. S. Lewis]])
# admission of a [[historical Jesus]], who is however of lesser interest to Christianity than the Christ myth (so [[C. G. Jung]])
== Mythemes of the Biblical account ==
{{see|New Testament view on Jesus' life}}
[[Image:Kazan moscow.jpg|thumb|[[Our Lady of Kazan|''Theotokos of Kazan'' (Our Lady of Kazan)]]]]
[[Image:Christ tsar.jpg|thumb|Christ as [[King of Kings]], Russian [[icon]] from [[Murom]] (1690).]]
[[Image:Agnus Dei Ghent.jpg|thumb|detail of the [[Adoration of the Mystic Lamb]]([[Ghent Altarpiece]] by [[Jan Van Eyck]])]]
According to the New Testament, Jesus was conceived by the [[Holy Spirit]] and [[Virgin Birth of Jesus|born]] of the Virgin Mary.
He is a [[scion]] of the [[Genealogy of Jesus|royal blood of David]], [[King of the Jews]], [[King of Kings]], and the [[Jesus the Logos|divine Word]] [[Incarnation (Christianity)|incarnated]]. He is the predestined [[Saviour]], recognized [[Nativity of Jesus|at birth]] by [[Biblical Magi|magi]], but has to avoid [[Massacre of the Innocents|being killed]] by [[Herod]], by [[Flight into Egypt|fleeing into exile]]. As an [[Child Jesus|infant]], he is part of the [[Holy Family]] often associated with the [[Holy Trinity]] in [[Christian symbolism]].
As a grown man, he is [[Baptism of Jesus|baptized]] by [[John the Baptist]]. Jesus is identified as the [[Son of God]] and receives the [[Spirit of God]] in a form similar to a [[dove]]. After withstanding [[Temptation of Christ|temptation to abuse his divine powers]], he attracts a body of followers, the [[Twelve Apostles]], and wanders around the land [[Ministry of Jesus|preaching]] and [[Miracles attributed to Jesus|performing miraculous healing]]. In one instance, his [[Transfiguration of Jesus|transfiguration]] in front of this closest followers again reveals him as the Son of God, conversing with two important prophets of the [[Old Testament]], [[Moses]] and [[Elijah]].
At the same time as the Son of God, Jesus is also the [[Son of Man]], he is essentially both Man and God [[Incarnation|incarnate]], transcending the status of [[demigod]] of half-man and half-god by being fully God and fully man at the same time in [[hypostatic union]].
{{see|Death and resurrection of Jesus}}
Following a [[Palm Sunday|triumphal entry]] into Jerusalem, and the [[Last Supper]] where he gives a final sermon, he is betrayed, [[Arrest of Jesus|apprehended]], flogged, and [[Passion (Christianity)|driven out]] to the place of execution, where he is [[crucifixion|crucified]], accompanied by dark omens, both chthonic (earthquakes) and celestial ([[Crucifixion eclipse|eclipse]]).
He dies and is [[embalmed]] and placed in a tomb. On the third day he [[resurrection|rises from the dead]] and appears [[Resurrection|bodily resurrected]] to his followers, before miraculously [[Ascension of Jesus Christ|ascending to heaven]]. For his death to atone for humanity, he is given the title [[Lamb of God]], after the [[animal sacrifice|sacrificial]] lamb of Hebrew tradition, and as the [[Christ]] ([[Messiah]], [[Anointing|Anointed]]) in reference to his fulfilling of prophecies of a royal saviour. His followers are [[Pentecost|given the divine spirit]] in order to carry on his mission, and are charged with ritually commemorating his death in the [[sacrament]] of the [[Eucharist]], involving symbolic [[Theophagy|ingestion of Christ's body]].
A triumphal [[Second Coming]] of Christ is prophesized in [[Christian eschatology]], when he will preside over the [[Last Judgment]] and heralding in a golden [[Messianic Age]] or [[Kingdom of God]] for the faithful.
== Predecessors and parallels ==
{{see|Comparative mythology}}
{{see|Pagan influences on Christianity}}
=== Myths in the ancient Roman, Hellenistic and Semitic world ===
Aspects of the Gospel stories of Jesus have parallels with [[life-death-rebirth deity|life-death-rebirth gods]] in the widespread [[mystery religion]]s prevalent in the Hellenistic culture amongst which Christianity was born. Closely related to this are mythemes of [[sacral kingship]] and "[[theophagy]]", the eating of the body of a [[fertility god]], traced by [[Walter Burkert]] to a [[neolithic]] [[fertility rite]] surrounding a god who needs to [[Descent to the underworld|die and rise again]] in order to feed the community, sublimated in the Christian [[eucharist]].
The central figure of one of the most widespread mysteries, [[Osiris-Dionysus]], was consistently localised 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. Other prominently cited parallels are with [[Tammuz]], [[Horus]] and [[Mithras]]. Horus was one of the life-death-rebirth deities, and was connected and involved in the resurrection of [[Osiris]], whose Egyptian name (''Asar'') is very similar to the [[root word|root]] of [[Lazarus]]. In the view of some advocates of the Jesus Myth theory, most prominently [[Timothy Freke|Freke]] and [[Peter Gandy|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.<ref name="Freke"/>
Several prominent [[Early Christianity|early Christians]], like [[Irenaeus]] and [[Justin Martyr]], actually acknowledged the existence of many parallels, complaining that the earlier religions had copied Christian religion and practices, predicted in Hebrew sacred texts, before Jesus was even born, as some form of [[devil|diabolically]] inspired [[prophecy|pre-cognitive]] mockery.
In [[comparative mythology]], there is always the danger of ''parallelomania'', as Samuel Sandmel (1962) calls it, the excessive and superficial identification of what are really [[archetype|mythic universals]]. Sandmel cautions that
: "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."<ref>{{cite journal|first=S|last=Sandmel|title=Parallelomania|journal=Journal of Biblical Literature|volume=81|issue=1|date=1962|doi=10.2307/3264821|pages=1–13}}</ref>.
==== Egypt ====
{{Hiero|ḥr ḳrst<br />|<hiero>G5 q:r z:t</hiero>|align=right|era=egypt}}
In Egyptian myth, [[Horus]] gained his authority by being anointed by Anubis, who had his own cult, and was regarded as the main anointer; the anointing made Horus into ''Horus karast'', written in Egyptian as ''{{lang|egy|ḥr ḳrst}}'', "anointed/embalmed Horus".<ref>Massey, ''Ancient Egypt''[http://home.austarnet.com.au/calum/egyptc.html][http://www.scribd.com/doc/6785/Massey-Gerald-Ancient-Egypt-The-Light-of-the-World-Vol-1?page=208] pp. 215ff.</ref> ''ḳrst'' is a [[false cognate]] of Greek ''[[chrism]]a'' "unguent" whence the title ''Christos'' is derived.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} [[Tom Harpur]] of [[University of Toronto|the University of Toronto]] suggests that ''Christos'' was chosen by the [[Hellenistic Judaism|Hellenistic Jewish]] authors of the [[Septuagint]] (centered in [[Alexandria]]) as a translation of ''Mašíaḥ'' because of this similarity.
[[Gerald Massey]] (1907) compares in particular the embalming of Jesus described in Matthew 26:12 and John 19:39,40 as "making the Christ as the anointed-mummy previous to interment" and refers to [[Tertullian]]'s claim that the name of the Christians derives from this unction received by Jesus.
Worship of [[Isis]], Horus' mother, was a prominent cult, and there exists a proposal{{Fact|date=June 2008}} that this is the basis of ''[[hyperdulia|veneration]]'' of [[Mary, the mother of Jesus|Mary]], and more particularly [[Blessed Virgin Mary|Marian Iconography]]. How, or whether or not, the two relate, however, is uncertain.
[[Image:Luxor Nativity Sharpe.JPG|center|thumb|400px|Image from the [[Luxor temple|temple at Luxor]] in which Akhenaten is shown as being born to a virgin mortal mother, who is made pregnant by divine actions, of which she is foretold]]
==== Mesopotamia ====
[[Tammuz]]-[[Adonis]] is the [[Mesopotamia]]n archetype of the dying and risen-again fertility god. His cult involved [[ritual mourning]].<ref>Joseph Campbell "the dead and resurrected god Tammuz (Sumerian Dumuzi), prototype of the Classical Adonis" (in ''Oriental Mythology: The Masks of God'' pp 39-40).</ref><ref>Miroslav Marcovich, "From Ishtar to Aphrodite" ''Journal of Aesthetic Education'' '''30'''.2, Special Issue: Distinguished Humanities Lectures II (Summer 1996) p 49.)</ref> The [[Pan-Babylonianism|Pan-Babylonianist]] school in particular derives many later myths from this complex, popularized by [[Thomas Mann]]'s ''[[Joseph and His Brothers]]'', which further parallels Tammuz and Christ with [[Joseph (Hebrew Bible)|Joseph]] and [[Osiris]]. Tammuz is paralleled to Christ in particular by his epithet, the [[shepherd]].
==== Greek mysteries ====
The Greek [[Eleusinian Mysteries]] were an initiation cult surrounding [[Demeter]], her daughter [[Persephone]], and the agricultural hero [[Triptolemus]].
The derived Hellenistic [[Orphic]] traditions syncretized Greek traditions with Egyptian and Mesopotamian elements. In the Orphic tradition, it is [[Dionysus]] who is killed and resurrected. Orphism puts strong emphasis on [[salvation]] in the [[afterlife]]. Orphism and [[Hermeticism]] strongly influenced [[Neoplatonism|Platonist mysticism]] which in turn was a formative influence on early Christian theology and dogma.
[[Justin Martyr]] made the following defense against the assertion that Jesus Christ was modeled after [[Dionysus|Bacchus]]:
<blockquote>
Be well assured, then, Trypho, that I am established in the knowledge of and faith in the Scriptures by those counterfeits which he who is called the devil is said to have performed among the Greeks; just as some were wrought by the Magi in Egypt, and others by the false prophets in Elijah's days. For when they tell that Bacchus, son of [[Iuppiter|Jupiter]], was begotten by intercourse with [[Semele]], and that he was the discoverer of the vine; and when they relate, that being torn in pieces, and having died, he rose again, and ascended to heaven; and when they introduce [[Wine#Religious uses|wine]] into [[Dionysian Mysteries|his mysteries]], do I not perceive that the devil has imitated the prophecy announced by the patriarch Jacob, and recorded by Moses? [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/justinmartyr-dialoguetrypho.html ''Dialogue with Trpypho'' ch. 64]
</blockquote>
==== Mithras ====
{{see|Mithraism#Mithraism and Christianity}}
The worship of [[Mithras]] was widespread in much of the Roman Empire from the mid-2nd century CE,<ref>{{cite book |last=Beard|first=M|authorlink=Mary Beard (classicist) |coauthors=North, J and Price, S |title=Religions of Rome Volume 1: A History |year=1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-30401-6 |pages=266, 301 }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Beck|first=RL |editor=Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth |encyclopedia=The Oxford Classical Dictionary |title=Mithras |edition=revised 3rd edition |year=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |id=978-0198606413|pages=991–992}}</ref> and mainstream historians regard it as possible that many Christian practices derived originally from Mithraism through a process known as [[christianization]], including 25th December being Jesus' birth-date,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Martindale|first=Cyril|title=Christmas|encyclopedia=Catholic Encyclopaedia|date=1908|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03724b.htm|location=New York|accessdate=2007-03-18}}</ref> and Sunday being the dedicated day of worship.{{Fact|date=March 2007}} Mithras was a [[solar deity]], closely associated with the Roman [[Sol Invictus]] later identified with Christ.
==== Old Testament ====
{{see|Christianity and Biblical prophecy|Claimed Messianic prophecies of Jesus}}
The [[gospels]] present Jesus as a figure rooted in and [[Messianic prophecy|foretold]] by the [[Nevi'im|prophetic books]] of [[Hebrew Bible|the Hebrew Bible]], notably the [[Book of Isaiah]] and the [[Book of Daniel]]. Thus, Jesus' nativity is placed in [[Bethlehem]] to comply with {{bibleref|Micah|5:2}}, and Jesus' [[Palm Sunday|triumphant entry]] into Jerusalem is designed to answer {{bibleverse||Zechariah|9:9-10}}.
A small amount of material is unique to the [[gospel of Matthew]], that is, not reconstructed for the hypothetical [[Q document|source document of the synoptic gospels]] ("Q"). In this Jesus is presented with strong parallels to Old Testament figures, most noticeably [[Moses]]. Matthew appears to have used Moses' birth narrative and sojourn in the wilderness as the basis for the narrative of Jesus,{{Fact|date=June 2007}} in the tradition of [[midrash]] creative narratives based on the stories, prophecies, and quotes in the Hebrew Bible, in particular [[Toledot Yeshu]].
Work done by prominent Q scholars such as [[John Kloppenborg]] identifies Q's genre as ancient Near-Eastern "instruction", which consistently attributes its wisdom to a human figure and not the personified Wisdom that one finds in the biblical [[book of Proverbs]].<ref >{{cite book|last=Kloppenborg|first=John|title=The Formation of Q: Trajectories in Ancient Wisdom Collections (Studies in Antiquity and Christianity)|publisher=Trinity Press International|isbn=978-1563383069|pages=263-316|date=1987}}</ref>
Advocates of an unhistorical Jesus even claim that when the midrashic elements are removed, little to no content remains that could be used to demonstrate the existence of an historical Jesus.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pages.ca.inter.net/~oblio/partthre.htm|title=THE JESUS PUZZLE Was There No Historical Jesus?|first=E|last=Doherty|accessdate=2007-03-18}}</ref><ref>*{{cite book|last=Doherty|first=Earl|authorlink=Earl Doherty|title=[[The Jesus Puzzle]]: Did Christianity Begin With a Mythical Christ?|year=2000|edition=rev. ed.|publisher=Canadian Humanist Publications|location=Ottawa|id=ISBN 0-9686014-0-5}}</ref>, but the mere presence of Old Testament influence is widely dismissed as sufficient evidence against historicity; there are many examples of ancient Jewish and [[Christian literature]] that shaped their stories and accounts according to Old Testament influence, but nevertheless provided some historical accounts;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bede.org.uk/price6.htm|title=Earl Doherty on Christian Use of the Hebrew Bible|first=C|last=Price|date=2003|accessdate=2007-03-18}}</ref> for example, in [[1 Maccabees]], Judas and his battles are described in terms which parallel those of Saul's and David's battles against the Philistines in [[Books of Samuel|1 and 2 Samuel]], but nevertheless 1 Maccabees has a degree of respect amongst historians as having a reasonable degree of historical reliability.<ref>{{cite book|title=1 Maccabees (Guide to the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, 5)|first=JR|last=Bartlett|publisher=Sheffield Academic Press|date=1998|isbn=978-1850757634}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Bartlett|first=John R.|title=The First and Second Books of the Maccabees|year=1973|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=0521086582}}</ref>
Also included among the Messianic prophecies was [[Virgil]]'s ''[[:s:Eclogues/Eclogue IV|Eclogue IV]]'', which significantly contributed to Virgil's status as a [[virtuous pagan]].
=== Eastern, American and other religions ===
While historians of early Christianity concentrate on parallels with myths current in the [[Greco-Roman]] and Semitic cultures of the 1st century, parallels have also been identified in the [[Indian religions]], and even in myths of the [[Aztecs]] of [[Central America]]. In some cases, these have been interpreted as having a direct influence on early Christianity. In other cases, they have been interpreted by Christians as part of a divine plan to prepare the way for Christianity; or as demonic imitation of the Christian religion.
==== Buddhism ====
{{main|Buddhism and Christianity}}
The possible influence of [[Buddhism]] on Christianity (and possibly of the [[Essenes]]) has been suggested, but with more emphasis on doctrine than mythology. Nevertheless, it has been noted that the life of Christ bears strong similarities to the life of [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]]. This was initially interpreted by Catholic missionaries in terms of the "demonic imitation" theory.<ref>Allen, C., ''The Buddha and the Sahibs: the men who discovered India's lost religion'', [[John Murray]], 2002, pp.33-4</ref> More recently it has been taken by some scholars as far as a "Copycat Christ" theory, postulating that Jesus is simply a Judaistic retelling of the story of Buddha. Thus, [[T. W. Doane]] in his 1882 ''Bible Myths'' opined that "nothing now remains for the honest man to do but acknowledge the truth, which is that the history of Jesus of Nazareth as related in the books of the New Testament, is simply a copy of that of Buddha, with a mixture of mythology borrowed from other nations." (p. 286)
[[Max Müller]] in his 1873 ''Introduction to the Science of Religion'' noted that
: "Between the language of [[Gautama Buddha|The Buddha]] and his disciples, and the language of Christ and his apostles, there are strange coincidences. Even some Buddhist legends and parables sound as if taken from the New Testament, though we know that many of them existed before the beginning of the [[Anno Domini|Christian era]]."
Th. J. Plange in 1906 concluded that early Christianity was the product of Buddhist missionaries. Such ideas were critically reviewed by Richard Garbe in his 1914 ''Indien und das Christentum''. Garbe noted that the similarities between Christian and Buddhist tradition have invited much dilettante speculation, but he nevertheless acknowledged some possible influence, in particular on later Christian legend (suggesting that [[Barlaam and Josaphat|Josaphat]] is a corrupted form of ''[[Bodhisattva]]'', and identifying [[Saint Eustace|Eustachius]] and [[Hubertus]] with [[Subhadra]]). Garbe accepted the historicity of Christ, but identified four passages in the gospel narrative as borrowed from [[Buddhist texts|Buddhist scripture]].
==== Quetzalcoatl ====
The myth of the [[Aztec]] god [[Quetzalcoatl]] has been identified as parallel to that of Jesus, though there is some dispute about the extent to which written versions of the myth have been influenced by Christianity. The story that [[Montezuma]] identified [[Cortez]] as the returned Quetzalcoatl was interpreted by Catholic [[Missionary|missionaries]] as evidence of divine preparation for the Christianization of the Americas. The myth is also commonly used within the [[Mormon]] faith, which holds that Christ visited America shortly after his [[resurrection]].<ref>"Book of Mormon," 3 Nephi.</ref> In the nineteenth century the myth was reconfigured as evidence that an ancient [[Mission (Christian)|Christian missionary]] had evangelized among Mesoamerican peoples, who later distorted his message.<ref>Gardner, B., "The Christianization of Quetzalcoatl: A History of the Metamorphosis." SUNSTONE vol.10, 1986, number 11. pp. 6-10</ref>
=== Crucifixion ===
There have been many scholars and researchers who have written that the ideal of a crucified savior or God, whether it be on a tree, cross, a post, or in that manner, is a very old religious concept far in exase to the Jesus story. Among those claimed are [[Krishna]], [[Indra]], [[Buddha]], [[Ixion]], [[Hesus]], [[Mithra]], [[Prometheus]], and many others.{{Fact|date=June 2008}}
The Christian, Minutius Felix, drew attention to the symbolism he ascribed to the cross, writing, "Crosses, moreover, we Christians neither venerate nor wish for. You indeed who consecrate Gods of wood venerate wooden crosses, perhaps as parts of your Gods. For you your very standards, as well as your banners, and flags of your camps, what are they but crosses gilded and adorned? Your victorious trophies not only imitate the appearance of a simple cross, but also that of a man affixed to it."
== Influence on other mythologies ==
{{see|New Testament apocrypha|Christianity and Paganism}}
Jesus has in turn left traces in other mythologies. This holds for 2nd to [[3rd century]] mystery religions and the emergence of [[Gnosticism]]<ref name="Freke"/>; in ''Reinventing Jesus'', the authors put forth the position that "Only after 100 A.D. 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."<ref>{{cite book|last=Komoszewski|first=JE|coauthors=Sawyer, MJ & Wallace, DB|date=2006|title=Reinventing Jesus|publisher=Kregel Publications|pages=237|isbn=978-0825429828}}</ref>.
Other arguable traces of the Christ mytheme can be found in [[Norse mythology|Norse]] ([[Viking Age]]) [[Balder]] and [[Odin#Odin and Jesus|Odin]] and the [[7th century]] [[Kalki Purana]], which has parallels to [[Revelation]] (in particular the "White Rider" of {{bibleref|Revelation|19:11}}). It is also carried into Islam as the [[Mahdi]] prophecy and the [[Ahmadi]] myths of [[Jus Asaf]].
Within Christian culture, the Christ myth is reflected in many allegories or mythologies, in post-Nicean apocrypha such as the ''[[Acts of Pilate]]'', in medieval [[Mystery play]]s, ''[[Piers Plowman]]'', ''[[The Pilgrim's Progress]]'', Milton's ''[[Paradise Lost]]'' (and, more pertinent to Christ, ''[[Paradise Regained]]''), sometimes advocated as historical (such as the "[[Jesus bloodline]]" theories), sometimes ostensibly "pure myth" or [[Biblical speculative fiction]] (such as [[C. S. Lewis]]' ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia|Narnia]]'').
== Interpretations ==
The mythological parallels discussed above can be interpreted in diametrically different ways. Christian interpretations may either consider non-Christian parallels demonic mockery, or intuitive glimpses of truth by [[Righteous Among the Nations|virtuous pagans]]. Secular interpretations will simply treat Christian myth as one stage in a long unbroken tradition, while sceptical or atheist criticism may argue that Christianity loses credibility by its "copying" earlier mythemes.
=== History ===
Current theories surrounding the mythological aspects of the Christ arose from 19th century [[mythography|scholarship on the formation of myth]], in the work of writers such as [[Max Müller]] and [[James Frazer]]. Müller argued that [[Religion and mythology|religions originated in mythic stories]] of the birth, death, and rebirth of the Sun. 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.<ref name="Frazer">{{cite book|last=Frazer|first=JG|title=The Golden Bough — A Study in Magic and Religion|date=2005|publisher=Cosimo|isbn=978-1596056855}}</ref> 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."<ref name="Frazer"/>
The first scholarly proponent of the theory was probably [[Bruno Bauer]], a [[Hegelian]] thinker who argued that the true founder of [[Christianity]] was an [[Hellenistic Judaism|Alexandrian Jew]], [[Philo]], who had adapted [[Judaic]] ideas to [[Hellenic]] philosophy.
Other authors included [[Edwin Johnson (historian)|Edwin Johnson]], who argued that Christianity emerged from a combination of liberal trends in Judaism and [[Gnosticism|Gnostic]] [[mysticism]]. Less speculative 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.
The most influential of the books arguing for a mythic Jesus was [[Arthur Drews]]'s ''The Christ-Myth'' ([[1909]]) which brought together the scholarship of the day in defence 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 that even if Jesus existed, which he doubted, the public does not "know anything" about him. Some like Joseph Wheless in his 1930 [http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/joseph_wheless/forgery_in_christianity/ 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 2nd century.
[[Rudolf Bultmann]] in his 1941 lecture ''New Testament and Mythology: The Problem of Demythologizing the New Testament Message'' called on interpreters to replace traditional theology with the philosophy [[Martin Heidegger]], an endeavor intending to translate what Bultmann considered "theology in story form" into a format palatable to a literate modern audience.
[[John M. Allegro]] in 1970 proposed that Christianity began as [[shamanism|shamanic]] religion based on the use of [[hallucinogenic mushrooms]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Allegro|first=John M.|authorlink=John Marco Allegro|title=The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross: A Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity Within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East|year=1970|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton|location=London|id=ISBN 0-340-12875-5}}</ref>
[[Pinchas Lapide]] in the 1970s and 1980s was a strong proponent of recovering historical, Jewish, Jesus from beneath the layers of Christian mythology. Lapide saw the historical Jesus as a rabbi in the [[Hasideans|Hasidean]] tradition of [[Hillel the Elder|Hillel]] and [[Hanina Ben Dosa]], and in the context of Jewish independence struggle against Roman occupation. In ''The Myth of God Incarnate'' (1977), edited by [[John Hick]], a team of seven British theologians argued from a position within the Church that God's incarnation in Christ is mythical.
The later works (1990s) 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]] (1991, 2001) proposed that [[Jewish mysticism]] influenced the development of a Christ myth. [[Timothy Freke]] and [[Peter Gandy]] (2001) have popularized the Jesus-myth concept in their book ''[[The Jesus Mysteries]]''.<ref name="Freke">{{cite book|last=Freke|first=T|coauthors=Gandy, P|title=The Jesus Mysteries: Was the "Original Jesus" a Pagan God?|publisher=Three Rivers Press|date=2001|isbn=978-0609807989}}</ref>
Interpretation of Robert M. Price's theories can be taken into a pragmatic context. In such places as the documentary “The God Who Wasn’t There,” and the encyclopedia article “New Testament Narrative as Old Testament Midrash,” he argues for a double movement of Christian copying from earlier sources. On the one hand, he suggests that there was a Christian adoption of general Mediterranean dying-rising savior myths (such as that of Dionysus) that were popular at the time in the figure of Jesus Christ. Then, the details of the savior were fleshed out by a Midrash rewriting of the Septuagint, Homer, Euripides' Bacchae, and Josephus. Price’s argument could be taken to imply that if the entire tradition was simply fictive, the writers did what they did for political reasons. The parallel with Euripides' “Bacchae” and Dionysus, for instance, could point to the deception theme in the story. In the “Bacchae,” Cadmus says of Dionysus that ''“[f]or if, as you claim, this man is not a god, why not call him one? Why not tell a lie, a really good one? Then it will seem that some god has been born to Semele. We—and all our family—will win honor. (424-428).”'' If this is compared to Christ, it may be taken to suggest that the early Christian writers were deliberately perpetrating a fraud. Price acknowledges that there are a few ancient non-gospel sources that claim Jesus Christ was a real living person (such as Tacitus). However, Price points out that even if these references are taken as genuine (which many scholars contest), they at most refer to the claims of the contemporary Christians of the time about Jesus, and were never claims of Jesus as a contemporary of the ancient writers.
=== Demonic imitation ===
The basic theme of demonic imitation is that the [[devil]] also imitated the prophecies in the [[Old Testament]] so that he had a collection of stories similar to the ones told about Jesus. The purpose of this would be to mislead those seeking [[salvation]] either to follow false gods or to deny that in Jesus's case these events really occurred.
<blockquote>He taught us these things for the conversion and restoration of the human race: and (thirdly) that before He became a man among men, some, influenced by the demons before mentioned, related beforehand, through the instrumentality of the poets, those circumstances as having really happened, which, having fictitiously devised, they narrated, in the same manner .... Those who believe these things we pity, and those who invented them we know to be devils....
But those who hand down the myths which the poets have made, adduce no proof to the youths who learn them; and we proceed to demonstrate that they have been uttered by the influence of the wicked demons, to deceive and lead astray the human race. For having heard it proclaimed through the prophets that the Christ was to come, and that the ungodly among men were to be punished by fire, they put forward many to be called sons of Jupiter, under the impression that they would be able to produce in men the idea that the things which were said with regard to Christ were mere marvellous tales, like the things which were said by the poets. And these things were said both among the Greeks and among all nations where they [the demons] heard the prophets foretelling that Christ would specially be believed in; but that in hearing what was said by the prophets they did not accurately understand it, but imitated what was said of our Christ, like men who are in error, we will make plain. The prophet Moses, then, was, as we have already said, older than all writers; and by him, as we have also said before, it was thus predicted: "There shall not fail a prince from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until He come for whom it is reserved; and He shall be the desire of the Gentiles, binding His foal to the vine, washing His robe in the blood of the grape." Genesis 49:10 The devils, accordingly, when they heard these prophetic words, said that [[Dionysus|Bacchus]] was the son of Jupiter, and gave out that he was the discoverer of the vine, and they number wine [or, the ass] among his mysteries; and they taught that, having been torn in pieces, he ascended into heaven. And because in the prophecy of Moses it had not been expressly intimated whether He who was to come was the Son of God, and whether He would, riding on the foal, remain on earth or ascend into heaven, and because the name of "foal" could mean either the foal of an ass or the foal of a horse, they, not knowing whether He who was foretold would bring the foal of an ass or of a horse as the sign of His coming, nor whether He was the Son of God, as we said above, or of man, gave out that [[Bellerophon]], a man born of man, himself ascended to heaven on his horse Pegasus. And when they heard it said by the other prophet Isaiah, that He should be born of a virgin, and by His own means ascend into heaven, they pretended that [[Perseus]] was spoken of. And when they knew what was said, as has been cited above, in the prophecies written aforetime, "Strong as a giant to run his course," they said that Hercules was strong, and had journeyed over the whole earth. And when, again, they learned that it had been foretold that He should heal every sickness, and raise the dead, they produced [[Aesculapius|Æsculapius]].
And the devils, indeed, having heard this washing published by the prophet, instigated those who enter their temples, and are about to approach them with libations and burnt-offerings, also to sprinkle themselves...From what has been already said, you can understand how the devils, in imitation of what was said by Moses, asserted that [[Proserpina|Proserpine]] was the daughter of Jupiter, and instigated the people to set up an image of her under the name of Kore,...
</blockquote>
--[[Justin Martyr]], ''[[First Apology]]'' [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0126.htm] <ref>See [[Justin Martyr#The Apology]] for more information on this book </ref>
=== Jesus as "true myth" ===
Contemporary to [[Rudolf Bultmann]]'s interpretation of the New Testament narrative as valid theology in story form, Christian mythologists such as [[C. S. Lewis]] and [[J. R. R. Tolkien]] understood the narrative of Christ's sacrificial death of atonement for humanity as a "true myth" with the special property that it had been enacted historically in time and space. Lewis wrote, "The story of Christ is simply a true myth: a myth working on us in the same way as the others, but with this tremendous difference that it really happened."[http://www.geocities.com/athens/forum/3505/LewisJoy.html] In this view, mythological predecessors of the "drama" of Christ were inspired glimpses of divine truth that would only become fully manifest at an appointed moment and place, viz. in [[Iudaea Province|Roman Judea]]. For these authors, the mythological elements in the story of the Christ do not undermine but rather enhance the transcendental [[truth]] of the gospel.
Different from Bultmann, Lewis and Tolkien did not intend to ''demythologize'' the gospel, understanding myth as an intrinsic component of its truth. Instead, they felt a challenge to make use of their "subcreative" powers to [[mythopoeia|rework these mythemes]] into mythologies of their own in their works of fiction.
In 1977, this line of argument received attention from academic theology, ''The Myth of God Incarnate'', edited by [[John Hick]]. In this volume, a team of seven British theologians takes a position from within the Church to the effect that God's incarnation in Christ is mythical. They argue that
<blockquote>
New Testament scholarship has shown how fragmentary and ambiguous are the data available to us as we try to look back across nineteen and a half centuries, and at the same time how large and variable is the contribution of the imagination to our "pictures" of Jesus
[...]
The metaphysical uniqueness of Jesus, as traditionally taught, has always been taken to have carried with it a unique moral perfection [...] It is impossible to justify any such claim on purely historical grounds, however wide the net for evidence is cast. So far as the gospels are concerned, the material in them is too scanty, and too largely selected and organized with reference to other considerations, to provide the necessary evidence.
</blockquote>
[[Michael Green (theologian)|Michael Green]] edited a response from evangelical theologians entitled 'The Truth of God Incarnate'.
=== Jesus as historical nucleus of Christian myth ===
{{see|Christian mythology}}
Regardless of the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth, the [[Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament|titles]] accorded to him in the New Testament and later literature clearly establish him in the tradition of both Hebrew and Hellenistic mythology, as a semi-divine or [[apotheosis|deified]] [[hero]] or [[sacred king]] ([[Christ]] or [[Messiah]]), and as a saviour ([[soter]]). This circumstance is by no means in contradiction to a historical figure as outlined by the gospel, it is rather the predictable interpretation of a story of a "dead and risen Son of God" by the Hellenistic public of the early centuries AD, and during the [[Constantinian shift]] (between the [[Edict of Milan]] of 313 and the prohibition of pagan cults by [[Theodosius I]] in 391) even a conscious amalgamation of the tenets of the early [[Church Fathers]] with established cult practice of [[Roman imperial cult]]. The identification of Christ with [[Sol Invictus]] and the establishment of the [[Pontifex Maximus]] as the "steward of Christ" in the [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman church]] is a result of this process of amalgamation. Similarly, [[Christian liturgy]] and [[Liturgical year|liturgical calendar]] were modelled after Roman examples, e.g. the adoption of the festival of [[Sol Invictus]] to commemorate the [[Epiphany (holiday)|Epiphany]] of Christ.
These aspects were taken up in [[Germanic Christianity]] and combined with [[Germanic mythology|Germanic myth]], giving rise to [[Epic poetry|heroic poetry]] surrounding Christ and his sacrificial death, such as ''[[The Dream of the Rood]]''.
=== Jesus as unhistorical myth ===
{{main|Jesus myth hypothesis}}
In recent years, opinions of a purely or primarily mythical Christ have been advanced by [[Professor|Emeritus Professor]] of German [[George Albert Wells]] (''The Jesus Legend'' and ''The Jesus Myth''). These ideas have been taken up directly by [[Alvar Ellegard]]. Acharya S is a proponent of this view among mainstream readers. The theory was first proposed by historian [[Bruno Bauer]] in the 19th century. [[Michael Grant (author)|Michael Grant]] claims that only very few Biblical scholars and historians of [[classical antiquity]] accept this hypothesis.<ref name="Grantmajority">The historian [[Michael Grant (author)|Michael Grant]] states, for example, that, "To sum up, modern critical methods fail to support the Christ myth theory. It has 'again and again been answered and annihilated by first rank scholars.' In recent years, 'no serious scholar has ventured to postulate the non historicity of Jesus' or at any rate very few, and they have not succeeded in disposing of the much stronger, indeed very abundant, evidence to the contrary." — Michael Grant, ''Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels'' (Scribner, 1995)</ref>
The term ''Jesus myth'' covers a broad range of ideas, but most share the common premise that the narrative of the [[Gospel]]s portrays a figure who never actually lived. Current theories arose from nineteenth century scholarship on the formation of myth, in the work of writers such as [[Max Müller]] and [[James Frazer]]. Müller argued that religions originated in mythic stories of the birth, death, and rebirth of the sun. 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.<ref name="Frazer">{{cite book|last=Frazer|first=JG|title=The Golden Bough — A Study in Magic and Religion|date=2005|publisher=Cosimo|isbn=978-1596056855}}</ref> 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."<ref name="Frazer"/> The later 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 [[shamanism|shamanic]] religion based on the use of [[hallucinogenic mushrooms]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Allegro|first=John M.|authorlink=John Marco Allegro|title=The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross: A Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity Within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East|year=1970|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton|location=London|id=ISBN 0-340-12875-5}}</ref> Most recently [[Timothy Freke]] and [[Peter Gandy]] have popularized the Jesus-myth concept in their book ''[[The Jesus Mysteries]]''.<ref name="Freke">{{cite book|last=Freke|first=T|coauthors=Gandy, P|title=The Jesus Mysteries: Was the "Original Jesus" a Pagan God?|publisher=Three Rivers Press|date=2001|isbn=978-0609807989}}</ref> 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 [[Second Epistle of John|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]], rather than a belief that Jesus was a completely fabricated figure.<ref>{{cite book|last=Elwell|first=WA|title=Evangelical Dictionary of Theology|date=2001|publisher=Baker Academic|isbn=978-0801020759}} </ref><ref>{{cite book|first=DC|last=Duling|coauthors=Perrin,N|title=The New Testament: Proclamation and Parenesis, Myth and History|date=1993|publisher=Harcourt|isbn=978-0155003781}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Docetism|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9030754/Docetism|publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica Online|accessdate=2007-03-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=J.N.D|last=Kelly|title=Early Christian Doctrines: Revised Edition|date=1978|publisher=HarperSanFrancisco|isbn=978-0060643348}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/CPn24John2.htm|title=Book 24 - John's Second Letter|first=JB|last=Phillips|accessdate=2007-03-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Arendzen|first=J. P.|encyclopedia=The Catholic Encyclopedia|title=Docetae|url =http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05070c.htm|accessdate=2007-01-07|year=1909|publisher=Robert Appleton|volume=Volume V|location=New York}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Evangelical Dictionary of Theology|author=Elwell, WA|date=2001|publisher=Baker Academic Press|isbn=978-0801020759}}</ref>
== Footnotes ==
{{reflist}}
== See also ==
{{myth box Christianity}}
* [[Christian mythology]]
* [[Historicity of Jesus]]
* [[Christian mysticism]]
* [[Esoteric Christianity]]
* [[Jesus-myth hypothesis]]
* [[Secular theology]]
== Further reading ==
* {{cite book|last=Ellegård|first=Alvar|authorlink=Alvar Ellegård|title=Jesus: One Hundred Years Before Christ: A Study in Creative Mythology|year=1999|publisher=Century|location=London|id=ISBN 0-7126-7956-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Freke|first=Timothy|authorlink=Timothy Freke|coauthors=and [[Peter Gandy]]|title=[[The Jesus Mysteries]]: Was the 'Original Jesus' a Pagan God?|year=1999|publisher=Thorsons|location=London|id=ISBN 0-7225-3676-3}}
* {{cite book|last=Grant|first=Michael|authorlink=Michael Grant (author)|title=Jesus|origyear=1977|year=1999|publisher=Phoenix|location=London|isbn=0-75380-899-4}}
* [[John Warwick Montgomery]] (ed.), ''Myth, Allegory and Gospel: An Interpretation of J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, Charles Williams'', Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship, 1974.
* {{cite book|last=Price|first=Robert M.|authorlink=Robert M. Price|title=Deconstructing Jesus|year=2000|publisher=Prometheus Books|location=Amherst, N.Y.|id=ISBN 1-57392-758-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Price|first=Robert M.|title=The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man: How Reliable is the Gospel Tradition?|year=2003|publisher=Prometheus Books|location=Amherst, N.Y.|id=ISBN 1-59102-121-9}}
* {{cite encyclopedia|last=Price|first=Robert M.|title=New Testament narrative as Old Testament midrash|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Midrash: Biblical Interpretation in Formative Judaism|editor=[[Jacob Neusner]] and Alan J. Avery-Peck|year=2005|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden|id=ISBN 90-04-14166-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Sanders|first=E. P.|authorlink=E. P. Sanders|title=The Historical Figure of Jesus|year=1993|publisher=Allen Lane|location=London|id=ISBN 0-7139-9059-7}}
* Seznec, Jean. 1972, ''The Survival of the Pagan Gods'', [[Princeton University Press]], ISBN 0691017832
* {{cite book|last=Thompson|first=Thomas L.|title=The Messiah Myth: The Near Eastern Roots of Jesus and David|year=2005|publisher=Basic Books|location=New York|id=ISBN 0-465-08577-6}}
* {{cite book|last=Wells|first=G. A.|authorlink=George Albert Wells|title=The Historical Evidence for Jesus|year=1982|publisher=Prometheus Books|location=Buffalo, N.Y.|id=ISBN 0-87975-180-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Wells|first=G. A.|title=The Jesus Myth|year=1999|publisher=Open Court|location=Chicago|id=ISBN 0-8126-9392-2}}
== External links ==
* [http://www.vexen.co.uk/books/jesusmysteries.html "The Jesus Mysteries"] review of Freke/Gandy (1999)
* [http://www.mtio.com/articles/bissart2.htm Why Has God Incarnate Suddenly Become Mythical?] by [[John Warwick Montgomery]]
* [http://thedevineevidence.com/jesus_similarities.html A Christian site arguing about real and only claimed similarities between Christianity and earlier religions, with a lot of links to primary sources]
; historicity
* [http://www.rationalrevolution.net/articles/jesus_myth_history.htm Jesus Myth — The Case Against Historical Christ]
* [http://www.bede.org.uk/price8.htm "A History of Scholarly Refutations of the Jesus Myth"] by Christopher Price
[[:s:Eclogues/Eclogue IV|Eclogue IV]]
[[Category:Biblical criticism]]
[[Category:Comparative mythology]]
[[Category:Christian mythology]]
[[Category:Esoteric Christianity]]
[[Category:Jesus and history|Comparative mythology, Jesus and]]
[[Category:Perspectives on Jesus|Comparative mythology, Jesus and]]