The Christ-Myth Theory And Its Problems - Robert M. Price

Book Description

Publication Date: February 7th 2012

The Christ-Myth theory ... "Worse Than Atheism"? New Testament scholar Robert M. Price, one of America's leading authorities on the Bible, has assembled in his book evidence that shows that almost the entire "biography of Jesus" is a conscious reworking of earlier literature.It is one thing to say "There are no gods" or "Jesus was not a god, just a man." It is quite another thing to say "Jesus of Nazareth never existed at all" or that "Christ is a myth." But scholars have been saying exactly that since at least 1793 when the Enlightenment scholar Charles Dupuis began to publish his 13-volume Origine de Tous les Cultes, ou Religion Universelle, which elucidated the astral origins not only of Christianity but of other ancient religions as well.

New Testament scholar Robert M. Price, one of America's leading authorities on the Bible, here summarizes much of the scholarship that has led him and a growing number of modern scholars to conclude that Christ -- a partial synonym for Jesus of Nazareth -- is mythical. Most usefully, Price has assembled evidence that shows that almost the entire "biography of Jesus" has been created from Greek Old Testament stories and themes and even incorporates motifs from Homer, Euripides, and perhaps Aesop. Because readers will have a hard time "taking it on faith" that the Jesus biography is merely a reworking of previous material, broad swaths of "Old Testament" context are quoted in association with each New Testament equivalent, so readers can judge for themselves whether or not Dr. Price's claim be true: the "Live of Christ" was not fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies; it was, rather, a conscious reworking of earlier literature.

Biography

Robert M. Price (Selma, NC), professor of scriptural studies at the Johnnie Colemon Theological Seminary, is the editor (with Jeffery Jay Lowder) of The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave and the Journal of Higher Criticism. He is also the author of Top Secret: The Truth Behind Today's Pop Mysticisms; The Paperback Apocalypse: How the Christian Church Was Left Behind; The Reason-Driven Life: What Am I Here on Earth For? and many other works.

Customer Review

Jesus Never Walked the Earth
By Steve Beck on May 13th 2012

Robert M Price ends this brilliant book with the words "Jesus [probably] never walked the earth," and he backs up this assertion with abundant evidence and persuasive argument, so that, I believe, any unbiased and intelligent reader would either have to agree with him or at least be strongly swayed towards his conclusion. In an amazing 205 page chapter he puts one after another New Testament story about Jesus side by side with one or more Old Testament stories, so the reader can see clearly for himself that the NT stories are only rewritten or reworked OT stories; and as Dr Price points out, if Jesus really existed, why didn't the NT authors write about him instead of describing him only in terms of ancient stories about other biblical figures? In addition, Price points out that the Jesus story fits a common story pattern of mythic heroes in ancient times, and that there is no good historical documentation that he ever existed as a real person. Others, such as Earl Doherty, have also written good books arguing that Jesus was only a myth, but Price's book is a valuable addition to the field, and I recommend it to anyone interested in finding out the truth about the subject. My only problem with the book is that sometimes Dr Price writes a bit densely and woodenly, but for the most part it is clearly and well written.


Paperback: 427 pages
Publisher: American Atheist Press (August 1st 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1578840171
ISBN-13: 978-1578840175