Jesus: Myth or Historical

Did Jesus actually exist and walk the earth? Jesus a historical figure

On the question of the "Historicity of Jesus", there are 3 positions held by scholars. These are Historicity, Mythicism and Agnosticism and explained below:

Jesus Existed. We Know Him

Traditional

Mainstream Christian belief that Jesus existed, and all details about him are true. He was Man, and God at the same time.

Jesus Existed. Little is Known of Him

Historicity

The leading historicity scholars are Maurice Casey and Bart Ehrman

"In simpler terms, the historical Jesus did not exist. Or if he did, he had virtually nothing to do with the founding of Christianity" Bart Ehrman, Did Jesus Exist? (2012), Harper Collins, p. 12.

Jesus is Myth. He did not Exist

Mythicism

Leading mythicism scholars do not not assert that the historicity of Jesus is a black or white scenario,

"Jesus Christ is a pure myth—that he never had an existence, except as a Messianic idea, or an imaginary solar deity."[34]

Jesus began as at a Myth with historical trappings possibly including "reports of an obscure Jewish Holy man bearing this name" being added later.[35][36]

Jesus is Myth founded in Literature

Mythicism

"Jesus never existed at all and that the myth came into being through a literary process."[37]

All trace of a historical person, if there was ever one was to begin with, has been lost. (Jesus agnosticism)[38]

The Legendary Jesus thesis - "The term 'legend' has various meanings in different contexts. In some academic circles, i.e., certain sectors of folkloristics, the term has come to refer to a transmitted story set in the relatively recent, or at least the historical, past that, though believed to be true by the teller, may or may not be rooted in actual history. On the multiple uses and definitional complexities of the term ‘legend'—including its relationship to 'history'—see [reference list omitted]."[39]

Christ is Myth based on Historical Jesus of Nazareth

Mythicism

"Many radical Freethinkers believe that Christ is a myth, of which Jesus of Nazareth is the basis, but that these narratives are so legendary and contradictory as to be almost, if not wholly, unworthy of credit."[34]

Jesus is Myth perhaps modelled on Historical Jesus

Mythicism

"Other skeptics deny that the Jesus character portrayed in the New Testament existed, but that there could have been a first century personality after whom the exaggerated myth was pattered."[37]

There is just enough to show there was a first century teacher called Jesus and little else.[38] (The lower end of Marshall's historical Jesus spectrum.)

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Mythicism

"Christ is a historical character, supernatural and divine; and that the New Testament narratives, which purport to give a record of his life and teachings, contain nothing but infallible truth."[34]

"The New Testament is basically true in all of its accounts except that there are natural explanations for the miracle stories."[37]

Jesus is Historical

Mythicism

"Jesus did exist. An historical character emnating from Nazareth and that these narratives, eliminating the supernatural elements, which they regard as myths, give a fairly authentic account of his life."[34]

Jesus Existed, but His Story was Glamourised

Mythicism

"Jesus did exist, and that some parts of the New Testament are accurate, although the miracles and the claim to deity are due to later editing of the original story."[37]

Jesus Existed, but is different from Gospel Jesus

Mythicism

Jesus did exist but was very different from the gospel Jesus.[38] (This is very close to the ahistorical category above)

"I don’t think you can ‘prove’ either that a historical Jesus existed or that he didn’t. What you can do.. is to construe the same old evidence in a new way that makes more natural, less contrived, sense." Robert Price (2018)."Foreword" ap. Price, R. G. Deciphering the Gospels: Proves Jesus Never Existed (2nd revised ed.). Lulu Publishing Services. p. ix. ISBN 978-1-4834-8782-3.

"For all the evidence anyone has ever adduced from the Epistles (once we exclude those known to be forged): it is ambiguous as to whether an earthly or celestial Jesus is being referred to. The Gospels I found wholly symbolically fictional and not even interested in actual history. And the Jesus in them I found to be so very like other mythical persons of the period. And then I found that no other evidence can be shown to be independent of the Gospels. At the very least, putting all of that together should make agnosticism about the historicity of Jesus a credible conclusion." Carrier, Richard (2015)."Foreword" ap. Lataster, Raphael. Jesus Did Not Exist: A Debate Among Atheists. pp. xi-xii. ISBN 1514814420.

"There is a 1:3 (~33%) chance that Jesus existed." Carrier (1 July 2019). "Spencer Alexander McDaniel on the Historicity of Jesus". Richard Carrier Blogs. "[On the Historicity of Jesus, published in 2014] arguing that Jesus’s historicity has odds of at best 1 in 3 is also the first to pass peer review in the century long history of arguing such a thesis (and indeed by a respected biblical studies press then run by faculty on the campus of the University of Sheffield)."

One of the leading mythicism scholars is Richard Carrier. Other leading mythicism scholars include Robert M. Price, Thomas L. Brodie, etc.

Jesus May Have Existed. Nothing is Known of Him

Agnosticism

Agnosticism scholars often hold that the historicity of Jesus is not relevant to understanding early Christianity. The leading agnosticism scholar is Raphael Lataster,

"As for the question of whether Jesus existed, the best answer is that any attempt to find a historical Jesus is a waste of time. It can’t be done, it explains nothing, and it proves nothing." Tom Dykstra 2015, p. 29.

"The main reason for holding to the historicity of the [gospel] figure of Jesus . . . resides not primarily in historical evidence but derives instead from a modern theological necessity." While Emanuel Pfoh warns,

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Did Jesus actually exist and walk the earth? Jesus a historical figure

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