| Revision as of 15:37, 28 November 2004 editCheeseDreams (talk | contribs)4,094 edits →Jesus and Syncretisms: summarise 2 sections← Previous edit | Latest revision as of 13:43, 20 March 2012 edit undoJohnChrysostom (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users5,573 edits shouldn't this redirect to talk page? | ||
| (33 intermediate revisions by 15 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| #REDIRECT ] {{R from merge}} | |||
| {{controversial}} | |||
| {{jesus}} | |||
| == Perspectives of Historicity == | |||
| Many Christians believe that God plays an active role in history through ] and ]; and some take as a basis for their faith a ] for the ], and the divinity of Jesus. Some Christians believe in God but question the divinity of Jesus and the Bible, and rely more heavily on the work of scientists and historians. | |||
| Since ]s for the existence of God became more prevelant in ] teachings, the issue of the historicity of Jesus gained greater significance, and arguments about ] started to be used in significant ways in this context. Most Christian scholars, and many non-Christian scholars, do not dispute that a person named Jesus once lived, connected in some way to the biblical accounts, thinking that evidence for Jesus' existence is by historical standards fairly strong. | |||
| Many historians do not dispute the existence of a person who was named Jesus, but there is much less acceptance of the narrative of his ] and death, and far less for any ] claims. Many scholars think that interpretations of Jesus' sayings are secondhand and literary extrapolations from his actions and mythologized invented detail which have been applied to an historical figure. | |||
| However, a number of critics have proposed that there was no historical Jesus, adducing as support for this position the paucity of non-Christian historical ] corroborating Christian writings. Perhaps most prolific of those Biblical scholars who discount the historical existence of Jesus is a professor of German, ], who argues that Jesus was originally a ] ]. | |||
| == Jesus and Syncretism == | |||
| ''Main article'':] | |||
| === Pythagoreanism and Astronomy=== | |||
| The ]s tied ] and ] to mystical meaning, and often encoded deeper meaning within geometric or numerical representations, themselves encoded as ''outer mysteries'' in the form of stories. Some scholars think that some of these stories and their deeper meaning was incorporated into the story of Jesus, rather than them being a reflection on historic events. For example, ''12 apostles'' is thought to be a reference to the ] itself derived from geometry of spheres, ''72 disciples'' is thought to be a reference to the precession of the Zodiac. | |||
| Other stories are thought to have more cryptic meaning, one of the best examples being the story of the ''153 fish'', which is thought to encode via ] (a greek version of ]) a mystical diagram known to ], the 153 being a repeated number in the diagram, and having religious significance connected to the ]. Many scholars have thought, throughout the centuries, that the feeding of the 5000 and the 4000 has a cryptic meaning, early ideas tying the numbers to Jews, Gentiles, the Torah, and Apostles, wheras more recent ideas suggest there is an encrypted mystic diagram. Other instances of isopsephia are thought to occur, such as 666 which is quite literally the number of ''the great beast''. | |||
| === Horus === | |||
| Like many early religions, ] developed as a series of ]s with other local gods, taking on aspects as the nation of Egypt expanded, and as its capital moved. Consequently, there are many, sometimes conflicting, stories told of Horus, who is usually given different epithets indicating which syncretism is being referred to. Egypt stretched through Sinai, and to the levant, and had much cultural influence over the surrounding region, deriving from trade relationships and expatriate enclaves. During the ] era, parts of Palestine were even under the political control of Egypt. As such, stories of Egyptian gods became known to the Jewish populus, something that some scholars think led to further syncretism creating some details about Jesus recounted in the Gospels. | |||
| ]s, this image of Horus' nativity depicts anunciation (frame 1), impregnation by the holy spirit (frame 2), and the birth and receipt of gifts from 3 visitors (frame 3)]] | |||
| In one syncretism, Horus is the son of a god, and a human (virgin) mother called ''Meri'' (phonetically identical to ''Mary''). In this myth, the mother is "married" to Lord ], a name which some scholars alledge is identical to Jo-Seth in Hebrew, since the prefix ''Jo-'' is merely a combinatorial form of '']'', which is often rendered as ''Lord''. In some versions of the story, a heavenly messenger (]) announces to Meri that she will carry the holy child, which later occurs by impregnation via the holy spirit (depicted as being transmitted via Thoth's ]). | |||
| The specific location of birth is the underworld, which was known as the ''house of bread'' (potentially due to the importance of the grain harvest and associated funerary rites), which in hebrew is translated as '']''. In addition, Horus' birth was heralded by the star Sirius, was in a manger (resulting in parades of a manger at winter solstice festivals), was witnessed by shepherds, and later by 3 visitors bearing gifts, and was subject to the threat of murder by Herut. Some scholars think this myth is the origin of the story of Jesus' nativity (which does not appear in the ] thought by some to be the ]). | |||
| Another story concerning Horus is that of his raising from the underworld (i.e. from the dead) of his father (in this case being ]), who in ] (the ancient egyptian language) is named ''Aser''. In hebrew, the phrase ''the god Aser'' is ''El-Aser'', which in Greek gains the ending ''-os'' becoming ''Elazeros'', the same as the Greek for ]. In addition, the underworld's name was ''Annu'' or ''House of Annu'', which in Hebrew is ]. Because of the strong similarities, some scholars think that the story of Lazarus is a syncretism from the Horus myth. | |||
| There is a myth of Horus, dramatising the darkness of winter, in which Horus battles Set (his adversary) for 40 days in the wilderness, at one point being offered the temptation of all earthly powers. There is a similar story also of Jesus battling with Satan (which means "adversary", and is etymologically related to Set), which some scholars alledge is a copy, perhaps meant to encode the same teaching, but later having its meaning subverted to a more literal interpretation. | |||
| The Osiris myth also includes stories of Osiris being whisked away to the top of a mountain in the desert for 40 days by Set, where Set offers Osiris total power on earth. In the Jesus story, there is a similar event with Satan being the protagonist. The difference in the names Set and Satan is merely one of modern translation. In demotic, Set can be written Setn, which has almost total phonetic identity with Satan, as well as the strong semantic identity between "Adversary" and standard opinions of Set's behaviour as a god. | |||
| Horus also shares many titles with Jesus, deriving from the various syncretisms, and for a wide variety of reasons, for example - ''The Lamb'', ''Light of the World'', ''The Good Shepherd'', ''The way, the truth, the life'', ''the anointed one'' (''Christ'' in Greek). Some scholars think that the use of such titles by Christians is a direct attempt to overwrite the worship of Horus, by redirecting the reference of the titles, and may originate in syncretistic absorbtions. | |||
| ] | |||
| The significance of the cult of ] led to many depictions of Isis with Horus as a holy baby. The images have a remarkable similarity to those of the ] used by the associated cult of Mary within Christianity. Some scholars think the depictions, and indeed the cult, originates from that of Isis, since the known surviving depictions of Isis date from before the 1st century AD, wheras those of Mary only exist from the 3rd and 4th Centuries. | |||
| Another feature in common with stories of Jesus is the mention in the ] that Mary is clothed in the sun, with the moon at her feet, wearing twelve stars as a crown, which is a common description of Isis, Horus' mother. It allegedly derives from the Isis story having its origin in astronomical observation. | |||
| === Osiris-Dionysus === | |||
| At some point, platonic philosophy syncretised the story of an appropriate god, so that the story could be used to encode deeper philosophy (the ''inner mystery''). The idea of the story as literal truth was completely abandoned, except for the purpose of making outsiders curious to learn, to gain more followers. Later, a variety of other stories about the god were syncretised, and some were invented, producing the tale of a ] symbolising the awakening of knowledge and the abandonment of an initiate's prior life. | |||
| This new religion proved so popular it quickly spread throughout the hellenic spere of influence, and local forms arose replacing the central figure with one more appropriate to the region. These ] consumed the previous religions of the region, making the central figure in coastal Egypt and Sinai ], in Egypt ], in Rome ], in Greece ], in Syria ], in Phrygia (western Turkey) ], and in Samaria (Mesopotamia) ]. Each considered themselves merely a translation of the other, and thus they are collectively known to scholars as that of ]. | |||
| Despite being surrounded by, and trading with, cultures where there was dominance such religions, Judaism resisted being subverted into a mystery religion, perhaps due to it only having one God, of whom tales were told that were too dissimilar. However, some scholars think that an appropriate version of the tale was made up, inventing the figure of a particularly holy rabbi who was crucified and resurrected, Jesus, syncretising bits of the other localised versions where suitable. | |||
| Mystery religions had a common set of central tenets, which had a common deeper understanding, but interpreting them literally produces similar central tenets to those of Christianity. At the core of all the mystery religions was the idea of a god born as man from a human mother but with a god as father, so as to represent both the earthly part of mankind and the spiritual part entwined. The figure goes on to die for the sins of man, entering the underworld, and is restored to life within 3 days (due to an ancient belief that the soul is still in connection with the body for 3 days after death, after which time, resurrection is not possible). | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| Followers of most mystery religions were baptised (in some locations by full immersion in water), and considered themselves afterward to have been re-born. The early Christian church father ] commented on this that ''In certain Mysteries it is by baptism that members are initiated and they imagine that the result of this baptism is regeneration and the remission of the penalties of their sins'' | |||
| Another religious practices similar to Christianity was that the symbolic death of Osiris-Dionysus was re-enacted in many areas by bread and wine, symbolising the body and the blood, partly chosen due to the original nature of the gods (for example, Dionysus was originally associated with grapes). One surviving inscription regarding this (and explicitely referring to a form of ]) states that ''he who will not eat of my body and drink of my blood, so that he shall be made one with me and I with him, the same shall not know salvation''. | |||
| Some forms, such as that of Aion, were born on January 6th (the date held by early christians as that of Jesus' birth), wheras others were born on 25th december (the date of the winter solstice at that time, chosen due to the connection to solar deities, and the date held by many later Christians as that of Jesus' birth). One of the more dominant forms, Dionysus, was born after a 7 month pregnancy (which early Christians thought was the case for Jesus), in a cave, in the presence of 3 shepherds. Although birth in a cave seems at odds with modern interpretations of the infancy narrative placing the birth of Jesus in a stable, the original understanding of Christians was that it was in a cave, as the greek text only specifies that the child was laid in a "manger", and in the Bethlehem area stables were often housed in caves. | |||
| According to ], in his play ''The Bacchae'', Dionysus founded a new religion, was plotted against by the elders, arrested, unjustly found guilty, and executed wearing a crown of ivy (which was standard for Dionysus to wear), for reasons of satire on the relationship between the mystery religions and priests of other faiths. Stories and images, from the time, of Dionysus depict him riding on a donkey (one of the animals Dionysus was particularly identified with) on the way to his death, with the crowd waving branches towards him (as was the standard ancient practise for welcoming celebrities - in Jerusalem it was often done with readily available palms). Dionysus was also associated with the tree, and consequently some versions of the myth have him being crucified on one, as attested by various images of various of the manifestations being crucified (though none survive from earlier than the 3rd century, although this is two centuries before the origin of any surviving images of Jesus being crucified). | |||
| Many of the mystery religions (particularly the manifestation as Attis) considered (as far as the literal interpretation went) that the central figure died (in the case of Attis and some others, by crucifixion) on March 23rd and was resurrected on March 25th (partly connected to the equinox, and earlier winter death-resurrection festivals), which were the dates that early Christians thought Jesus died and resurrected (until the calculation via the lunar calender became preferred - resulting in the variation of the date of Easter). Mystery religions also taught that the central figure will return at the end of the world to judge mankind (living and dead), however this was understood to have the deeper meaning that mankind's fate lay in its own hands and failing to listen to the wisdom from the mystery religions would, inevitably, spell disaster. | |||
| Other similarities exist with stories about Jesus, for example, according to ], Dionysus was thought to have turned water into wine at a marriage, (a story related to origin as a wine god), and ] (a further syncretism of Osiris-Dionysus (as Osiris) with Horus and ], who were also egyptian gods) was, according to a letter by the ] ], called ''Christ'' and Serapis' followers called themselves ''Christians''. Scholars are divided on the issue of whether the similarities are an amazing co-incidence, whether the Osiris-Dionysus stories were copied from Christianity, or whether Christianity was the copyist, particularly since the implications of each viewpoint stir religious passions. | |||
| === Mithras Sol Invictus=== | |||
| Worship of Mithras (known as ]) developed in the Rome army during the ], though it is currently unknown how this particular mystery religion originated, as it appears to have little to do with the ] ]. Since it developed amongst a group of highly mobile people (professional soldiers), it quickly spread to the outer regions of the empire. It soon proved to be amongst the most popular of the mystery religions, and at Rome, by the start of the ] emperors were openly encouraging it, as the religion favoured their rule. | |||
| The ] religion is thought to have its ultimate origin in the cult of ], a deity connected to popular forms of ] (though it is important to note that strictly, early Zoroastrianism is dualist, and modern Zoroastrianism is monotheist, and neither contain Mithra). The ] of priests responsible for the cult of Mithra were the ], who, due to the religions connection to the stars (a reputation centred on ]), were considered both to be holy men and great astronomers. | |||
| Magi were held in great esteem by most of the meditteranian and near-eastern world, and as such, things associated with them were given great respece. It is thought that, should it be fictional, the presence of Magi (in greek ''magoi'', sometimes translated ''wise men'' or ''kings'') at Jesus' birth was inserted to suggest that even these great holy and wise men thought Jesus was important, thus lending credence. | |||
| One of the ancient gods associating with ] (the earlier non-mystery form of Mithras) was ], the moon god, and god of the waters. By the time of the mystery religions, Ea was referred to as ] (or sometimes considered as Oannes' father), which in greek is written Ioannes (i.e. John), and, according to the myths, Oannes spent the days teaching mankind wisdom. Consequently Ea is thought by some scholars, such as ], to be the origin of the story of ]. | |||
| Jesus allegedly is born on the winter solstice (when the sun starts to reappear), six months after John is born on the summer solstice (when the sun starts to dissappear), John baptises with water (the symbol of Ea) and Jesus with fire (the symbol of the sun), and Jesus is born to a young virgin wheras John is born to an old married woman. These comparisons, together with when, in the bible, John says to Jesus ''as you become more, I must become less'', lead some scholars to think John is used in the story as a representation of the moon, and Jesus as the sun (i.e. a sun-god). | |||
| By the end of the 3rd century, the popular cults of Apollo and Mithras had started to merge into the syncretism known as ''Mithras Sol Invictus''<!-- Note to those who think this is a lie: the first known official use of Mithras Sol Invictus was by Diocletian in 307AD, and it occurs in many many texts from the period --> or simply '']'' (the unconquerable sun - a term confusingly also used by other cults), and in ] CE the emperor ] (whose mother had been a priestess of the sun) made worship of this form official. | |||
| The Emporer ] was, like emporers before him, ''pontifex maximus'' (great priest) of the mithraic religion. However, he was also interested in creating unity for the sake of ease of governance, and to this end involved himself in many disputes between Christian groups, arranging councils (such as ], discussing ], amongst other things) and enforcing outcomes, thus creating the institution of ]. | |||
| Constantine also tried to smooth the differences between Christianity and its main competitor, the official religion of ''Sol Invictus''. In doing so, he moved the date of celebration of Jesus' birth to December 25th (since this was the date that Mithras' birth was celebrated, and that of ] (another form of ]) as well that of other winter solstice festivals such as ]). In addition, the Christian sabbath was moved from Saturday (which it had inherited from Judaism) to Sunday (the day holy to Mithras Sol Invictus, since it was "the day of the sun") | |||
| Constantine also instituted use of the ], representative of Christianity, also alledged by some scholars have had use as an ] for "auspicious" thus serving both Christian and non-Christian purpose simultaneously. Constantine's lust for unity, but his tolerance for the existance of Christianity simultaneously to Sol Invictus, has led some scholars to postulate that there was little difference between the two religions (and thus each was able to absorb elements of the other with ease). | |||
| Popular legend had it that Constantine I was Christian, however, this is a fallacy. Constantine never recanted his position as ''pontifex maximus'' of Mithras Sol Invictus, and the only alleged occurance of Constantine I converting was on his deathbed (as alleged by later church fathers), which is impossible to verify either way. | |||
| Some scholars assert that Christianity grew in strength as the prime difference with the mystery religion was that Christianity took the superficial (i.e. literal) interpretation as the correct one, as would newcomers to the mysteries, thus simply larger the stronger number of adherants to its views. This was observed quite early, for example, the second century ] (whose words are preserved in ]'s ''Contra Celsum'', a text designed against Celsus) states that Christianity | |||
| :''continues to spread amongst the vulgar, nay one can even say it spreads because of its vulgarity, and the illiteracy of its adherants. And while there are a few moderate, reasonable, and intelligent people who are inclined to interpret its beliefs allegorically, yet it thrives in its purer form amongst the ignorant'' | |||
| Shocked by this development, the emporer ] attempted to restore the previous religion by supressing and persecuting Christianity. However, this was short lived, as emporers such as the Constantine II (whom many confuse with Constantine I) repealed Julian's actions and encouraged the growth of Christianity. This state of affairs was finally enforced by a decreee in ] (by ], an ] who ascribed to Christianity) which banned outright any non-Christian worship. | |||
| After the ban, and subsequent supression, many Mithraeum were converted into Christian churches (such as Notre-Dame du Taur, and the ]), often dedicated to the ]. Some scholars think that at this time Christianity absorbed the remaining practises and beliefs of Mithras, not already a part of Christianity, to an extent transferring the concept of Mithras to the archangel Michael (including being protector of Soldiers, for example). This is due to the idea that since the congregations were the same, in the same churches, and, in their opinion, there was little difference in the myths (except that Christianity took the story literally). | |||
| === Issues of priority === | |||
| Early christians (such as ] and ]) tended to provide unprovable supernatural explanations for the similarities with Mystery Religions, favouring statements that the ] was responsible for the similarites, producing them to trick people into the wrong religion before Christianity came into existance a centuries later. Modern approaches are more reasoned, suggesting that all surviving evidence of the beliefs in the mystery religions postdates Jesus, and that the myths did not feature crucifixion in their early forms. The counter argument to such ] is that crucifixion is the likely consequence of the religions becoming mystery religions rather than their more literal original form, and that no surviving evidence of Christianity pre-dates Jesus either. | |||
| == Sources == | |||
| ''Main article'':] | |||
| Although there is much evidence of Jesus attested by the ] and the ] (those works which the ] did not consider valid), those arguing against Jesus' historicity point out that since these are works written for religious reasons, they cannot be considered unbiased. Of the secular commentators in existence within memory of Jesus, from the evidence of their surviving works (which still survive in significantly high number to fill hundreds of volumes of text) only 6 are claimed to have written anything relating toJesus - Pliny the Younger, Josephus, Suetonius, Philo, Lucian, and Tacitus. Many scholars consider it odd that a man of such significance as Jesus should be missing from historic texts and records, since lesser figures are, unless, that is, Jesus didn't exist, or was insignificant. Supporters of Jesus' historicity proclaim that the other records became the New Testament. | |||
| ] gave a ] referring to ''Chrestus''- some think this is a typographical error referring to ''Christ'', but others point out that ''Chrestus'' translates as ''Useful One'', a common slave name. ] makes no mention of Jesus or Christians, but his philosophy matched to the extent that early Christians considered him as one of them. ] wrote a satire demonstrating the existence of ] but condemning them as easily lead fools, wheras ] wrote the same opinion in prose. ] wrote ], one evidencing Christianity's existence, and one describing Jesus' death, which some scholars think he merely wrote having asked a Christian who Jesus was. | |||
| Many Christians use a passage from ] (found only in quotations apparantly from it by ]) as evidence that the Bible is not the only contemporary document proclaiming the truth of their faith (such as the Resurrection of Jesus as Christ, part-God, who was executed at the suggestion of Jewish leaders, and won many converts). However, critical scholars note that the passage uses terms Josephus nowhere else uses, the passage is a rather odd thing for a non-Christian Jew to write, the other text reads more continuously without the passage in question, and that the first person known to have claimed that Josephus did not mention Jesus was ] (who lived centuries before ] who is the first person known to have claimed (or quoted) that he did). The discovery of a more neutral 10th century version, bolstered Christian hopes of the validity of the passage, however, it fails to explain why the earlier 9th century manuscripts should have the flaws, and may itself be a forgery. | |||
| The only known text claiming to be a form of official governmental records which also evidences Jesus, is the collection known as the ''Letters of Herod and Pilate''. They are found in some 6th century manuscript copies of the work of ] (who was of the same time as ]). However, these are almost universally regarded as forgeries, due to extreme obviousness, failure to match historic events or people, failure to match the biblical accounts, appearance as a vindictive wish list of retribution against Pilate and Herod, and other problems. | |||
| Jewish records, both oral and written, of the period, were compiled into the ], a work so large that it fills at least 32 volumes. Within its vastness, there is very little mention of anyone called Jesus, the closest match being a person or persons called '']''. However, the description of ''Yeshu'' does not match the biblical accounts of Jesus, the name itself is usually considered to be a derogatory acronym for anyone attempting to convert Jews from Judaism, and the term does not occur in the Jerusalem version of the text (which, compared to the Babylonian version, would be expected to mention Jesus more). Some Christians proclaim that the lack of references, and the difficulty in associating ''Yeshu'' with Jesus, is due to Christianity being negligable when the Talmud was predominantly created, in addition to the Talmud being more concerned with teachings, than recording history. | |||
| == Gnosticism == | |||
| === The Epistles of Paul === | |||
| The epistles of Paul can be split into two sections, those known as the Pastoral Letters, and the non-Pastoral letters. The authenticity of the Pastoral letters is disputed by many scholars, for various reasons. | |||
| The non-Pastoral letters do not mention Jesus in any way which implies he actually existed. The non-Pastorals feature many things in common with Gnosticism, including the esoteric style in which they were written. Some scholars theorise that Paul was a gnostic teacher, and as such saw Jesus as an allegory, as part of a Jewish mystery religion. | |||
| {{sectstub}} | |||
| === The Synoptic Gospels === | |||
| The gospel of Mark makes much mention of secrets and of secret teachings. This is a founding principle of gnosticism, the secret teachings being gnosis. | |||
| If the Secret Gospel of Mark is genuinely attributable to the same author, it can be considered to imply the existance of secret teachings. | |||
| Thomas Didymous, also known as doubting Thomas, can be considered to be a Gnostic allegory. His name, having parts from two languages, literally means "Twin Twin". A twin of the Gnostic initiate is used to represent the earthly part of a character. Association between Thomas and Jesus points to Thomas being the earthly part of Jesus' gnostic self. This is further identified by the gradual learning process Thomas is put through, leading him to attain the nickname "doubting Thomas", symbolising the learning of the gnostic initiate. | |||
| To gnostics, Jesus symbolises the gnostic initiate's higher self. His death and resurrection symbolise the throwing away of previous beliefs, and coming to gnosis. | |||
| The naked youth at gethsemene, if identified with the white robed youth, at the tomb (who in some gospels is referred to as an angel), symbolises the initiation ceremony. These ceremonies typically consisted of stripping completely naked, being baptised, and then being robed in a white cloth. | |||
| To gnostics, Jesus was not real. If the synoptic gospels are gnostic, they do not provide evidence for Jesus. | |||
| {{sectstub}} | |||
| === The Gospel of John === | |||
| There is some doubt over the nature of the ]. Traditional views place it as being John, a disciple. | |||
| More recent study reveals that it has various discrepencies with the description of John given in the bible. | |||
| The generally accepted opinion is the John was the last gospel to be written. Most scholars place it in the second century, though are divided as to whether at the beginning or the end. | |||
| During the second century, Christianity was embroiled in arguments over the nature of Jesus, particularly with the Gnostics. However, the synoptic gospels did not provide much anti-gnostic argument, and those who were vehemently anti-gnostic used quotes from the Gospel of John. | |||
| The gospel of John differs substantially from the Synoptic Gospels. | |||
| The first evidence of mention of the Gospel of John is in the works of ], a vehement anti-gnostic. He makes great use of it, and there is some suspicion that he made it up for this purpose. If this is the case, the Gospel is a fake, and cannot count as evidence. | |||
| {{sectstub}} | |||
| === Other Gospels === | |||
| Many non-canonical gospels exist. Sometimes, these are used to support evidence for Jesus. However, many consider some of these works to be wild fictions, such as the ]. Others are clearly gnostic, and as such cannot support the existance of Jesus as anything other than allegory. | |||
| {{sectstub}} | |||
| === Persecution of Gnostics === | |||
| Gnosticism survived into the 13th century, producing groups such as the ]. Gnostic ideas of god, the consideration of Jesus as allegory, that it was the idea of Jesus' actions (as interpreted in Gnostic texts) that was the saving of Mankind rather than Jesus' actual actions, as well as willingness to tolerate other faiths, made the catholic church feel deeply threatened. To counter this, the pope (]) organised a "crusade" (massacre) against the gnostics known as the ]. Then it created the ], from which other ]s such as the ] developed, to hunt anyone who still held the beliefs. | |||
| {{sectstub}} | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| == External links == | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| ==Reference== | |||
| * Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy, ''The Jesus Mysteries - was the original Jesus a pagan god?'' ISBN:0722536771 | |||
| * Michael Grant, ''Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels'' | |||
| * Edgar J. Goodspeed, ''Biblical Forgeries'' | |||
| * Raymond E. Brown, Joseph Fitzmyer, Roland Murphy, ''Jerome Biblical Commentary'', Prentice Hall, 1968 | |||
| * Rudolf Bultmann, ''History of the Synoptic Tradition'',Harper & Row, 1963 | |||
| * Edgar V. McKnight,''What is Form Criticism?'', 1997 | |||
| * Norman Perrin,''What is Redaction Criticism?'' | |||
| * Robin Jensen,''Understanding Early Christian Art'', Rutledge, 2000 | |||
| * Stephen Patterson, Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossman, Edited by Hershel Shanks,''The Search for Jesus: Modern Scholarship Looks at the Gospels'',Biblical Archaeology Society, 1994 Symposium at the Smithsonian Institution, 11 Sept 1993 | |||
| * Earl Doherty, ''The Jesus Puzzle. Did Christianity Begin with a Mythical Christ?: Challenging the Existence of an Historical Jesus'', Publisher: Canadian Humanist Pubns; 1st edition (October 19, 1999) | |||
| * Phyllis Graham, ''The Jesus Hoax'', Publisher: Frewin; (1974) | |||
| * Charles Guignebert, ''Jesus'', Publisher: Albin Michel; (December 31, 1969) | |||
| * Gordon Stein, ''An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism'', Publisher: Prometheus Books; (December 1, 1989) | |||
| * George A.Wells, ''The Historical Evidence for Jesus'', Publisher: Prometheus Books; (January 1, 1988) | |||
| * Ian Wilson, ''Jesus: The Evidence'', Publisher: Regnery Publishing; 1 edition (October 1, 2000) | |||
| * Barker, Dan. ''Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist.'' Freedom From Religion Foundation, 1992. | |||
| * Bruce, F. F. ''The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?'' 5th ed. Intervarsity, 1960. | |||
| * Fox, Robin Lane. ''The Unauthorized Version: Truth and Fiction in the Bible.'' New York: Vintage, 1991. | |||
| * Keller, James A. ''Contemporary Doubts About the Resurrection.'' Faith and Philosophy 5 (1988): 40-60. | |||
| * Mackie, J.L ''The Miracle of Theism: Arguments for and against the Existence of God.'' New York: Oxford University Press, 1982. | |||
| * Martin, Michael. ''The Case Against Christianity''. Temple University, 1991. | |||
| * McCabe, Joseph. ''The Myth of the Resurrection and Other Essays''. 1925. Prometheus, 1993. | |||
| * Miller, Glenn. ''Christian `bias' in the NT Writers: Does it render the NT unreliable or inadmissable as evidence?'' 23 Feb. 1995. | |||
| * O'Hair, Madalyn. ''Fundamentalism.'' Memphis State University. 22 Oct. 1986. | |||
| * O'Hair, Madalyn. ''Why I Am An Atheist.'' Second Revised Edition. American Atheist Press, 1991. | |||
| * Ranke-Heinemann, Ute. ''Putting Away Childish Things: the Virgin Birth, the Empty Tomb, and Other Fairy Tales You Don't Need to Believe to Have a Living Faith.'' Translated by Peter Heinegg. 1992. Harper Collins, 1994. | |||
| * Russell, Bertrand. ''Why I Am Not a Christian''. Touchstone, 1957. | |||
| * Spong, John Shelby. ''Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture.'' Harper Collins, 1991. | |||
| * Stamos, David N. ''Why I Am Not a New Apostolic'' Leaving the Fold: Testimonies of Former Fundamentalists. Edited by Ed Babinski. Prometheus, 1995. | |||
| * Stein, Gordon Ed. ''An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism.'' Prometheus, 1980. | |||
| * Stein, Gordon Ed. ''The Encyclopedia of Unbelief.'' Prometheus, 1985. | |||
| * Stein, Gordon Ed. ''Freethought in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.'' Greenwood Press, 1981. | |||
| * Stein, Gordon Ed. ''God Pro and Con: A Bibliography of Atheism.'' Garland, 1990. | |||
| * Robert Ingersoll ''A Checklist.'' Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1969. | |||
| * Stein, Gordon and Marshall Brown. ''Freethought in the United States: A Descriptive Bibliography.'' Greenwood Press, 1978. | |||
| * Swinburne, Richard. ''For the Possibility of Miracles - To Believe or Not to Believe: Readings in the Philosophy of Religion.'' Edited by E.D. Klemke. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992. | |||
| * Taylor, Larry. ''MessiahGate - A Tale of Murder and Deception.'' August 1987: 1-7. | |||
| * Till, Farrell. ''Did They Tarry in the City?'' The Skeptical Review. Volume 3, Number 2. | |||
| * Watts, Charles. ''The Claims of Christianity Examined from a Rationalist Standpoint.'' Watts & Co., 1895. | |||
| * Wheless, Joseph. ''Forgery in Christianity: A Documented Record of the Foundations of the Christian Religion.'' Psychiana, 1930. | |||
| * Wheless, Joseph. ''Is It God's Word?'' Kessinger, 1925. | |||
| * Zindler, Frank R. ''Biography. - Leaving the Fold: Testimonies of Former Fundamentalists''. Ed. Ed Babinski. Prometheus, 1995. | |||
| * Zindler, Frank R. ''Dial an Atheist: Greatest Hits from Ohio'' American Atheist Press, 1991. | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| == Remains of original article before edit started == | |||
| Debates concerning the '''historicity of Jesus''' center on two issues: the role of God in natural and human history, and the veracity of the New Testament as a historical source. | |||
| === The Epistles Of Paul === | |||
| ]'s letters appear to have a distinct lack of detail about Jesus' day-to-day existence or activities, leading to scholars such as ] suggesting that Paul's idea of Jesus was derived from his reading of the ]. Most of Paul's references to Jesus make little mention of his time on earth, although, in letters that many scholars consider to be forgeries, there is reference, in moderate detail, to the ] as though it was an actual historical event. | |||
| In this extreme position within this skeptical view, Paul had not heard of any actual person named Jesus from Nazareth (or Bethlehem), but rather believed in a metaphysical Jesus who died on some ethereal plane at the beginning of time, or some far-off time in history. | |||
| === Gnostics === | |||
| In general, some Christians groups tended to oppose ]; for instance ] was quickly condemned for his Gnostic interpretation of the Scriptures. ], a reknowned second century heresy condemner, and church father, said, in ''Against Heresies'', of the ] group of Gnostics "''They keep asking us how it is that when they confess the same things, and hold the same doctrines, we call them heretics''" | |||
| <!-- Maybe the quote from Celsus ought to go here, as it seems particularly relevant to the section, and may make it seem even less like it ought to go in the mystery religions article. --> | |||
| The case for the myth usually states that the reason Christianity doesn't view Jesus as a myth is because they didn't comprehend it. The failure of mystery religions was that by their very nature, the masses took the stories somewhat literally, with the belief in the literal truth of stories eventually superceding the understanding of it as metaphor. | |||
Latest revision as of 13:43, 20 March 2012
Redirect to:
- From a merge: This is a redirect from a page that was merged into another page. This redirect was kept in order to preserve the edit history of this page after its content was merged into the content of the target page. Please do not remove the tag that generates this text (unless the need to recreate content on this page has been demonstrated) or delete this page.
- For redirects with substantive page histories that did not result from page merges use {{R with history}} instead.