On the Historicity of Jesus

Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt

By: Richard Carrier

Narrated by: Richard Carrier

The assumption that Jesus existed as a historical person has occasionally been questioned in the course of the last hundred years or so, but any doubts that have been raised have usually been put to rest in favor of imagining a blend of the historical, the mythical, and the theological in the surviving records of Jesus. Historian and philosopher Richard Carrier reexamines the whole question and finds compelling reasons to suspect the more daring assumption is correct. He lays out extensive research on the evidence for Jesus and the origins of Christianity and poses the key questions that must now be answered if the historicity of Jesus is to survive as a dominant paradigm. Carrier contrasts the most credible reconstruction of a historical Jesus with the most credible theory of Christian origins if a historical Jesus did not exist. Such a theory posits that the Jesus figure was originally conceived of as a celestial being known only through private revelations and hidden messages in scripture; then stories placing this being in earthly history were crafted to communicate allegorically the claims of the gospel. Such stories eventually came to be believed or promoted in the struggle for control of the Christian churches that survived the tribulations of the first century. Carrier finds this theory more credible than has been previously imagined. He explains why it offers a better explanation for all the disparate evidence surviving from the first two centuries of the Christian era. He argues that we need a more careful and robust theory of cultural syncretism between Jewish theology and politics of the second-temple period and the most popular features of pagan religion and philosophy of the time. For everyone intent on defending a historical Jesus, this is the book to challenge them.

©2014 Sheffield Phoenix Press (P)2015 Pitchstone Publishing

An excellent defence of a controversial position.

Carrier has undercut all pillars of the historicist position. Mythicism can't be ignored any longer.

a wonderful analysis

I particularly enjoyed the use of stats and original source material. I found this much more compelling than mere argument from modern sources with no way to evaluate his arguments.

The Facts You Need to Know

The best antidote to superstition and the best tool for liberating the future from the barbaric influence of ignorant mythology.

Well thoughtout

Very in depth analysis and well established hypothesis on the mythical argument of Jesus' existence.

A Devastatingly Effective Demonstration

After this book I am utterly convinced Jesus was a myth and nothing short of the discovery of significant new archeological evidence will have a chance to alter that conclusion.

Brilliant

A work of great intelligence and reason, exactly what this field needs, does not always work well as audiobook as many references and calculations but worth the trouble , I look forward to serious rebuttals or improvements

This book supports its premise very well

This book seems intended for the scholar, (there are a few tedious parts) it is however, very thorough and fully supports its premise in showing just why there is good reason to doubt that Jesus was a historical figure.

This SHOULD convince you

Methodical and extremely detailed. Presuming Carrier's individual arguments and references are factually correct, the abundance of evidence he lays out in a disciplined, complex and structured logical format, should metaphorically (or literally) close the book. As Carrier himself states, apologists will (have) undoubtedly poke "holes" in specific lines of reasoning, but I dare you to conceive of a more disciplined and unbiased review of the debate. Listen, absorb the details, and follow Carrier's arguments. Cross reference as much as necessary, but I dare you to finish the book and still have the wherewithal to fully, or even mostly, dismiss the mythicist stance. Even if you feel it's reasonable to dismiss Bayes Theorem as a legitimate logical construct for these purposes, or if you doubt Carrier's assigned probabilities of arguments, common sense reasoning can still vouch for the vast majority of Carrier's points.

Ministers, Priests, read this book!

Great structure and easy to read! Take your time with this one! It’s well worth it! Ministers, Priests, read this; I challenge you all!

Well Researched and We'll Explained

I thought this book was extremely well thought out and very thorough in supporting his theory.