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 true scholarly effort.

This is a very well researched scholarly writing and requires multiple readings to be able to retain so much information. The author does a great job of examining the scriptures and historicity of the Jesus "cult" from all angles including mathematical probabilities and is more than well worth the read. Well done!