The Jesus Puzzle: Did Christianity Begin With a Mythical Christ? by Earl Doherty

Author:Earl Doherty [Earl Doherty]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biblical Studies, Jesus; the Gospels & Acts, Religion
ISBN: 9780968925911
Publisher: Age of Reason Publications
Published: 2005-06-01T04:00:00+00:00

I noticed that Shauna’s fingers were scraping the bottom of the bowl. “Do you think you’ll want more popcorn? I can get another packet started.”

“Oh, no. I want to save some appetite for later. I’m sure you’ll be wanting to take me out for a movie and dinner after this very detailed dissertation.”

I managed to look a bit sheepish. “Yes, of course. I’ll try to speed things up.”

I turned back to the wall. “Now we turn the corner, almost literally. The letters of Ignatius, around the year 107. Seven of them. Here we find the barest bones of the Gospel story: Mary, Pontius Pilate, even Herod gets a mention. But no Gospel. Ignatius never appeals to one. He never even appeals to apostolic tradition as a way of supporting his assertions about Jesus’ historical data. And no teachings. Not even the fact that Jesus was a teacher is mentioned anywhere in his letters. He has one Gospel-like scene, in the letter to the Smyrneans: Jesus appearing to Peter and his companions after the resurrection and letting them touch him. Ignatius wants to prove that he came back to life in actual human flesh. But he gives no indication of his source for this little anecdote. We’re almost a decade into the second century and still no sign of a written Gospel.”

My baton dropped down a little. “Next, the Didache, around the same time as Ignatius.

A resounding silence about Jesus’ teachings, even though it’s got many ethical directives resembling his. A couple of them, including the Lord’s Prayer, are even attributed to God.

No establishment of its eucharistic meal by Jesus, no linking of it with his death. In fact, no death of Jesus at all, and no resurrection. Everything’s oriented toward God, with Jesus getting a mention only as his child or servant. He seems to be regarded as some kind of revealer who makes known God’s ‘life and knowledge’. There’s no apostolic tradition going back to Jesus, not even when discussing the legitimacy of wandering prophets and the validity of their teaching. Again, the consensus is that this writer could not have known any written Gospel. Or writers, because the document was put together in stages, they think.

Most of it probably goes back into the first century, which is why it hasn’t a hint of any historical Jesus.”

“So now we’re 30 or 40 years after Mark is supposed to have been written, and no sign that anybody’s read it yet.” The popcorn bowl was all but empty.

“Now you’re catching on. Can we really believe that if Mark had penned the first story of Jesus as early as 70—some scholars like to place it even earlier—that it would take several decades for Christians in other parts of the empire to take notice of it? By the end of the century, there were supposed to be four different Gospels available.”

“No fax machines?”

“No photocopiers either. But this isn’t the Ice Age. The Christian world should have been hungry for information about Jesus. There were disputes all over the place, on many important matters.

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