How to get rid of historicists

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        I was composing my regular message to the JesusMysteries list the other day—the group which caters to those who believe Jesus never existed—when suddenly my message got posted while I was still typing away. I figured I’d inadvertently hit the “send” button and checked the message list online. Sure enough, the first half of my message was there, but not the unwritten meaty part where I was really going to lay into historicists. I restarted the computer and began a new message, including an apology and continuing into the real attack on the historical Jesus. Bam! Within seconds the message got posted again and I was sure this time that I didn’t go anywhere near the “send” button.         So I … Continue reading →

The Natsarene (“Nazarene”) Religion – Pt. 8

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Early Buddhist influence on the West It is hardly acknowledged by Christian scholarship that Buddhism potentially exercised considerable influence in the Western world as early as the third century BCE. In the middle of that century, Ashoka (r. 269-232 BCE)—the Mauryan “Emperor of Emperors” who conquered most of the Indian subcontinent—sent a Buddhist missionary contingent to Alexandria at the official request of the curious and enterprising emperor Ptolemy II of Egypt (r. 283-246 BCE)—the same emperor who founded the great Library of Alexandria (eventually destroyed, probably by Christians in 391 or 415 CE).   Both Ashoka and Ptolemy II were extraordinary figures. After a particularly bloody victory against the Kalingas, Ashoka Maurya converted to Buddhism and became a pacifist. Surrounded … Continue reading →

The Natsarene (“Nazarene”) Religion – Pt. 7

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As we have seen, two broad characteristics marked the “Natsarene” spirituality that preceded and led up to Pauline Christianity—gnosticism and encratism. The former has reference to the goal of finding gnosis. The latter characterizes the way to the goal: through continence and a general repudiation of pleasure. The gnostic considered that no one can “serve two masters” and recognized that a fundamental decision occurs in life, one between pleasure and understanding. We have looked at the Parable of the Ten Maidens (Mt 25:1-14), touched upon Secret Mark, and noted the broad popularity of encratism in early Christianity, evident in the non-canonical Acts of the Apostles and in many gnostic writings from the Nag Hammadi Library. One hallmark of encratism, however, … Continue reading →

The Natsarene (“Nazarene”) Religion – Pt. 6

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In the fourth post of this series I looked at the Parable of the Ten Maidens (Mt 25:1-13) and concluded that it was an allegory—certainly not the ipsissima verba from the mouth of the human prophet who lies at the origins of Christianity. The incipient Great Church needed to erase that flesh and blood prophet to make room for its invented and grandiose “Jesus of Nazareth.” It needed to do this because the gnostic doctrine of the “Nazarene” (Natsarene) prophet was diametrically opposed to its doctrine of faith that lay at the heart of the new Pauline kerygma (“proclamation”). Erasing the prophet from history was a fairly easy task, for that prophet has—as we can see—left few if any traces. … Continue reading →

The Natsarene (“Nazarene”) Religion – Pt. 5

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What’s in a name? In the preceding post I suggested that a number of “core” sayings found in the Christian scriptures were already extensively redacted by the time the evangelist penned his gospel. These core saying are not the ipsissima verba of the ‘lost’ prophet whom I propose existed in history (who certainly was not Jesus of Nazareth). Rather, those sayings are often themselves the product of a fairly complex and sophisticated religious tradition. For convenience I may sometimes call that tradition “Nazoreanism” and the movement to which it refers the “Nazarene” movement. This terminology is somewhat incorrect, however, for the movement that these posts describe was never Hellenist but existed purely in the Semitic realm. Hence, it should not … Continue reading →

The Natsarene (“Nazarene”) Religion – Pt. 4

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The highly redacted nature of Christian scripture In the preceding post of this series I listed a number of “themes” which provide a contour of Nazarene (i.e., pre-Christian) theology. Those themes can be deduced from sayings attributed to “Jesus” in Christian scripture, both orthodox and heterodox, according to the criteria of dissimilarity, coherence, and impracticality. They betray a gnostic outlook wherein the goal of life is to seek and find hidden wisdom (gnosis). They delimit a body of teaching that endorses separation from “the world” and the adoption of a rigorous ethical code including humility, renunciation, and chastity. This, I would suggest, is the contour of the pre-Christian Nazarene theology as evidenced by the surviving scriptural record.   The scriptural … Continue reading →

The Natsarene (“Nazarene”) Religion – Pt. 3

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The background In the first two posts in this series I argued that a human prophet lay at the root of the Christian religion—certainly not ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’ This prophet taught a rigorous code of personal fulfillment out of step with both Hellenism and Judaism, yet conforming in fundamental ways with the uncompromising ethics and search for enlightenment (gnosis) found in Buddhism. The proof of these statements lies in a body of sayings preserved in the Christian scriptures themselves. Those sayings—which I have numbered at about 150—comprise a coherent body of material in tension with both the Jewish worship of Yahweh and with the Hellenist ethos of man’s domination over the material world. These “core” sayings are inward-looking and socially … Continue reading →

The Natsarene (“Nazarene”) Religion – Pt. 2

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A human prophet In the first post of this series I surmised that if three criteria are applied to the sayings in Christian scripture, then the contours of a revolutionary teaching emerge. The three criteria are dissimilarity, coherence, and impracticality. For various reasons as discussed below, these criteria show that the teaching could not have been invented. They derived from a historical figure. It was also noted that most of the material in the canonical gospels is, in fact, invented. How then, can we know which sayings attributed to “Jesus” are authentic? Precisely on the basis of the three above-mentioned criteria. Let me explain… When it comes to the Jesus tradition, there are numerous “sayings” (parables and aphorisms) which scholars … Continue reading →

The Natsarene Religion – Pt. 1 (Salm)

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The thrust of Jesus mythicism is to establish that Jesus of Nazareth did not exist—he was an invented figure. Much ink is now being spilled demonstrating this and—even in the unlikely case that the question were settled by scholarship in the next decade or so—acceptance of Jesus mythicism by the general populace will probably require several more decades. However, showing that Jesus of Nazareth did not exist as an historical figure is not the end of the road. There are some, myself included, who strongly suspect that a human prophet was ultimately behind various Christian, Mandean, and Gnostic writings of late antiquity. I call this view semi-mythicism. Perhaps the prophet in question was John the Baptist. Perhaps he was the … Continue reading →

Jesus mythicism on the upswing…

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NOTE: Only days after this post’s appearance, Father Thomas Brodie (see below) has been removed from his position at the Dominican Biblical Institute in Limerick which he helped set up, according to The Irish Sun (Jan 21, 2013). The influential Irish scholar has also been “banned from any lecturing, teaching or writing while a probe is under way.” The newspaper article subheading reads: “A TOP priest has been forced to quit a Bible-teaching job after writing a book claiming Jesus did not exist.” In his book Beyond the Quest for the Historical Jesus: Memoir of a Discovery (Oct. 2012), Fr. Brodie makes public the fact that he has questioned the existence of Jesus since the 1970s.—R.S. (Added Jan 22, 2013.) … Continue reading →