Christian Faith Evolved from a MC to a HJ
After examination of everything the Epistles and the Gospels say about Jesus,
along with the religious and philosophical context of the time, this study gives its conclusion in a form of
probability assigned to each possible theory on Jesus.
- 90% chance Christianity began with a mythical Christ.
- 9% he was only a man who his followers claimed had resurrected.
- 1% that Jesus was God or a miraculous prophet (the highest I can go)
Then, after taking into account the scientific & philosophical arguments shown in this Appendix,
this study decreased the probability of Christianity to zero.
So, here is the final result:
Who Was Jesus?
| Theory | Man | Crucifixion | Miracles | God & Savior |
Probability |
| A Deified Man from Galilee | |||||
| Christian |  Famous |
|
|
|
Zero |
| Supernatural | Famous |
|
|
 |
Negligible |
| Secular | Famous |
|
|
|
|
 Minor |
|
|
|
||
| A Deity Historicized | |||||
| Secular | Minor |
|
|
|
30% |
|
|
|
|
60% |
|
This website supports the Myth theory developed initially by G.A Wells
(although he owes a great deal to previous works) then E. Doherty and nowadays R. Carrier.
Credits
Most material is taken from Earl Doherty's books and website
Jesus Puzzle
Related Websites:
I highly recommend these books and documentary:
In 1971, with his first, sensational book, The Jesus of the Early Christians: A study in Christian origins,
G.A. Wells embarked on a single-handed enterprise to revive the old thesis of German scholarship "fiercely debated"
at the turn of the 20th century -- "Die Frage nach der Historizität Jesu", whether Jesus ever existed.
After WWII, with Kalthoff, Robertson, W.B. Smith, Drews dead, Couchoud retired,
Schweitzer in Gabon, the debate went into dormancy.
The personal genesis of Well's ideas
Wells's interest started with his year abroad in Switzerland in 1946 as a 20-year old student of German,
lodging with a Swiss Protestant pastor who was a pupil of Albert Schweitzer (still very much alive then, d. 1965).
Wells was introduced to Schweitzer's momentous
The Quest of the Historical Jesus - A Critical Study of its Progress from Reimarus to Wrede" (German:1906, English Tr.:1910),
leading him to reflect on the question of the historical evidence for Jesus, and the lack of it, in the early Christian documents.
It took Wells 20 years to complete his first book, and three years to find a publisher, Pemberton, a traumatic experience.
But the 3,000-run sold out quickly, and his second book, Did Jesus Exist? (1975) , was easily accepted.
Importance of German
Wells found German even more important than ancient Greek:
His expertise allowed him to read in the original the great German historical critics (mostly never translated into English):
a massive amount, on both sides of the debate, of the most comprehensive scholarship in the world
(stamped with the famous "Deutsche Gründlichkeit", "German thoroughness") --
giving him a marked advantage in promoting the non-historicity thesis to modern English readers.
He also gained exposure to the Dutch Radical School, through German translations
(and English ones in "Encyclopaedia Biblica", and Thomas Whittaker's book).
From an Amazon Review
Then E. Doherty started on this idea after he encountered a
serious presentation of the theory by Professor Wells.
Afterwards R. Carrier switched position from HJ to MJ after he read
the Jesus Puzzle by Doherty (like me).
This Website By Vincent Guilbaud
Who am I?
I am just an ordinary man with nothing to lose.
I was born in 1967 in a Catholic family in Angers, west of France.
Like my siblings, my experience with religion as a child or teenager was sweet.
I keep mostly good memories of that time, but starting 14,
I was more interested to understand what it was than believing.
When I began an Engineering school in Paris, my faith decreased even more,
-seems not very compatible with Science-
despite I was living the 2 first years in the seminary of St Sulpice!
Then, I got married at church and attended some protestant mass in Rueil Malmaison,
driven by curiosity.
It was only in 2002, after having moved to NC, maybe partly because of 9/11/2001,
that I decided to study the Jesus question to find by myself
where I am on the subject. Well, I had no idea where I was putting my feet!
Knowledge makes you see the world differently!
I quit Christianity rapidly and became fascinated by this
incredible historical enigma of Jesus!
A puzzle where all pieces stick together the best in the Myth scenario developed since 1971 by
Wells, Doherty and Carrier.
I went on several discussion forums just to realize how little
experts theologians know on the matter which is their own domain!
and that too many people have too much vested interest to be honest.
I read many books and look for anything I can find on the HJ and keep taking notes.
Finally, I published my study in the form of this website.
It popularizes and summarizes the work of E. Doherty and others on the origin of christianity,
and shows that their theory is the best explanation for the records we have.
As we have seen in chapter 1 a Gap of Knowledge,
there is a vast ignorance on the result of secular scholarship,
and this website is also based on it.
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