Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31823/d.30.2.3
Historical Jesus and Mythicism: A Critical Evaluation of Richard Carrier’s Theory
Marko Marina
orcid.org/0009-0005-3456-2428
; Faculty of Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
In the last ten years, the Christ-myth theory (mythicist theory) reached, mostly because of the Internet, a significant level of popularity among the general public. It can be seen in the way the media reports the news about early Christianity and historical Jesus. Although such theories have long been rejected by scholars regardless of their worldview (Christians, Jews, atheists, and agnostics), they still seem to be well known in the public domain. Surveys (like the one done in Great Britain) show a high percentage of people who believe that Jesus of Nazareth never existed. With that in mind, the article seeks to refute, from the historical perspective, the classical version of the Christ-myth theory put forward by Richard Carrier, a well-known historian and proponent of mythicism. The article first presents a brief overview of mythicism, starting with the French philosopher Constantin François de Volney. The article then deals specifically with the basic arguments of Richard Carrier in order to show all of its weaknesses. It concludes that Carrier was guided by his ideological agenda, not by serious historical work, which is most evident in his readings of Paul’s epistles. In addition, Carrier’s underlying assumption about the development of Jesus’ tradition in the 1st century is completely wrong. His theses are utterly misplaced without any positive evidence in primary sources. Hence, it is no surprise that Carrier hasn’t won any supporters among critical scholars.
Keywords
Christ-myth theory; mythicism; historical Jesus; early Christianity; Richard Carrier; New Testament; history
Hrčak ID:
281584
URI
Publication date:
1.9.2022.
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