The Jesus Puzzle, Did Christianity Begin with a Mythical Christ?: Challenging the Existence of an Historical Jesus

Doherty, Earl

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0968601405 ISBN 13: 9780968601402

Publisher: Canadian Humanist Publications, 1999

A new presentation of the argument that no historical Jesus existed. A full and comprehensive survey of the question through an examination of the early Christian record, canonical and non-canonical, from Q to the Gospels, from the earliest Pauline epistles to the second century apologists, along with Jewish, Gnostic, and Greco-Roman documents of the time. The philosophy of the era, its religious expression in the pagan mystery cults, fascinating glimpses into the historical background of the period, an in-depth consideration of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, are only some of the additional topics covered in the book. A richly-detailed, highly lucid and entertaining account of how Christianity began without an historical Jesus of Nazareth, who came to life only on the pages of the Gospels. The book has been styled for the general reader, though the scholarly community will find it of value as well.