I haven't read much myther literature. Is it their claim that not only did Jesus not exist (on earth, (c. say 10BC to 40 AD), but that Paul and the other authors of the NT didn't believe he existed as an earthly person?
It is certainly the mythicists’ view that Paul regarded Jesus as a heavenly being who had never lived on earth. They seem to be rather vague about the other NT writers. I think they would say that Mark invented Jesus the Galilean preacher as a kind of allegorical embodiment of the heavenly Jesus. They might then say that Matthew, Luke and John mistook Mark’s “invention” for historical fact. Generally, they prefer not to go into any detail about the way that the earthly Jesus “replaced” the heavenly version.
I haven't read much myther literature. Is it their claim that not only did Jesus not exist (on earth, (c. say 10BC to 40 AD), but that Paul and the other authors of the NT didn't believe he existed as an earthly person?
ReplyDeleteIt is certainly the mythicists’ view that Paul regarded Jesus as a heavenly being who had never lived on earth. They seem to be rather vague about the other NT writers. I think they would say that Mark invented Jesus the Galilean preacher as a kind of allegorical embodiment of the heavenly Jesus. They might then say that Matthew, Luke and John mistook Mark’s “invention” for historical fact. Generally, they prefer not to go into any detail about the way that the earthly Jesus “replaced” the heavenly version.
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