The Historical Jesus
Did Jesus Exist? Why I Don’t Enjoy Reading the Mythicists
I’ve been doing some reading in preparation for a two-lecture on-line course called “Did Jesus Really Exist” scheduled for July 19. You can find out about it here: https://courses.bartehrman.com/did-jesus-really-exist. It’s a freebie, so, well, feel free to get it for free! Even though I'm pumped to do this course, and I don’t really much enjoy reading about it (that is, reading the work books that argue Jesus did not exist). I once did, back when I wrote my book Did Jesus Exist. But unlike most issues I deal with, I don’t find it very interesting or intellectually challenging. Still it’s a topic that comes up a lot among lay people, especially over the past 20 years or so, and so I feel a need to address it, and will do so with vigor. In preparation, Ive been rereading some of the work of one of the leading spokespersons among the “mythicists." In this view, it’s not just that Jesus did not do and say a number of things recorded of him in [...]