He's take on the historical Jesus looks very interesting:Giuseppe wrote: ↑Wed Jun 29, 2022 9:47 amStephen Young seems to be a historicist. Where is the presumed fun?
To approach Jesus through the lens of myth is to de-center him. He emerges as one among other Jewish mythmakers who engaged in a recognizable repertoire of practices. This focus on the social workings of myth also sheds new light on how early narrative literature about Jesus represents his infamous conflicts with other Jewish figures. Instead of taking how these sources depict Jesus’s interactions with Jewish opponents at face value, we can redescribe his characterizations of them in terms of the competitive strategies a newly arrived independent expert in a field (Jesus) would be expected to mobilize against relatively more established independent experts (e.g., Pharisees) and also institutionally-authorized figures (e.g., priests and Sadducees).
I've seen the expression "independent experts" pop up a few times now. Young applies it also to Paul as well. "Revelatory claims, demonstrations of textual mastery, prophesying, dispensing of enigmatic or esoteric teachings, and works of power" might well describe Paul. Sounds very much like modern-day cult leaders.