Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

I wonder why there is a lot of books on the historical Jesus but very few books, every year, about mythicism.

For example, in 2023, there will be only the next book by Bob Price.

Is it so hard to write books on mythicism ?

Giuseppe wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 3:06 am I wonder why there is a lot of books on the historical Jesus but very few books, every year, about mythicism.

For example, in 2023, there will be only the next book by Bob Price.

Is it so hard to write books on mythicism ?

The difficulty might be in selling them.

As to new mythicism books going to print, I just finished reading one of such titled "The Bible Tells Me So", and it was the most lame and repetitive (and need I say, padded out) waste of my reading time ever. If this book is considered as highly representative of this genre then I would not look forward to any additional of such.

I must inject here that I favor a perspective wherein if there ever was a living human who came to be known by us as Jesus, there was zero miracle_working or god_like nature associated with his being, before, during, or post his lifetime. And he assuredly did not rise from the dead...

Paul the Uncertain wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 3:23 am The difficulty might be in selling them.

Spot on!

lsayre wrote: ↑Thu Sep 22, 2022 4:04 am As to new mythicism books going to print, I just finished reading one of such titled "The Bible Tells Me So", and it was the most lame and repetitive (and need I say, padded out) waste of my reading time ever. If this book is considered as highly representative of this genre then I would not look forward to any additional of such.

I must inject here that I favor a perspective wherein if there ever was a living human who came to be known by us as Jesus, there was zero miracle_working or god_like nature associated with his being, before, during, or post his lifetime. And he assuredly did not rise from the dead...

I haven't finished reading it yet but I think you are being unfair with this book. The author presents some very good things. The idea that the crucifixion is an innovation of Paul for example is very interesting. I think I'm even convinced but I need to think more about it.
I don't share all the ideas in the book. I don't think James was the lying man of Qumran for example.
But even there, there are some good ideas.

It is true, however, that the book lacks the rigor of books by renowned scholars but i don't see how the book is trash.

We should admit frankly it: it is objectively hard to write a book on mythicism that can hold its own against books, for example, by Doherty, Ellegaard, Bob Price and Wells.

Even if the part on the gospels in said books can be revised ad infinitum.

Paul the Uncertain wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 3:23 am The difficulty might be in selling them.

In what way? Historically, mythicism has never had trouble physically selling. The problem is being taken seriously, which they've had a far harder time of. I'm not sure what you mean by "selling them" at this point. Selling the idea or selling an actual volume?

Where there is anyone (even other Christians) who disagree or have ideological prejudices against the established orthodox Christian views of history and society, there will always be a market for mythicism. Theosophists, rationalist Christian movements, atheist communities, monists, neo-pagans, etc. etc. etc. all are basically guaranteed markets for this stuff.

Mythicism has never been lacking a market to sell to. Case in point, people keep buying these books even as the market is just flooded with them to the point I would contend it is almost over saturated.

Again, this is just from my perspective having done a lot of reading on the history of mythicism, but as far as I can tell... they've never had any particular issue with selling the physical volumes.

Sinouhe wrote: ↑Thu Sep 22, 2022 5:41 am I haven't finished reading it yet but I think you are being unfair with this book. The author presents some very good things. The idea that the crucifixion is an innovation of Paul for example is very interesting. I think I'm even convinced but I need to think more about it.
I don't share all the ideas in the book. I don't think James was the lying man of Qumran for example.
But even there, there are some good ideas.

It is true, however, that the book lacks the rigor of books by renowned scholars but i don't see how the book is trash.

The book portrays Paul as the Liar referenced within a few of the fragmented DSS documents. Not James. Much of this is rehashed straight from Robert Eisenman.

And none of the points the author believes to be original to himself appear to be very original from my perspective.

Perhaps I simply expect/demand a more scholarly effort.

lsayre wrote: ↑Thu Sep 22, 2022 6:13 am
The book portrays Paul as the Liar referenced within a few of the fragmented DSS documents. Not James. Much of this is rehashed straight from Robert Eisenman.

And none of the points the author believes to be original to himself appear to be very original from my perspective.

Perhaps I simply expect/demand a more scholarly effort.

Yes you’re right. I meant Paul, not James.
But even if i don’t buy this theory, i still find it interesting. And that’s not the sole subject of the book.

Chris Hansen wrote: ↑Thu Sep 22, 2022 6:03 am

Paul the Uncertain wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 3:23 am The difficulty might be in selling them.

In what way? Historically, mythicism has never had trouble physically selling. The problem is being taken seriously, which they've had a far harder time of. I'm not sure what you mean by "selling them" at this point. Selling the idea or selling an actual volume?

Greetings, Chris

I understood Giuseppe's question to concern distinct volumes, and answered accordingly.

The premises of Giuseppe's question, again as I understood them, were two fact claims: (1) A comparative claim, that in the past historicist-oriented books about Jesus or Christian origins far outnumber mythicist-oriented books, and (2) Only one mythicist-oriented book worthy of mention has been announced for 2023 publication.

I have little independent knowledge of the truth of Giuseppe's premises, but in my view, his question was well-posed and worthy of discussion. His premises seem plausible enough to accept arguendo. I know my mailboxes, snail and e-, receive notices of many, many historicist oriented books (both back catalog and upcoming), but I don't see anywhere near as many current mythicist books, in or outside of my mailboxes. That isn't proof, but it is enough foundation for Giuseppe's question to warrant my attention.

I hope that that helps you to understand my answer better. I also thank you for providing additional perspective on what was, after all, a very brief exchange on both sides.