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JESUS NEVER EXISTED: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ULTIMATE HERESY by Kenneth Humphreys (2014, Nine-Banded Books, and no this is not a Holocaust-denying press, 126 pages) is a simple yet stunning study of a subject seemingly too frightening for most of the world to consider. Humphreys, an admirable scholar of Mithraism, makes an excellent case that the Jesus of the Christian religion never existed, nor could he have existed. And a warning up front: this book is not Humphreys' full scholarly tome of the same title. It is unavailable on amazon but you can get it at Humphreys' website. Still, this book is excellent for starters, if you are like me and have only just discovered Humphreys' work. It is a pity he has chosen to take a totally anti-Semitic stance in the course of his work, so I warn you of that as well.
HILARIOUS IRONY: I could not resist. As of today, 8 June 2015, this review has 12 out of 13 votes. Know what that means? There's a JUDAS out there somewhere!! :) Told you I couldn't resist!
A troll has inspired me to pause here and make a few remarks. What I have read of Humphreys' work satisfies me that he IS a scholar of Mithraism worthy of consideration. What he writes is in agreement with the field, and I say that your publication is what matters, not a degree (which can be purchased but then are also given away for free sometimes), not a following (Charles Manson had a huge following). It is what one publishes that matters. Humphreys has clearly studied the work of the likes of archaeologist Dr. Constantino Politis, a Mithraic expert who specializes in early Christians.
Humphreys' approach is deceptively simple because I have seen that the world cannot grasp its complexity.Read more ›
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Although I understand from the first positive review below that the book is based on a conisderably longer book/website with scholarly apparatus this is a short (c100 page) essay summarizing the arguments against the actual existence of an historical Jesus. I found it extremely convincing! It sent me back to the work of Bart Ehrman, whom I understood to be the most recent scholarly defender of an historical Jesus which I then thought was highly UNconvincing. Briefly stated, Humphreys argues that there is no contemporary reference to Jesus, that the place of his supposed birth, Nazareth was not a settled site until long after Jesus' life, that there is no mention in biblical stories of the main historical places in Galilee where Jesus could have preached. There is no record of crucifiction of anyone like Jesus in the records of contemporary Roman/Jewish writings. There is also a description of the four canonical gospels showing how "Mark's" original story is later embroidered by Mathew, Luke and John (that is not new..but note Mark never mentions a virgin birth or return after death) More original is the critique of Paul's letters. Archaeological evidence of Jesus is also lacking. For those readers who are concerned, I do hold a PhD in History and am Emeritus Professor from a major university. This is NOT my field of study, but I believe I am capable of sound evaluations of historical theses. I think that Humphreys occasionally does a disservice to his arguments by snide and sarcastic criticism of Christian history, but that does not invalidate his basic thesis. His work should clearly shift the burden of proof to Christian scholars to provide some solid evidence that there was an historical Jesus. Until that time I would hope that textbook writers stop assuming Jesus existed and treat his story as a myth.
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UPDATE 01-03-15: It seems Amazon has disentangled the two books! ------- WARNING: Currently TWO DIFFERENT BOOKS have had the reviews merged. Amazon has merged the reviews/listing from the 2014 title "Jesus Never Existed: An Introduction to the Ultimate Heresy" by Nine-Banded Books and the 2005 title "Jesus Never Existed" published by Historical Review Press. Both books are by Kenneth Humphries, but the first is a 140 page "introduction" and the latter is a 500+ page book. Reviews here prior to November of 2014 are for previous books, not the Nine-Banded Books title. I have not read the full 500+ page text, but I have read the 9BB "introduction" and found it to be a quick, approachable and fascinating introduction to the mythicism of Jesus.
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I was oddly disappointed with this 140 page introduction. First off the actually introduction is only 72 pages and the rest of the book is an interview with Humphreys. The tone of Humphreys was quite childish- which I was not expecting. I was intrigued by the premise of the book and was looking forward to reading Humphres findings but I don't know if I could read 500 pages with Humphreys annoying personal assertions on Christian beliefs (I'm not even Christian!). I'll have to wait awhile before I purchase the full text.
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The historicist-versus-mythicist debate concerning Jesus is heating up deliciously, and this book is a fine recent addition to the controversy. The brouhaha is breaking out into the realm of ever more prominent scholars. At the other end of the spectrum, I do believe that I am the first person ever to write a novel on the subject, an entirely different approach which certainly has its charms.
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This item: Jesus Never Existed: An Introduction to the Ultimate Heresy
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