Dr. Richard Carrier’s book On the Historicity of Jesus (OHJ) is a very dense but thorough literature review of the prevailing scholarship relevant to the issue of whether Jesus was a real person or not, plus his own assessment of the evidence. His conclusion is that there is at best a ≈32% chance that Jesus was an actual person (and at worse it is ≈0.008%). He makes this conclusion using Bayesian statistics. To prove historicity, Dr. Carrier determines the prior probability of Jesus’ historicity, and then surveys the relevant evidence of Jesus’ historicity (i.e., extrabiblical sources, Acts, Gospels, Epistles), juxtaposed to his minimalist mythology theory (h) with the minimalist historical theory (¬h), and assigns percentage values as to how consistent the relevant evidence is to each theory. Next, Dr. Carrier imports these figures into Bayes’ theorem to determine the probability of Jesus’ historicity. To be honest, at first, prior to reading the book, I was not convinced he could make a persuasive case for an actual percentage using Bayesian statistics, because the probability of a theory is always going to be subjective. Yet, when I read the book, I found the statistics he uses appear to be fair especially the ones he uses to give historicity the benefit of the doubt. Nevertheless, it still is a value judgment he advances for the theory. But, in the end, the analysis is comprehensive and persuasive.
To paraphrase, Dr. Carrier’s minimalist mythology theory (¬h) is that that Jesus did not exist as a person, rather he was a celestial figure, who died in heaven, battling Satan, and whom Christians learned about through revelation and scripture after which Christians created mythical stories about. (OHJ, at 34.) His minimalist historical theory (h) (also paraphrased) is that that Jesus was a man, who had acquired followers (and the followers continued as an identifiable movement after his death), and Jesus was executed by the Jewish or Roman authorities. (OHJ, at 53.) That’s pretty minimal as you can get.
After setting up the various theories, and before getting into the analysis, Dr. Carrier presents an elaborate discussion of background information one needs to fully understand the analysis that he is about to present. He calls these “Elements” and often refers to them when he makes a point. The one area that I think is lacking in this background information is a clear understanding of Jewish sources, which he cites to and uses from time to time. Specifically, when he discusses Jewish sources, like the Talmud, it does not seem like he has a good grasp on them, and his analysis lacks the thorough treatment that he provides with other source material. For example, he briefly only mentions, without much discussion the topic of Mashiach ben Yoseph and Mashiach ben David and admits that although it was the product of the Middle Ages, “it is clear from the Talmud that the outline of it long predated that period”. (OHJ, 75.) He could have consulted to relevant contemporary Jewish sources to flesh this out and explain its relevance. This is only one minor issue, and I don’t think it detracts from his overall thesis or the persuasiveness of the book.
The extrabiblical evidence that Dr. Carrier discusses is Clement’s Epistle and the works of Ignatius, Papias, Hegesippus, Josephus, Pliny, Tacitus, Suetonius and Thallus. Perhaps, the most controversial argument that Dr. Carrier has here is that Josephus’ Testimonium Flavianum and his reference to James, being the brother of Jesus, were complete interpolations, because, as Dr. Carrier readily admits, the current historical consensus is against him. But, that does not matter, and even if we admit the passages are authentic, it hardly constitutes concrete evidence for historicity, since Josephus was not a contemporary and does not cite his sources. It's just unsourced hearsay.
Moreover, Dr. Carrier’s discussion of the Acts, Gospels, and Epistles is very enlightening. His central argument is that Paul’s Epistle (the authentic ones) are the earliest sources of Christianity that we have, and they remarkably say very little to nothing about an actual, living Jesus. As Dr. Carrier points out, Paul states that whatever he learned, he learned from revelation and scripture. He also disclaimed any learning from the other apostles. Dr. Carrier posits that the Christianity of Paul perhaps only knew of a Jesus who died in the heavens, i.e., there was no living and dying Jesus. Juxtaposed to these documents, Dr. Carrier points out that the Acts and Gospels are written in a very myth-like manner. For example, the Gospels basically rewrite certain stories in the Torah and update them thematically to fit the life of Jesus.
Although Dr. Carrier's reasoning to his conclusion is sound, one issue that I have is that he lacks a clearly unifying explanation or theory as to why the Christianity of Paul – or proto-Christianity – evolved from an understanding of a celestial being dying in the heavens, to a religion whose article of faith became a living and dying Savior Messiah. As Dr. Carrier notes, we have a dearth of information from the relevant time-period culminating to the creation of the Gospels (mostly because the Church destroyed anything it found heretical, which ironically would have been the Christianity of Paul). Yet, Dr. Carrier does not give a thorough analysis who had the means, motive, and opportunity to compose the Gospels. As Dr. Carrier points out the Gospels as works of amazing literature, even if they are not history. And, writing the Gospels was no small project. Presenting the various actors and factions that would have the means, motive, and opportunity to create the Gospels would be helpful.
All in all, I think Dr. Carrier did a good job both summarizing the relevant evidence and putting a well-reasoned argument for why there is at best a ≈32% chance that Jesus was an actual person. Highly recommended.
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Learn more
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Flip to back Flip to front
Follow the Author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
| Price | New from | Used from |
|
Audible Audiobook, Unabridged
"Please retry" |
$0.00
| Free with your Audible trial | |
- Read with Our Free App
-
Audiobook
$0.00 - 3 Used from $74.77 8 New from $77.90
- 5 Used from $34.80 10 New from $35.00
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
Frequently bought together
- +
- +
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Top reviews from other countries
David & Maria
A seriously academic, thorough review of the evidence that Jesus existed.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 28, 2019Lusitanian
Very well researched and thought provoking
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 30, 2019Amazon Customer
A thought provoking look at the mythicist case
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 3, 2018
