Deconstructing Jesus - Kindle edition by Robert M. Price. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
Deconstructing Jesus Kindle Edition
by Robert M. Price (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars 18 customer reviews
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Length: 284 pages Word Wise: Enabled
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historical jesus robert price burton mack new testamentbiblical criticism ancient world deconstructing jesus jesus of nazarethmany jesus evidence scholars gospel christianity christianfigure whether jewish later important paul
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Steven H Propp
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5.0 out of 5 starsA "JESUS AGNOSTIC" NEW TESTAMENT SCHOLAR LOOKS AT THE GOSPEL EVIDENCEJuly 30, 2013
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Robert McNair Price (born 1954) is a former Baptist minister who teaches philosophy and religion at the Johnnie Colemon Theological Seminary, is professor of biblical criticism at the Center for Inquiry Institute, and was the editor of the Journal of Higher Criticism from 1994 until it ceased publication in 2003. He is a fellow of the Jesus Seminar, notwithstanding his doubts about the historical existence of Jesus. He has written other books such as Incredible Shrinking Son of Man: How Reliable Is the Gospel Tradition?,Jesus Is Dead,The Amazing Colossal Apostle: The Search for the Historical Paul,The Case Against The Case For Christ, etc.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 2000 book, "this book treats of the historical Jesus and whether we can know anything about him, whether even there is anyone to know about!... I intend to deconstruct 'Jesus Christ' on a deeper level, one underlying believers' imaginary relationships with their Savior... What I do not propose to do is what an increasing ocean of books endeavor, namely reconstructing a historical Jesus from what scanty evidence remains to us... Generations of Rationalists and freethinkers have held that Jesus Christ corresponds to no historical character: There never was a Jesus of Nazareth... What I am describing is someting different, a 'Jesus agnosticism.' There may have been a Jesus on earth in the past, but the state of the evidence is so ambiguous that we can never be sure what this figure was like or, indeed, whether there was such a person." (Pg. 9,12,17)
He points out, "The power of Burton Mack's case ] is such that he has managed to convince the great proponent of the Christ-Myth in our day, George A. Wells, to abandon the ground he defended for so long. Wells now significantly qualifies his own argument to the effect that, while there was a Cynic-style sage named Jesus underlying Q1, this shadowy figure did not give rise to the full-blown mythic Christ of the gospels... And Mack would agree." (Pg. 115)
He argues, "Let me hasten to point out that a multiple-root origin theory for Christianity would not automatically mean there had been no original historical Jesus. Indeed, Mack certainly holds for... at least one historical Jesus, the sage whose sayings have been collected for our edification in Q1. But I wonder if Mack's work does not set loose implications that he himself does not yet appreciate... Q1, far from allowing us access for the first time to the historical Jesus, is instead inconsistent with a historical Jesus." (Pg. 150)
He concludes, "Traditionally, Christ-Myth theorists have argued that one finds a purely mythic conception of Jesus in the epistles and that the life of Jesus the historical teacher and healer as we read it in the gospels is a later historicization. This may indeed be so, but it is important to recognize the obvious: The gospel story of Jesus is itself apparently mythic from first to last. In the gospels the degree of historicization is actually quite minimal, mainly consisting of the addition of the layer derived from contemporary messiahs and prophets... One does not need to repair to the epistles to find a mythic Jesus." (Pg. 260)
Price is an unusual figure (not many Jesus skeptics are also New Testament scholars), but his books are important reading for anyone studying the historical evidence for Jesus.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsWell-researchedApril 19, 2017
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Price has done amazing research of extra-biblical sources to cast doubt on the traditional view of Jesus' uniqueness. Virtually nothing he said was not said by others, whether the Cynics or even much-maligned Jews of the first century who were teaching the same things. Even the uniqueness of the crucifixion and resurrection was preceded by identical myths or even novels of the time. Price is sympathetic, as he came from an Evangelical background and you can see an evolution of thought in his writings. After exposing the idea of originality in the gospels he reaches a point of agnosticism about whether we can know that there ever was a man named Jesus of Nazareth at all.
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Rick Theis
5.0 out of 5 starsWonderful DeconstructionJanuary 13, 2016
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I can only say, "he's done it again!" It's another really good read, and recommended to anyone looking to put another lid on the discussion. Well done, and written in a way I like to see reasoned arguments. You either wind up agreeing or disagreeing, although the latter would be unreasonable. Highly readable, highly recommended, and another in a lineup of good books to consider for your bookshelf.
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KJ
5.0 out of 5 starsWill make you thinkOctober 11, 2011
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Robert M. Price has a knack for coming up with intriguing hypotheses when it comes to Biblical criticism. He makes no claims to have all the answers, and presents a whole load of interesting material from the ancient world that will at the very least throw some much needed doubt onto the field of historical Jesus research. I wouldn't say that this book is aimed at the average layman, but rather at those who have done a fair amount of reading on this topic already. There are a few long portions of the book that present the traditions of Jesus from non-biblical sources and I could imagine that the average reader would become disinterested. For those looking to expand their knowledge on the historical Jesus I recommend this book very highly.
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George N. Wells
5.0 out of 5 starsJesus, Jesus, wherefore art thou Jesus?May 11, 2000
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I guess it all started with the pre millennium madness. More and more biblical scholars are following the footsteps of scholars who have attempted to find the actual person behind the gospel accounts.
"Deconstructing Jesus" isn't an easy read. Unless you have been diligently studying in this field you will find many references to authors you have never heard about. The field is rife with people studying this question.
Bottom line, as I understand it, is that the Jesus that contemporary Christianity follows is a multi-layered construction that has evolved over time to fit the needs of the current culture and political climate. The roots of this construction are all over the first century Middle East and various philosophies. From Cynic, to Gnostic, through Zealot, and everything in between has been woven into the picture that we get of "The Man From Nazareth" (or, was he a Nasserite or Nasorean?).
For the serious student of Christology or church history this book is an excellent criticism of all the current thinking in this area of scholarship. I doubt that the average pew-sitting Christian will be overjoyed with this book but the scholarship will, eventually, be the stuff of many homilies.
Will you find the historical Jesus in this book? No. But you will find an early Church struggling with a polyglot of beliefs attempting to blend them into a cohesive fabric of faith. Perhaps it is that dynamic that has kept "The Church" alive for two millennia. Mysticism and Gnostic thinking are on the rise again and "The Church" on the eve of another evolutionary move -- here's the first map of the territory ahead.
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T. K. Mikkelsen
4.0 out of 5 starsAn Different Look at JesusJune 20, 2013
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I believe this is one of the first books where Robert M. Price touches on the subject of the historicity of Jesus. Price does a very good walk through the different aspects of evidence for a historical Jesus and shows how all the evidence slowly fades away. He does not yet come to the conclusion that Jesus is pure myth in this book, the is for later books, but he does say that we can know next to nothing about the historical Jesus from the evidence we have.
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