The Christ MythFirst published in 1910, The Christ Myth drew violent criticism from theologians, the press, and the public. Eminent German philosopher Arthur Drews (1865-1935) reacts to the "romantic cult of Jesus," which, he says is undermining intellectual truthfulness. He exposes the Jesus of the gospels as a mythical character, arguing that no basis exists for seeking a historical figure behind the Christ myth. Through a comparative study of ancient religions, Drews shows that Christianity is a syncretism of various pagan and Jewish beliefs, and that a strong pre-Christian cult of Jesus as son of God and messiah existed. This is a valuable sourcebook for students of religion, and all those interested in examining the origins of Christianity. |
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according Adonis Agni Ahuramazda ancient antiquity Apostles appears Atargatis Attis Babylonian baptism belief birth born called century Christ Christian conception connection cross cult dæmons death Dionysus disciples divine doctrine earth epistles existence fact faith father feast fire gibbet Gnostic Gods Gospels Greek Gunkel heathen heaven heavenly historical Jesus Hochart holy honoured human idea Indian Isaiah Israel Israelites Jahwe Jerusalem Jewish Jews John Joseph Joshua Kalthoff king Krishna lamb later liberal theology light Lord Luke Mandaic mankind Marduk Matt mediator Messiah Mithras Moses mystic myth nature Nearer Asia Oannes Old Testament original Osiris passage Paul Pauline Pauline epistles Persian personality Pfleiderer Philo priests prophet Protestantism Purim Purusha Redeemer redemption reference religion religious represented resurrection Rigveda Robertson sacrifice sacrificed Saoshyant Saviour sects soul spirit story suffering Sun-God supposed symbol Syrian Tammuz theologians theology thou thought Wernle whole words worship