Quaestor
Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 58
Location: Chorleywood UK
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 Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 6:49 am Post subject: The Mythmaker - Paul and the Invention of Christianity |
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This book by Hyam Maccoby demonstrates successfully to me that Jesus himself was a Galilean prophet whose life was lived totally within the confines of classical Messianic Judaism. His followers, the Nazarenes, were clearly also observant Jews who believed that Jesus was the expected anointed King who would deliver them from the Romans.
The genius of Saul of Tarsus was to weld together elements of Gnosticism and the mystery religions and graft the resultant mix onto the ancient stock of Judaism. The mystery religions provided the motif of the dying and resurrected god, which accounts for the fact that Paul evidences so little interest in the actual life of Jesus.
Just as "Who Wrote the Bible" demolishes credence in a revelation of God through the Old Testament, so this book demolishes credence in a revelation of God through the New.
Dennis
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