Paterson isn't about serendipity or mythicism, it simply serves as proof that America is a country of all things and all people—good and bad.
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According to Casey, mythicism has a growing appeal because of an aversion toward Christian fundamentalism among American atheists.
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Doherty created the website The Jesus Puzzle in 1996, while the organization Internet Infidels has featured the works of mythicists on their website and mythicism has been mentioned on several popular news sites. According to Derek Murphy, the documentaries The God Who Wasn't There (2005) and Zeitgeist (2007) raised interest for the Christ myth theory with a larger audience and gave the topic a large coverage on the Internet. Daniel Gullotta notes the relationship between the organization "Atheists United" and Carrier's work related to Mythicism, which has increased "the attention of the public". According to Ehrman, mythicism has a growing appeal "because these deniers of Jesus are at the same time denouncers of religion".
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Robert M. Price, Deconstructing Jesus Theologians claim that mythicism is a positive assertion, with the historicist only putting up a defense against the mythicists. For instance, Hoffmann decries Ehrman's book as "entirely inadequate as a defense". R. Joseph Hoffmann, Response to "Stevenbollinger" of Aug. 18, 2012, in "Mythicism: A Story of Bias, Incompetence and Falsehood", in New Oxonian, May 22, 2012 as a part of "The Jesus Process: Maurice Casey" In fact, historicists exhibit vastly different constructions of the historical Jesus — to the point of creating a "mess".
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1973), p. 17 A review of the French ideas about Jesus denial (French mythisme) was presented by Charles Maignial, "Quick remarks on mythicism in the history of religions and of faith."Cahiers du Cercle Ernest Renan, #82, Oct. 1973, p. 2-15.
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Hoffmann is well known for his witty, highly erudite and often acerbic style, and his penchant for complicated and extreme declarations. In May 2012, Hoffmann presented the Jesus Process defined as yet another round on the popular theme of "Consultation on the Historical Jesus". An introductory manifesto for the new group has been outlined in "Controversy, Mythicism, and the Historical Jesus" of May 22, 2012.R. Joseph Hoffmann, "Controversy, Mythicism, and the Historical Jesus", New Oxonian, May 22, 2012, as a part of "The Jesus Process: A Consultation on the Historical Jesus" ] When listing the major refutations of the Christ Myth thesis (Note [3]), Hoffmann notes that the "important studies" are the five works by S. J. Case, F. C. Conybeare, Maurice Goguel, R. T. France, and Morton Smith.
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Wells, for instance, saw Jesus as a personification of Wisdom, which had appeared on earth in some indefinite time past. William B. Smith in the US, who also could read German fluently, remained a very close ally and a kindred soul. In the same manner that Schweitzer is a seminal reference for historicists, Drews is a basic reference for the denial of Jesus historicity. Arthur Drews left his mark on practically the whole development of the Christ Myth thesis, (so-called "mythicism") which followed him.
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The Christ myth theory (also known as the Jesus myth theory, Jesus mythicism, or the Jesus ahistoricity theory) is the view that the story of Jesus is a piece of mythology, possessing no substantial claims to historical fact. Alternatively, in terms given by Bart Ehrman paraphrasing Earl Doherty, "the historical Jesus did not exist. Or if he did, he had virtually nothing to do with the founding of Christianity." It is a fringe theory, supported by few tenured or emeritus specialists in biblical criticism or cognate disciplines.
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R. Joseph Hoffmann, who had created the Jesus Project, which included both mythicists and historicists to investigate the historicity of Jesus, wrote that an adherent to the Christ myth theory asked to set up a separate section of the project for those committed to the theory. Hoffmann felt that to be committed to mythicism signaled a lack of necessary skepticism and he noted that most members of the project did not reach the mythicist conclusion.Hoffmann, R. Joseph. "Threnody: Rethinking the Thinking behind The Jesus Project", bibleinterp.
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It is criticised for its outdated reliance on comparisons between mythologies, and deviates from the mainstream historical view. There are three strands of mythicism, including the view that there may have been a historical Jesus, who lived in a dimly remembered past, and was fused with the mythological Christ of Paul. A second stance is that there was never a historical Jesus, only a mythological character, later historicized in the Gospels. A third view is that no conclusion can be made about a historical Jesus, and if there was one, nothing can be known about him.
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In modern scholarship, the Christ myth theory is a fringe theory, which finds virtually no support from scholars, to the point of being addressed in footnotes or almost completely ignored due to the obvious weaknesses they espouse. However, more attention has been given to mythicism in recent years due to it recurring when people ask scholars like Bart Ehrman about it. According to him, nearly all scholars who study the early Christian period believe that he did exist and Ehrman observes that mythicist writings are generally of poor quality because they are usually authored by amateurs and non-scholars who have no academic credentials or have never taught at academic institutions. Maurice Casey, theologian and scholar of New Testament and early Christianity, stated that the belief among professors that Jesus existed is generally completely certain.
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