The Obsolete Paradigm of a Historical Jesus

More than a decade has passed since peer-reviewed studies began questioning the historical existence of Jesus. This study surveys what has happened since, and how biblical studies has continued moving toward that conclusion even while attempting to avoid it. By exploring newly published takes on Docetism, the aims and sources of the Gospels, the interpretation of the Epistles, and the logic of historical reasoning, the old paradigm of biblical studies is here argued to be obsolete. Too much work is being built on the assumption that Jesus existed, and that something about him can be recovered, and this is leading scholars to false conclusions about Christianity and its origins. Historians need to rethink their entire paradigm and begin studying the Bible anew on the assumption that there was no such Jesus to recover. It is here shown how that approach will produce important new knowledge of early Christian history and the interpretation of the New Testament.

More than a decade has passed since peer-reviewed studies began questioning the historical existence of Jesus. This study surveys what has happened since, and how biblical studies has continued moving toward that conclusion even while attempting to avoid it. By exploring newly published takes on Docetism, the aims and sources of the Gospels, the interpretation of the Epistles, and the logic of historical reasoning, the old paradigm of biblical studies is here argued to be obsolete. Too much work is being built on the assumption that Jesus existed, and that something about him can be recovered, and this is leading scholars to false conclusions about Christianity and its origins. Historians need to rethink their entire paradigm and begin studying the Bible anew on the assumption that there was no such Jesus to recover. It is here shown how that approach will produce important new knowledge of early Christian history and the interpretation of the New Testament.