The Truth About Jesus. Is He a Myth?


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(4.5 stars; 16 reviews)

The following work offers in book form the series of studies on the question of the historicity of Jesus, presented from time to time before the Independent Religious Society in Orchestra Hall, Chicago, 1909. No effort has been made to change the manner of the spoken, into the more regular form of the written, word. (Summary by M.M. Mangasarian (1859-1943) and Joanne Pauwels) (5 hr 40 min)

Chapters

Part I: A Parable 14:14 Read by Steven Collins
Part I: In Confidence 7:29 Read by Steven Collins
Part I: Is Jesus A Myth 9:19 Read by Steven Collins
Part I: The Problem Stated 25:09 Read by Steven Collins
Part I: The Christian Documents 13:24 Read by Steven Collins
Part I: Virgin Births 7:39 Read by Steven Collins
Part I: Origin of the Cross 6:07 Read by Steven Collins
Part I: Silence of Contemporary Writers 8:26 Read by Steven Collins
Part I: The Jesus Story A Religious Drama 27:30 Read by Steven Collins
Part I: The Jesus of Paul Not the Jesus of the Gospels 23:37 Read by Steven Collins
Part I: Is Christianity Real 21:26 Read by Steven Collins
Part II: Is The World Indebted To Christianity? 40:04 Read by Joanne Pauwels
Part II: Christianity and Paganism 30:09 Read by Joanne Pauwels
Part III: Some Modern Opinions about Jesus 21:33 Read by Joanne Pauwels
Part III: Another Rhetorical Jesus and “We owe everything to Jesus” 22:40 Read by Joanne Pauwels
Part III: A Liberal Jew Praises Jesus 21:30 Read by Joanne Pauwels
Appendix, part 1 18:36 Read by Joanne Pauwels
Appendix, part 2 21:23 Read by Joanne Pauwels

Reviews

Excellent book


(5 stars)

Very well researched, this book presents some compelling arguments that show how little we really can prove regarding the existence of historical Jesus.

Uneven Summary of the Mythicist Position


(3 stars)

Mangasarian manages to get in the most pertinent arguments against the historicity of Jesus, but this work has not aged well. Especially offensive is his prolonged defense of Paganism as a more appropriate religion for the West, as opposed to the "Asiatic" attitudes revealed in Christianity. How Mangasarian can laud the intellectual achievements of classical Greece while overlooking the fact that the New Testament is a work of Hellenism is beyond me, but the argument is racist to it's core.

Well Well


(2.5 stars)

This argument seems entirely driven by racist attitudes towards the Eastern part of the world.