Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth
by Bart D. Ehrman
HarperOne, San Francisco. 368 pages
reviewed by DAN MCCOIG
I have read most, if not all, of Ehrman’s many books. In one title after another, he has popularized some of the more pressing academic debates in New Testament studies. In his latest book, “Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth,” Ehrman takes up the age-old question as to the existence of a historical Jesus of Nazareth.
In some detail he reviews and summarizes the literature of the Jesus mythicists. A Jesus mythicist is someone who believes that Jesus is a myth. Ehrman points out that very few of the mythicists possess the academic training to competently make and support their case. Still, he gives them the benefit of the doubt and addresses their claims. Questions regarding the existence of a historical Jesus date to the Enlightenment. Prior to the Enlightenment, that Jesus existed was a near-universal given. Similarly, writings answering the question of Jesus’ existence in the positive have a lengthy history as well, most notably Albert Schweitzer’s “The Quest for the Historical Jesus” [1906].
The general argument for Jesus as myth is twofold. One, there is no reliable witness to a historical Jesus. And two, the stories of Jesus we do have were modeled after stories told of other deities of the ancient world, namely dying-and-rising pagan deities. Ehrman is humble about the historian’s task in establishing what can and can’t be known definitely about events in the past, especially when the subject at hand belongs to antiquity. Still, he argues persuasively and convincingly for Jesus’ existence. For Ehrman, given the available historical sources, at least this much can be known about Jesus: He existed. The mythicists’ arguments in support of their claims are either implausible, irrelevant or outlandish. Historically, the arguments fail. Theologically, they are peculiar. Ehrman, a New Testament scholar at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, quotes his counterpart E.P. Sanders at neighboring Duke University: “The burden of proof belongs with whoever is making a claim.” In Ehrman’s learned and informed opinion, the mythicists fail to support their claim. By contrast, Ehrman, I believe, succeeds in supporting his claim, namely that Jesus existed.
In the book’s chapter devoted to the data for the historicity of Jesus, he writes, “ … [S]cholarship needs to proceed on the basis of evidence and argument, not on the basis of what one would like to to think.” This principle is applicable to both mythicists and believers alike. Ehrman then sets out to gather his evidence and make his argument for Jesus’ existence. He makes his case from non-Christian sources, both Roman and Jewish, as well as Christian sources, both biblical and non-biblical, namely patristic writings.
For readers familiar with historical Jesus scholarship, Ehrman’s book is a good refresher course. For readers unfamiliar with historical Jesus scholarship, the book is a good general introduction.
DAN MCCOIG is associate pastor of First Church, Winchester, Va.
