Mythologizing Jesus: From Jewish Teacher to Epic Hero

by Dennis R. MacDonald

Overview

Our culture is well-populated with superheroes: Superman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, and more. Superheroes are not a modern invention; in fact, they are prehistoric. The gods and goddesses of the Greeks, for example, walked on water, flew, visited the land of the dead, and lived forever. Ancient Christians told similar stories about Jesus, their primary superhero—he possessed incredible powers of healing, walked on water, rose from the dead, and more. Dennis R. MacDonald shows how the stories told in the Gospels parallel many in Greek and Roman epics with the aim of compelling their readers into life-changing decisions to follow Jesus. MacDonald doesn’t call into question the existence of Jesus but rather asks readers to examine the biblical stories about him through a new, mythological lens.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442233508
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	05/07/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	178
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Dennis R. MacDonald is professor of New Testament and Christian origins at Claremont School of Theology. He is the author of several books, including The Gospels and Homer and Luke and Vergil.

Table of Contents

Dedication
Mythological Names and Places (Greek and Roman)
List of Figures
Introduction: The Christian Superhero
1. Born Divine and Human
2. Empowered from Above and Enlisting Sailors
3. Feeding Thousands
4. Master of the Winds
5. Tamer of Monsters
6. Curing an Old Woman and Bringing a Girl back to Life
7. Water Walker
8. Land of the Dead
9. Blind Seer
10. Daring Hero Eats with the Enemy
11. Hero in Disguise Transformed
12. Curing a Boy with a Demon
13. Entering a City in Disguise
14. Clearing out a Den of Robbers
15. Prophet Anointed by a Woman
16. Following a Water Carrier
17. Preparing for Death while Friends Sleep
18. Traitor in the Midst
19. Cowardly Promise Breaker
20. Preferring a Rascal to a Hero
21. Heroic Death and Mourning Women
22. Rescuing a Corpse
23. Living Dead
24. Disappearing into the Sky
Conclusion: The Mythologized Jesus and Modern Culture
Appendix: The Gospels of Matthew and John
Works Cited
Further Reading on the Homeric Epics and Greek Mythology
Further Reading on the New Testament and Classical Greek Literature

Editorial Reviews

[T]his book is an intriguing read and worth the time to dig through it...

Faith Matters

The author of this work, a professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Claremont School of Theology, has dedicated much of his professional work to comparing the New Testament literature with ancient Greek and Latin classics. This work on Jesus is something of a summary of his more extensive previous studies on this subject. His thesis is clear.

The Bible Today

This book distills much of MacDonald’s decades of scholarship on the Homeric debt of popular literature at the time of Jesus. Mark’s and Luke’s stock of story motifs were in many cases influenced by Homer: the storm on the sea, the mentally ill man who lived among the caves, the hero walking on the water, the message from the dead to the living, the hero turning over the tables in his house, and many others. Early Christian authors and Byzantine scholars alike noticed the similarities, and now MacDonald has laid out the case clearly and forcefully.

Lawrence M. Wills

In this fascinating and provocative book, MacDonald shows how the concept of Jesus as superhero made sense to people of the ancient Mediterranean world. He argues that tales of epic heroes fed into portrayals of Jesus in the Gospels, especially in terms of miraculous elements. This is a book sure to fire debate, written with vibrancy and aplomb by an accomplished scholar wielding classical, biblical, and early Christian sources with equal dexterity.

Joan Taylor

This book is a rare treat. It breams with knowledge of Homer, the Gospels, and early Christian writings.... Read Mythologizing Jesus. It is courageous, refreshing and timely. It unearths a huge truth and breaks ground in scholarship and theology.

The Huffington Post

Exceptionally well written, organized, and presented, Mythologizing Jesus: From Jewish Teacher to Epic Hero is enhanced with the inclusion of eight pages of Notes; an Appendix (The Gospels of Matthew and John); a two page Bibliography; a two page Index to Classical Greek Literature; and a two page Index to the Gospels and Acts. Highly recommended for both academia and non-specialist general readers alike, Mythologizing Jesus: From Jewish Teacher to Epic Hero is very highly recommended for community, seminary, and academic library Christian Studies reference collections.

Midwest Book Review

Mythologizing Jesus convincingly explains the numerous correspondences between the synoptic Gospels of Luke and Mark and the Greek poet Homer; too many, in fact, to be just coincidences and thereby shedding new light on old texts and unmistakably illuminating an important area of research.

San Diego Jewish World