Mythologizing Jesus

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.

The Christian scriptures took shape within a rich literary landscape, as the gnostic gospels and the Dead Sea Scrolls make clear. But MacDonald, a biblical studies professor at Claremont Graduate School and Claremont School of Theology, sheds light on a different dimension of literary dependence: Homeric material, especially the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. MacDonald (author of The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark, to which he directs interested readers for more scholarly treatments) aims here to distill his findings and present a cogent comparison of Homeric tropes with the Christian gospels of Mark and Luke. To that end, in brief chapters, the author shows some 24 major parallels explored chapter by chapter, from 'Born Divine and Human' to 'Disappearing into the Sky.' . . . The evidence certainly seems to demonstrate . . . dependence by the gospel writers on their masterful Greek predecessor in their stories about and portrayals of Jesus.

• DedicationMythological Names and Places (Greek and Roman)List of FiguresIntroduction: The Christian Superhero1. Born Divine and Human 2. Empowered from Above and Enlisting Sailors3. Feeding Thousands4. Master of the Winds 5. Tamer of Monsters 6. Curing an Old Woman and Bringing a Girl back to Life 7. Water Walker8. 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 Demon13. Entering a City in Disguise14. Clearing out a Den of Robbers 15. Prophet Anointed by a Woman16. 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 Women22. Rescuing a Corpse 23. Living Dead 24. Disappearing into the Sky Conclusion: The Mythologized Jesus and Modern CultureAppendix: The Gospels of Matthew and JohnWorks CitedFurther Reading on the Homeric Epics and Greek MythologyFurther Reading on the New Testament and Classical Greek Literature