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Full Description
This book traces Burton Mack's intellectual evolution, from a creative analyst of ancient texts, to a scholar searching for the motives and interests of Jesus's followers who composed those texts, and for the social logic of "the Christian myths" they created. Mack rejects depictions of Jesus that have emerged from the quest for the "historical Jesus"--peasant teacher, revolutionary leader, mystical visionary or miracle-working prophet--on the grounds that they are based on a priori assumptions about Jesus, and are therefore contradictory. In addition, he argues, these portrayals are untrue to the many images of Jesus produced by the early Christians. Using systematic analysis, Mack seeks to describe and understand the cultural and anthropological influences on the conception and adoption of Christian myths and rituals.
Contents
Prolog: Mythmaking Then
Part I: Setting Aside the Gospels
1. The Historical Jesus Hoopla
2. The Case for a Cynic-like Jesus
3. On Redescribing Christian Origin
Part II: Constructing a Social Theory
4. Explaining Religion: A Theory of Social Interests
5. Explaining Christian Mythmaking: A Theory of Social Logic
Part III: Tracing the Logic and Legacy
6. Innocence, Power, and Purity in the Christian Imagination
7. Christ and the Creation of a Monocratic Culture
8. The Christian Myth and the Christian Nation
Epilog: Mythmaking Now
Annex: The Christian Origins Project
