The Jesus Myth

Preface ix 
Acknowledgements  xi 
Abbreviations xiii 
Actual Historical Order of Writing  of New Testament Books  xvi 
Introduction  xvii 
1.  The Nature of the Evidence  1 
i.   The Age of the Manuscripts and of Some Papyrus Fragments  1 
ii.  The  Importance of Early and  Independent Testimony  10 
a.  How Idependent of Each Other Are the Gospels?  10 
b.  Dates and Some Tendencies of the Gospels  14 
c.  Do Earlier Christian Writings Substantiate  the Gospels or ... 49
d.  The Pastoral Epistles and the Problem of Pseudonymity  78 
iii. Conclusion: The Origins and Development of Christology 94 
iv.  Review of the Main Arguments of Chapter 1    111
2.  Miracles in the New Testament and Beyond  114 
i.  The Virgin Birth    115 
ii. The Resurrection   123 
iii.Harvey\'s Defence of Miracles Worked by Jesus  142 
iv. The Gospel Exorcisms 151 
v.  Wider Questions on Exorcisms
a. Exorcisms  in  the History of the  Church  160 
b. Advocates of Possession  as a Reality 165 
vi. Philosophical Arguments  for Miracles 171 
3.  Teachings and  Non-Miraculous Actions of Jesus Ascribable to ... 178 
i. Eschatology and Use  of the Old Testament 178 
ii. An  Irreducible Minimum of Authentic  Information? 190 
4.  The  Earliest Non-Christian Testimony  196 
i. Roman Notices 196 
ii. Josephus 200 
a. The Testimonium as Interpolation  200 
b. Digressions and Unpredictable Opinions 210 
c.  The Arabic Version  214 
d.  The Shorter Passage  217 
iii. The Absence of Independent Testimony 221 
5.  Ethics  in  the  New Testament and  in  the  History of Christianity  224 
i. Jesus and Belief in Him as a Guide to Personal Behaviour 224 
ii. Social Ethics 232 
iii. Orthodoxy, Heresy, and Ecumenism 241 
Conclusion  244 
Afterword by Roderick Tyler  253 
Notes  255 
Bibliography  295 
Index of New Testament References  315 
General Index   322