Jesus

===Christ myth theory===
{{Main|Christ myth theory}}
The Christ myth theory is the hypothesis that Jesus of Nazareth never existed; or if he did, that he had virtually nothing to do with the founding of Christianity and the accounts in the [[gospels]].{{efn|Ehrman writes: "In simpler terms, the historical Jesus did not exist. Or if he did, he had virtually nothing to do with the founding of Christianity." Further quoting as authoritative the fuller definition provided by [[Earl Doherty]] in ''Jesus: Neither God Nor Man''. Age of Reason, 2009, pp. vii–viii: it is "the theory that no historical Jesus worthy of the name existed, that Christianity began with a belief in a spiritual, mythical figure, that the Gospels are essentially allegory and fiction, and that no single identifiable person lay at the root of the Galilean preaching tradition."{{sfn|Ehrman|2012|p=12}}}} Stories of Jesus' birth, along with other key events, have so many mythic elements that some scholars have suggested that Jesus himself was a myth.{{sfn|Theissen|Merz|1998|pp=113–15}}

[[Bruno Bauer]] (1809–1882) taught that the first Gospel was a work of literature that produced history rather than described it.{{sfn|Theissen|Merz|1998|p=90}}
According to [[Albert Kalthoff]] (1850–1906), a social movement produced Jesus when it encountered Jewish messianic expectations.{{sfn|Theissen|Merz|1998|p=90}}
[[Arthur Drews]] (1865–1935) saw Jesus as the concrete form of a myth that predated Christianity.{{sfn|Theissen|Merz|1998|p=90}}

Despite arguments put forward by authors who have questioned the existence of a [[historical Jesus]], virtually all scholars of antiquity accept that Jesus was a historical figure and consider Christ myth theory fringe.<ref>[[Bart Ehrman]]: "He certainly existed, as virtually every competent scholar of antiquity, Christian or non-Christian, agrees, based on certain and clear evidence." B. Ehrman, 2011 ''Forged: writing in the name of God,'' {{ISBN|978-0-06-207863-6}}. pp. 256–257.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Gullotta |first=Daniel N.|title=On Richard Carrier's Doubts: A Response to Richard Carrier's On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt|journal=Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus|year=2017|volume=15|issue=2–3|pages=312|quote=[Per Jesus mythicism] Given the fringe status of these theories, the vast majority have remained unnoticed and unaddressed within scholarly circles.|doi=10.1163/17455197-01502009}}</ref><ref name="DunnPaul35">[[James D.G. Dunn|James D. G. Dunn]] "Paul's understanding of the death of Jesus" in ''Sacrifice and Redemption'' edited by S. W. Sykes (3 December 2007) Cambridge University Press {{ISBN|978-0-521-04460-8}} pp. 35–36.</ref><ref name="Then' 2004 page 34">Richard A. Burridge and Graham Gould (1 April 2004)''. Jesus Now and Then,'' {{ISBN|978-0-8028-0977-3}} p. 34.</ref><ref name="Jesus' page 200">Michael Grant (2004)''. Jesus'' {{ISBN|978-1-898799-88-7}} p. 200.</ref><ref name="Jesus' page 145">[[Graham Stanton]] (1989), ''The Gospels and Jesus''. {{ISBN|978-0-19-213241-3}} Oxford University Press, p. 145.</ref><ref name="voorst16">[[Robert E. Van Voorst]]. ''Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence.'' Eerdmans Publishing, 2000. {{ISBN|978-0-8028-4368-5}} p. 16.</ref>