Rating: 
Summary: Helms and Price.
Review: As Michael Turton contrasted G. A. Well's The Jesus Myth with Robert Price's Deconstructing Jesus, so too would I like to contrast two very similar books, Randal Helms' Gospel Fictions with Price's new book The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man. Both of these books have largely the same aim; to show where the Gospel writers got their information from to construct their stories.As with Wells, the contrast between Price and Helms is stunning. Price is scholar who isn't afraid to tread new ground and to scoff at traditional scholarship. He even goes so far as to say the Jesus Seminar was "too uncritical." Helms, on the other hand, in his deconstruction of the Gospels, rarely strays far from comparisons that can be found in standard introductory texts like Brown's and good study bibles like the Harper Collins or the Oxford Annotated Bible. Price begins his book with a discussion of the historical criteria he will use to shred the Gospels into pieces. They are three simple criteria; the criterion of dissimilarity, the principle of analogy, and the principle of biographical analogy. Briefly, the criterion of dissimilarity states that we do not have any reason to accept as authentic any saying that has a parallel with contemporary Judaism or Hellenism. The principle of analogy, as we skeptics all know too well, is basically the old Humean position on miracles. And lastly, but certainly not least (Price will make extensive use of this one), the principle of biographical analogy states that we can't accept anything as authentic when it conforms to standard myths and legends. With a discussion of these criteria and their usage by historians, we move on to the next chapter on sources. The first chapter is a whirlwind of discussions about the primary source material historians have to work with when reconstructing the life of Jesus. The discussion goes from form criticism, the creativity of the evangelists, the dating of the Gospels, the synoptic problem, and even when to date the historical Jesus! Probably the most interesting, at least in my opinion, is what Price has to say about the dating of the Gospels. Price points out that the conventional dates are the product of the Christian apologetic agenda. All we can say for certain is that Mark was written after the destruction of the temple, based on the 'Little Apocalypse'. This make it the earliest possible date, not the most probable date. And he points out, if Mark 13 is prior document taken over by Mark, as some scholars believe, this pushes the likely date of Mark's Gospel back even further! Price also briefly mentions the possibility, argued by Hermann Detering in The Journal of Higher Criticism that Mark 13 doesn't refer to the destruction of Jerusalem at all, but the Bar Kochba revolt in 132 CE. The rest of the chapters read much like Helms' book, except much more radical. While Helms is usually is very careful in pointing out the borrowing, even going so far as to quote the Septuagint and point out the similarity in vocabulary, Price is much more daring in any comparison he makes. No doubt, some of the comparisons might strike the reader as forced, but this is not usually the case because of Price's hyper-critical eye. One instance in particular was when Price was discussing John as the Elijah figure. As was pointed out by Helms, Mark's description of John seems to be taken from 2 King 1:8. But is it that simple? No, says Price. He points out that Zechariah 13:4 says similar garb was the standard for any prophet. So which passage does Mark have in mind for his readers? Price is too radical even for mythicism. Throughout this book, as was the case with Deconstructing Jesus, Price points out many possible historical roles that Jesus could have played, and points out historical parallels to substantiate the point. But Price will ultimately have none of that, showing how these scenarios have no historical weight because they're derived from the Gospels, which are historically worthless. I suspect, with his new book, Price will emerge as the new champion of Jesus Mythicism.
Rating:
Summary: Probably the Best Treatise to Date
Review: Dr. Robert Price is the most significant and accredited scholar to present the Christ Myth thesis to date. His two Ph.D.'s are in systematic theology and New Testament studies respectively; which makes him more than qualified to comment on the historicity of the Jesus Christ character.
Although his presentation is not perfect, it is quite probably the best published thus far. His two works (Deconstructing Jesus, and the Incredible Shrinking Son of Man) have served to anchor the legitimacy of the Christ Myth thesis, despite the debaucheries committed against it by self stylized scholars such as Acharya S.
The Christ Myth thesis is quite plausible and is backed by a large body of historical, anthropological, and archaeological data, as well as a (slowly) growing body of academia. Unfortunately the efforts of legitimate scholars like Dr. Price are greatly undermined by an unfortunate paradigm of popular fiction by authors such as Dan Brown and Acharya S. If you are interested in educating yourself about the mythological foundations of Judaism and Christianity, stick to Dr. Price, Dr. Hoffmann, Dr. Pagels, Dr. Wells, Dr. Leeming, and Earl Doherty for the time being.
Rating:
Summary: Always amazed
Review: I'm always amazed at the absolutely hilarious attacks "true believers" (read" brainwashed) come up with when confronted by excellent, rock-solid research which completely undermines their religious beliefs.
Tis book, like Earl Doherty's "The Jesus Puzzle" proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that an historical Jesus did not exist. There is not one single--and I mean single--shred of evidence to prove that such a man ever walked the Earth.
Rating: 
Summary: They Never Change...
Review: It is amazing that anyone would take this book seriously. The only way that one could ever think that this work is "objective" scholarship has to arrive at the text with the conclusing that the Gospels (and belief in God) cannot present historically accurate material. First, the author shows that he in fact has very little understanding of ancient historiography or the limits upon Enlightenment thought and historiography. Second, it is as if he never really read any credible material that critiques the "Jesus Seminar"...and by the way, they are the laughing stock of New Testament scholarship. N. T. Wright, Richard Hays, and many others could boil this book. It simply does not hold up, and addresses no major challenge to the "scholarship" of the Jesus Seminar. There have been many brilliant authors that respect the historicity of the Gospels. Third, this book represents an attempt to resurrect Enlightenment critiques of literature that cannot work. If post-modernism has taught us anything, it is that Enlightenment presuppositions cannot function when analyzing at text. Like Bart Ehrman, the only way that this author would come to his conclusions is because of his presuppositions. Those who do not believe in miracles are sometimes atheists, but their atheism is the presuppostion from which they base their claims. This author is hardly honest, and hardly a scholar. Read something by N. T. Wright for real New Testament scholarship, read this if you want to be entertained by the scholarly level of John Shelby Spong...a mile wide and an inch thick.
Rating: 
Summary: Competent but slow going
Review: No doubt Robert Price makes a few missteps in his rather long and dull exposes of the Christ myth, including this book and Deconstructing Jesus. Doherty's work in conjunction with Price is definitely helpful.
However, the petty and shallow sniping here and on the DJ page, as well as that of theChrist Conspiracy, against the scholar Acharya S, is not only irrelevant to Price's work but also simply false. Acharya's work not only agrees in many important places with Price's, but where Price fails in his tedious analyses that appeal to only a small fraction of the populace, Acharya manages to reach many more people. And, after her amazingly relevant and scholarly work "Suns of God" that backs up the more popular Christ Conspiracy, anyone using ad hominem attacks against her has little credibility. There is an apparent agenda in the raising up of these books while diminishing the much better-written works of Acharya S. Although such a personal, vindictive agenda makes it appears as if Acharya's work is aberrant, the FACT is that her books is a crucial compendium of numerous other authorities, in hundreds of quotes and citations, that has a much greater effect on really registering the ideas and concepts that Price so ticklishly dances around. (Recent raving reviews of Price's work and the mindless nastiness towards Acharya make one wonder if the critic "Rameus" is Price himself.)
Yes, Price's work is significant in that the academicians will hail such attempts because they are SO conservative they do not threaten anyone's occupations. Whoop de doo. In the long run, the popular works that actually reach the people will have more effect in exposing what can only be termed a [...] perpetrated upon the people of this earth. The nitpicking of the details as to how this fraud came about are completely irrelevant to those who are interested in the betterment of mankind.
The Christ mythicist's library should included the works of both Price and Acharya, as well as those of many others. This petty competition is irrelevant, unwarranted, puerile and, probably, sexist.
Rating:
Summary: Authoritative and insightful
Review: Price is extremely thorough and cogent in his scholarship, and the book is very well written. Highly recommended, and the strident apologist who gave it a single star doesn't seem to have read one paragraph of the book (a common practice among such ideologues) and certainly didn't offer ONE effective rebuttal of anything Dr. Price said in the book. Instead, resorting to a vacuous and pompous dismissal of the whole argument with some reference to how one of his apologetic champions would squash the thesis of the book (also an increasingly common and shrill response from this quarter as each new book of genuine scholarship undermines their cherished point of view). Read the book and decide for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Authoritative and insightful
Review: Robert M. Price plays Van Helsing. The Historical Jesus plays Dracula. We see the careful preparations. Every detail in Latin and Aramaic. We feel the stake going into the heart. We hear the weeping of millions of pious saints. It is as it was. At the end, the historical Jesus melts into air, into thin air (which is as good as being swept up by a cloud, as Luke does to his Jesus character). As Kant raised his hammer to smash Medieval theology, in "Critique of Pure Reason," Price raises his hammer on every page to smash modern apologetics disguising itself as critical scholarship. Price writes like Frederick Jameson with warmth, insight and fantastic scholarship. The reader alternates between laughing at his wistful analogies -- Judas identifying Jesus is like the police needing someone to identify Elvis -- and being impressed by the wealth of his knowledge, seeming to relate every gospel passage to multiple Greek, Roman, Jewish, Egyptian and other ancient sources. People who have been reading the literature in the field of Early Christian History will know from his other books, like "Deconstructing Jesus," that Price is one of the most brilliant opponents of the Christian Matrix. This book may well be his most powerful and delightful.
Rating:
Summary: More Exciting Than The Da Vinci Code
Review: Robert M. Price plays Van Helsing. The Historical Jesus plays Dracula. We see the careful preparations. Every detail in Latin and Aramaic. We feel the stake going into the heart. We hear the weeping of millions of pious saints. It is as it was. At the end, the historical Jesus melts into air, into thin air (which is as good as being swept up by a cloud, as Luke does to his Jesus character). As Kant raised his hammer to smash Medieval theology, in "Critique of Pure Reason," Price raises his hammer on every page to smash modern apologetics disguising itself as critical scholarship. Price writes like Frederick Jameson with warmth, insight and fantastic scholarship. The reader alternates between laughing at his wistful analogies -- Judas identifying Jesus is like the police needing someone to identify Elvis -- and being impressed by the wealth of his knowledge, seeming to relate every gospel passage to multiple Greek, Roman, Jewish, Egyptian and other ancient sources. People who have been reading the literature in the field of Early Christian History will know from his other books, like "Deconstructing Jesus," that Price is one of the most brilliant opponents of the Christian Matrix. This book may well be his most powerful and delightful.
Rating:
Summary: Solid scholarship; fascinating read
Review: Robert Price is amazing. A true treasure. This is his best work yet. He clearly, steadily guides us through the entire Christian scriptures and shows how nearly everything in them is a plagiarism from either Old testament, Jewish aporcypha, or Greek mythology. He goes through Jesus' "life" story -- exposing it as nearly all myth and fiction as opposed to fact. He goes through the miracles, John the Baptist, etc., etc., and his breadth of knowledge is truly astounding.
What is nice is that he just isn't writing this to debunk and deconstruct. Rather, he helps illuminate much about early Christianity. By sifting through the myth-making, the contradictions, and the plagiarisms, he helps paint a fascinating picture of what the early theological and political struggles of early Christianity must have entailed.
The bottom line is that the story of Jesus is clearly and undoubtedly myth and fiction, and this book is perhaps THE BEST at revealing that. Every pages is loaded with information and evdience. And Price isn't out to prove that Jesus never existed (like Wells or Doherty). He takes a more humble/realistic approach: Jesus may or may have not existed, we';ll never know, but what we do know is that the new testament is clearly fiction/myth. That is beyond a doubt. This book lays it all out.
With scholars like Price, rational, clear-thinking individuals are in good hands. May he continue to produce such erudite, solid, fascintaing, well-articulated and compelling work.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly shrinking shallowness
Review: The author is an intellectual adolescent who knows one thing for certain, that he is more intelligent and clever than "bible believers". After cultivating this personal self-devotion for decades, he now wants everybody to take him seriously. Rest assured, Robert will keep on piping and wailing, even though nobody's dancing or mourning. Highly recommended for every other seething ex-evangelical or pouting scholarly wanna-be.
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