The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity

Rating:
Summary: Stimulating, well-argued and iconoclastic
Review: Maccoby goes with relish after inconsistencies in NT writing and makes a well-argued case that Paul was not a Pharisee and basically founded Christianity as a new religion of his own design, incorporating elements of gnosticism, mystery religions and Judaism. The other, corresponding hypothesis (viz. that Jesus was, indeed, a Pharisee) is less well developed in this volume, but a previous book has taken care of it.

This book is written for a lay audience, but even non-theologians would at times prefer a little more in-depth source material. Maccoby's style is a bit shoddy: It is surprising how many awkward sentence structures and poorly chosen words have crept into this book. For this reader, that weakness detracted somewhat from the pleasure of reading an otherwise absolutely captivating narrative, and raised the question: Where was the publisher's copy editor?

Rating:
Summary: He's telling the truth but who's listening?
Review: Maccoby's work is solid and well meaning, but the Christian world and even the ex-Christian world is not ready for the truth, perhaps it never will be ready.
The idea of Jesus taught by the Christian churches is so out of tune with what actually might have happened that it is in fact easy to show the Gospels as mere Hellenistic novels and not historical truth at all. Maccoby does a great job of showing how Paul of Tarsus (if he were from Tarsus) invented Christianity, a religion about Jesus which had nothing to do with Jesus. But Christians will pay no attention and ex-Christians will not think the issue worth their trouble. But it will all come out in the wash when dead Christians discover that there is no salvation through Jesus, that there may not even be an afterlife, that there may not even be a God. By then they will no longer be able to care, but their descendants on earth will still be plagued by bible-thumping redneck illiterates who think the Bible actually has something true to say, which it does not.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant book; an eye-opener
Review: Macoby applies Jewish experience and scholarship to the New Testament, and explains some inconsistencies that illuminate a unique point of view,- Paul developed Christianity as a cult into a religion well fit for the Hellenistic world. It was in competition with the Jewish followers of Jesus, including many of his family, who did not see him as God-figure,- elements of these followers could later be found in the Ebionites. Paul denigrated their role in his assertion of the new church.

Jesus was friendly with scribes (Pharisees) and agreed with them about the core aspects of Judiasm; Pharisees were friendly to Jesus, the followers of Jesus, and helped save their lives in several trials, e.g. Gamaliel in Acts; Pontius Pilate was the Saddam Hussein of his day, and so cruel that Josephus and Philo of Alexandria documented his cruelty and cavalier executions in the historical records; the Gospels are misleading in their characterization of Pontius Pilate because they were designed for converting pagans to Christianity and were Roman friendly; Jews didn't kill people for considering themselves the Messiah or for "blasphemy", but Jesus was seen as a revoluntionary and died because it. Overall an extraordinary book with remarkable scholarship.

Rating:
Summary: scholarship solid although filled with bias and supposition
Review: The Mythmaker by Hyam Maccoby who seeks to prove that Paul, and not Jesus, was the creator of Christianity and that Christianity, in its Pauline form, has little or nothing to do with Judaism as practiced by any Jewish group in the First Century CE.

It is fairly evident that Mr. Maccoby, about whom neither the jacket nor the book provides any biographical detail, does not like Christianity and desperately seeks to sever it from Judaism, making an attempt to reduce its Judaic roots to almost nothing. Such distaste isn't unimaginable for a Jew, but I think it is reciprocation for past Christian distaste and comes to down prejudice--even if one admittedly displayed in a scholarly and erudite manner.

He makes some excellent poitns but I think his attempt to completely sunder Christianity from its Judaic roots fails. He reduces the appeal of Christianity entirely to the Jesus as divine sacrifice (which is very similar to several pagan religions such as the ones based on Attis, Adonis, Dionysius and Osiris). He fails even to mention other aspects, which are directly derived from Judaism: theistic exclusivity (the First Commandment), emphasis upon morality, leveling of classes, relatively greater equality, especially in moral law, between the sexes, the direct appeal to all, but most especially the lowest strata in society, personal connection to the divine. The "pagan" religions, especially the Olympian Gods of the Graeco-Roman pantheon, were lacking most or all of these features. Maccoby fails to acknowledge this.

Other points, such as the one that Paul was not a Pharisee are very convincing. He also makes a strong argument, from the Biblical text, that the Pharisees were not Jesus' opponents. He also argues that most of what is traditionally regarded as Christian was added essentially by Paul. He also, though much less convincingly, argues that Paul was a pagan convert to Judaims who failed to become a rabbi. He cites as proof of this the anti-Pauline writings an ancient heretical sect called the Ebionites. It would be nice if more proof than just their writings could be adduced. Thus, his argument, here, is much less convincing.

Still, he doesn't rely on only polemic, he also analyzes Biblical texts and quotes, sometimes at length, other authors. His footnotes, while not copious, are adequate.

All in all, this book provides much food for thought and reflection, far more than its slender (200+ page) size would promise. A flawed, though scholarly and eloquent work.

Rating:
Summary: A most enjoyable, thought-provoking and rewarding book.
Review: This really should be required reading for anyone who considers themself a Christian or is interested in the orgins of Christianity or of anti-semitism.

In truth, I could not put it down and read it enthusiastically in one go; I found it so stimulating. By the way, I’m just an ordinary lay reader of no particular religion, with no particular axe to grind, except that my readings be well-written, intelligent and worthwhile!

Firstly, Maccoby provides a fascinating description of Jewish religious life during the time of Jesus to argue that Jesus was a vigorous contemporary Jew and that what little we can know about his life, his followers and his sayings are quite understandable seen in this background.

I’d contrast this with the research presented in “The Lost Gospel; The Book of Q & Christian Origins” by Burton L. Mack which has a wonderful chapter on recent research into the Galilee of Jesus’ time, and presents an intriguing Cynic influence in what are identified as Jesus’ most genuine sayings...P>Anyway, on to Paul! I can assure you that what we can know about the historical Paul is much more fascinating and revealing than even the saintly Catholic version, which is interesting enough!

Maccoby closely analyzes the evidence to argue persuasively that Paul personally, radically and very creatively re-interpreted the life of the historical Jesus in order to have a foundation for a brand new mystery religion he himself conceived, heavily influenced by contemporary ancient mystery religions such as the cult of Baal-Taraz after whom Paul’s hometown of Tarsus was named.

This then is the kernel of the book, but I assure you one brief paragraph does not give you enough time or material for all the consequences of this to sink in, let alone the pleasure of reading such a well-written and important expose.

If this does not then lead you to think deeply about many things, I fear nothing will!

Unfortunately Maccoby then ran out of space, funding or his own area of specialty and it is up to us to go off, inspired, and do our own research about the histories and meanings of these mystery cults, one of which has been so influential.