Earl Doherty
| Earl Doherty | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1941 |
| Education | B.A. in Ancient History and Classical Languages (institution and date not identified) |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Known for | Research into the Christ myth theory |
| Website | jesuspuzzle.org |
Earl J. Doherty (born 1941) is a Canadian author of The Jesus Puzzle (1999), Challenging the Verdict (2001), and Jesus: Neither God Nor Man (2009). Doherty argues for a version of the Christ myth theory, the thesis that Jesus did not exist as a historical figure. Doherty says that Paul thought of Jesus as a spiritual being executed in a spiritual realm.
Doherty has stated he has a bachelor's degree in Ancient History and Classical Languages, but no completed advanced degrees. His undergraduate studies gave him knowledge of Greek and Latin, to which he has added a basic knowledge of Hebrew and Syriac.
Doherty was introduced to the idea of a mythical origin of Jesus by, among other things, the work of G. A. Wells, who has authored a number of books arguing a moderate form of the "Christ myth" theory. In 1999, Doherty's book The Jesus Puzzle: Did Christianity Begin with a Mythical Christ? was published by Canadian Humanist Publications. He self-published a 2005 re-release of The Jesus Puzzle under his own imprint, Age of Reason Publications, along with two other books. Challenging the Verdict (2001) is a critique of The Case for Christ, a book of Christian apologetics by author Lee Strobel. Jesus: Neither God Nor Man - The Case for a Mythical Jesus (2009) is a revised and expanded version of The Jesus Puzzle. In 2012, Doherty published The End of an Illusion: How Bart Ehrman's "Did Jesus Exist?" Has Laid the Case for an Historical Jesus to Rest.
Doherty asserts 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 named Jesus lay at the root of the Galilean preaching tradition." Doherty argues in The Jesus Puzzle (2005) and Jesus: Neither God nor Man—The Case for a Mythical Jesus (2009) that Jesus originated as a myth derived from Middle Platonism with some influence from Jewish mysticism, and that belief in a historical Jesus emerged only among Christian communities in the 2nd century.
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