This is a partial list of people who have been categorized as Christ myth theory proponents, the belief that "the historical Jesus did not exist. Or if he did, he had virtually nothing to do with the founding of Christianity".Ehrman, Bart D. (2012). Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth. HarperOne. pp. 12, 347, n. 1. "[Per Jesus mythicism] In a recent exhaustive elaboration of the position, one of the leading proponents of Jesus mythicism, Earl Doherty, defines the view as follows: 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.” [Jesus: Neither God nor Man: The Case for a mythical Jesus (Ottawa, ON: Age of Reason Publications, 2009), vii–viii.] In simpler terms, the historical Jesus did not exist. Or if he did, he had virtually nothing to do with the founding of Christianity."

A

John M. Allegro (1923–1988) – English archaeologist.Novenson, Matthew V. (2017). The Grammar of Messianism: An Ancient Jewish Political Idiom and Its Users. Oxford University Press. p. 165.

B

Dan Barker (born 1949) – American atheist activist."Debunking the Historical Jesus". Freedom From Religion Foundation. Bruno Bauer (1809–1882) – German philosopher and historian.Beilby, James K; Eddy, Paul Rhodes. The Quest for the Historical Jesus. In James K. Beilby and Paul Rhodes Eddy. (2009). The Historical Jesus: Five Views. pp. 16–18. Albert Bayet (1880–1961) – French sociologist.Alfaric, Prosper; Bayet, Albert; Couchoud, Paul-Louis. (1932). Le Problème de Jésus et les Origines du Christianisme, with Prosper Alfaric. Paris: Bibliothèque Rationaliste Gustaaf Adolf van den Bergh van Eysinga (1874–1957) – Dutch theologian.Whittaker, Thomas. (1934). Prof. G.A. van den Bergh van Eysinga. Nieuw Theologisch Tijdschrift. 34. Gerard Bolland (1854–1922) – Dutch philosopher and scholar.McCown, Chester Charlton. (1940). The Search for the Real Jesus: A Century of Historical Study. Scribner. p. 75 Emilio Bossi (1870–1920) – Swiss journalist and lawyer.Ziolkowski, Theodore. (2002 edition). Fictional Transfigurations of Jesus. Wipf & Stock Publishers. pp. 143–144. Georg Brandes (1842–1927) – Danish literary critic.Weaver, Walter P. (1999). The Historical Jesus in the Twentieth Century: 1900–1950. Trinity Press International. p. 300. Thomas L. Brodie (1940–2026) – Irish Roman Catholic priest.Brodie, Thomas L. (2012). Beyond the Quest for the Historical Jesus: Memoir of a Discovery. Sheffield Phoenix Press.

C

Richard Carlile (1790–1843) – English journalist, radical and secularist.Carlile, Richard. (1826). To Mr. J. R. Beard, Unitarian Preacher, Manchester. The Republican 13 (3): 65–72. Edward Carpenter (1844–1929) – English socialist poet, philosopher and anthologist.Larson, Martin Alfred. (1977). The Story of Christian Origins: Or, The Sources and Establishment of Western Religion. J. J. Binns. p. 304 Richard Carrier (born 1969) – American historian, author, and atheist activist.Casey, Maurice. (2014). Jesus: Evidence and Argument or Mythicist Myths? Bloomsbury. pp. 14–16. Paul-Louis Couchoud (1879–1959) – French philosopher.Ziolkowski, Theodore. (2002 edition). Fictional Transfigurations of Jesus. Wipf & Stock Publishers. pp. 145–147. Herbert Cutner (1881–1969) – English artist, etcher and freethought writer.Smith, George H. (1991). Atheism, Ayn Rand, and Other Heresies. Prometheus Books. p. 178.

D

Earl Doherty (born 1941) – Canadian writer.Casey, Maurice. (2014). Jesus: Evidence and Argument or Mythicist Myths? Bloomsbury. p. 16. Arthur Drews (1865–1935) – German historian and philosopher. Édouard Dujardin (1861–1949) – French novelist and writer.McCabe, Joseph. (1950). A Rationalist Encyclopaedia: A Book of Reference on Religion, Philosophy, Ethics, and Science. Watts & Co. p. 334 Charles-François Dupuis (1742–1809) – French scientist.Van Voorst, Robert E. (2000). Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. pp. 7–12.

E

Alvar Ellegård (1919–2008) – Swedish linguist.Ellegård, Alvar. (1992). Myten om Jesus: den tidigaste kristendomen i nytt ljus. Bonniers.

F

David Fitzgerald (born 1964) – American atheist activist and writer. Brian Flemming (born 1966) – American film director.The God Who Wasn't There, 2005.

G

Peter Gandy – British writer.Casey, Maurice. (2014). Jesus: Evidence and Argument or Mythicist Myths? Bloomsbury. p. 17. Marshall Gauvin (1881–1978) – Canadian atheist and freethought writer.Gauvin, Marshall. (1922). Jesus Christ Really Live? Peter Eckler Publishing Company. Gilbert T. Sadler (1871–1939) – British Congregational minister.A. F. (1917). Reviewed Work: The Origin and Meaning of Christianity by Gilbert T. Sadler. International Journal of Ethics 28 (1): 131–132. Kersey Graves (1813–1883) – American freethought writer.Graves, Kersey (1875). The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors. Freethought Press. Edward Greenly (1861–1951) – English geologist.Stein, Gordon. (1980). An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism. Prometheus Books. p. 185.

H

Tom Harpur (1929–2017) – Canadian theologian and writer.Evans, Craig A. (2012). Jesus and His World: The Archaeological Evidence. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 5. Arthur Heulhard (1849–1920) – French journalist.Goguel, Maurice. (1926). Jesus The Nazarene: Myth Or History? D. Appleton & Company. Footnote 41. p. 20

J

Peter Jensen (1861–1936) – German orientalist.Smith, Warren Allen. (2000). Who's Who in Hell: A Handbook and International Directory for Humanists, Freethinkers, Naturalists, Rationalists, and Non-theists. Barricade Books. p. 590. Edward Johnson (1842–1901) – English historian.Radicalism in England: Johnson from "The Denial of the Historicity of Jesus in Past and Present" by Arthur Drews.

K

Albert Kalthoff (1850–1906) – German Protestant theologian. Shūsui Kōtoku (1871–1911) – Japanese socialist and anarchist.Tierney, Robert Thomas; Shusui, Kotoku. (2015). Monster of the Twentieth Century: Kotoku Shusui and Japan's First Anti-Imperialist Movement. University of California Press. p. 228. Sergey Kovalev (1886–1960) – Russian scholar of classical antiquity. Iosif Kryvelev (1906–1991) – Russian historian of Judaism and Christianity. Alvin Boyd Kuhn (1880–1963) – American Theosophist.Harpur, Tom. (2004). The Pagan Christ: Recovering the Lost Light. Toronto: Thomas Allen Publishers.

L

Harold Leidner (1916–2008) – American patent attorney.Casey, Maurice. (2014). Jesus: Evidence and Argument or Mythicist Myths? Bloomsbury. pp. 20–21. Logan Mitchell (1802–1881) – British freethinker.Mitchell, Logan. (1881). Religion in the Heavens; Or, Mythology Unveiled. London: Freethought Publishing Company. Abraham Dirk Loman (1823–1897) – Dutch theologian. Samuel Lublinski (1868–1910) – Literary historian, critic, and philosopher of religion.Weaver, Walter P. (1999). The Historical Jesus in the Twentieth Century: 1900–1950. Trinity Press International. p. 69.

M

M. M. Mangasarian (1859–1943) – American rationalist and secularist.Mangasarian, M. M. (1909). The Truth About Jesus, Is He a Myth? Chicago: Independent Religious Society. Michael Martin (1932–2015) – American philosopher.Eddy, Paul Rhodes; Boyd, Gregory A. (2007). The Jesus Legend: A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Jesus Tradition. Baker Academic. p. 166. Gerald Massey (1828–1907) – English poet and spiritualist. Dennis McKinsey (1940–2009) – American atheist writer.McKinsey, Dennis. (1995). The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy. Prometheus Books. p. 108. Myles McSweeney (1814–1881) – Irish Chartist, mythologist and secularist writer.Davies, Charles Maurice. (1874). Heterodox London: Or, Phases of Free Thought in the Metropolis. London: Tinsley Brothers. pp. 111–120

N

Andrzej Niemojewski (1864–1921) – Polish social and political activist.Schweitzer, Albert. (1913, 2nd edition). The Quest of the Historical Jesus. Auflage. p. 451

O

Michel Onfray (born 1959) – French philosopher.

P

Minas Papageorgiou (born 1983) – Greek journalist and author. Allard Pierson (1831–1896) – Dutch theologian and historian. Robert M. Price (born 1954) – American theologian, New Testament scholar and writer.Price, Robert M. (2011). Conclusion: Do You “No” Jesus?. In The Christ-Myth Theory and Its Problems. American Atheist Press. p. 425.

R

Abram Ranovich (1885–1948) – Russian scholar of classical antiquity and religion. Salomon Reinach (1858–1932) – French archaeologist and historian. Samuel Maximilian Rieser (1893–1981) – American lawyer and philosopher.Rieser, Max. (1979). The True Founder of Christianity and the Hellenistic Philosophy. John Benjamins Publishing Company. Jonathan M. Roberts (1821–1888) – American lawyer and spiritualist medium.Spearman, Gretta. (1996). There Was No Jesus: The Teacher of the New Testament was Apollonius of Tyana: Also the Truth about Ancient History and Jewish History: Extracted from the Book Antiquity Unveiled by Jonathan M. Roberts. Health Research Books. J. M. Robertson (1856–1933) – Scottish journalist, politician and writer.Hawton, Hector. (1971). Controversy: The Humanist/Christian Encounter. Pemberton Books. p. 173. Rudolf Steck (1842–1924) – Swiss reformed theologian.O'Neill, J. C. (1991). Bible's Authority: A Portrait Gallery of Thinkers from Lessing to Bultmann. Clark. p. 164 Nikolai Rumyantsev (1892–1956) – Russian historian. L. Gordon Rylands (1862–1942) – British criminologist and writer.

S

Acharya S (1961–2015) – American writer.Casey, Maurice. (2014). Jesus: Evidence and Argument or Mythicist Myths? Bloomsbury. pp. 21–22. Sarah Elizabeth Titcomb (1841–1895) – American genealogist and writer.Anonymous. (1890). Aryan Sun-Myths the Origin of Religions. The Open Court 4: 2555. Homer William Smith (1895–1962) – American physiologist and science writer.Graubard, Mark. (1953). Reviewed Work: Man and His Gods by Homer W. Smith. Isis 44 (1/2): 88–89. William Benjamin Smith (1850–1934) – American professor of mathematics.

T

Robert Taylor (1784–1844) – Freethinker and radical.Jongeneel, Jan A. B. (2009). Jesus Christ in World History: His Presence and Representation in Cyclical and Linear Settings. Peter Lang. p. 210. Thomas L. Thompson (born 1939) – Danish Biblical scholar and theologian.Thompson, Thomas L; Verenna, Thomas S. (2014). Is This Not the Carpenter?: The Question of the Historicity of the Figure of Jesus. Routledge. Farrell Till (1933–2012) – American skeptic.Till, Farrell. (1995). The Historicity of Jesus. Skeptical Review: Issue 4.

V

Charles Virolleaud (1879–1968) – French archaeologist.Case, Shirley Jackson. (1912). The Historicity of Jesus: A Criticism of the Contention that Jesus Never Lived, a Statement of the Evidence for His Existence, an Estimate of His Relation to Christianity. University of Chicago Press. p. 39 Constantin François de Chassebœuf, comte de Volney (1757–1820) – French historian and philosopher.

W

Barbara G. Walker (born 1930) – American feminist writer.Walker, Barbara G. (1983). Jesus Christ. In The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. Harper & Row. 464–465. George Albert Wells (1926–2017) – English Professor of German and writer.Casey, Maurice. (2014). Jesus: Evidence and Argument or Mythicist Myths? Bloomsbury. p. 25. Joseph Wheless (1868–1950) – American lawyer.Wheless, Joseph. (1930). Forgery in Christianity. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Thomas Whittaker (1856–1935) – English metaphysician and critic. Robert Wipper (1859–1954) – Russian historian.

Z

Frank Zindler (born 1939) – American atheist writer.Zindler, Frank; Price, Robert M. (2013). Bart Ehrman and the Quest of the Historical Jesus of Nazareth: An Evaluation of Ehrman’s Did Jesus Exist? American Atheist Press.

References