Where did the Jesus myth come from?

[michaelsherlock]

Let me see if I can put it differently. If one is wondering where the stories of Jesus came from, it is probably distinctly and obviously unhelpful to assume his nonexistence, a position not held by the vast majority of religous and secular scholarship for the last 2,000 years, including today.

This is a very good point. Having said that, if you take the bulk of scholars over the past 2000, or 1600 years or so, the majority of these scholars have been infected with dramatic biases, on account of their preconceptions and beliefs, relating to their assessments of the issue. Further, we know that from the 4th century on, the Church was altering and destroying documents that would have stood in these belief-induced scholars way. I think we need some context with the statement you have made here.

You do make a good point though, especially when you argue that, to gain an adequate understanding, one should not assume that he did not exist. The converse of this is also true. And if we use the historical method in the strictest sense, we should begin with skeptism and lessen it by degrees with each peice of evidence that survives the various tests of historical analysis.

Rather, I would simply check out all primary source material that is available and attempt to answer the question; what best accounts for the existence of these stories or myths?

This is a very sound approach.

Further, we need to seperate the issue of the 'Christ Myth' from the 'Jesus Myth,' one being a matter to be resolved using comparative mythology, and the other by way of historical analysis, although there is some overplap, as the primary material we have for the Jesus of history, if such a person existed, comes from the Gospels, which are interwoven with obvious mythological components.