Chapter 4 Rising Gods, Legendary Heroes - How do other stories compare to Jesus? #1

One argument for the idea that the story of Jesus is just a legend is that it is just like other stories that exist historically. Let's look at the first example they give and see just how similar they really are. Apolonius of Tyana is frequently used to support this view. This legend is about a second-century wonder worker who did miracles and appeared to his followers after his death. It appears that he may have been a real person. His story came out of a culture that, unlike the Jews, was conducive to the creation of such legends. There was only one account of his life written 100 years after he lived. It was written by Philostratus who was paid by a wealthy empress to write a positive account of his life. All of this is much different that the story of Jesus which was recorded within decades of his life by five authors who faced very negative consequences for their writing.

Some other problems in comparing these stories is that Philostratus clearly states that he is relying on hearsay and another written source while the gospel writers base their writing on eyewitness testimony. Also, the writing of Philostratus has some blatant historical errors. Next time, we will look at another supposed parallel to the story of Jesus. Meanwhile I suggest that you read one of the accounts of the life of Jesus in the gospels.