'Mythologizing Jesus: From Jewish Teacher to Epic Hero' topic of lecture by Dennis MacDonald of Claremont School of Theology

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Dennis R. MacDonald, a professor of New Testament and Christian origins at the Claremont School of Theology, will present “Mythologizing Jesus: From Jewish Teacher to Epic Hero” on Tuesday, May 12, at Cal State San Bernardino.

MacDonald’s lecture is presented by the CSUSB history department and the History Club/Phi Alpha Theta, and will be from 2-4 p.m. at the university’s John M. Pfau Library room PL 4005. The lecture is free and open to the public; parking on campus is $6.

Scholars of the Gospels generally have assumed that their authors assembled them from orally transmitted memories of Jesus of Nazareth and lost sources.

MacDonald doesn’t call into question the existence of Jesus, but rather asks readers to examine the biblical stories about him through a new, mythological lens. In a series of books and articles, MacDonald has argued that two Gospel authors (now called Mark and Luke) modeled much of their narratives after depictions of Greek gods and heroes in Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odyssey.”

The practice of literary imitation, in Greek mimesis, was widespread and often was used to establish foundational mythologies for new cultural identities. The most famous example is Vergil’s “Aeneid.” If Mark and Luke similarly imitated the Homeric epics, its implications for reading the Gospels and for understanding the historical Jesus would be revolutionary.

MacDonald’s new book, “Mythologizing Jesus: From Jewish Teacher to Epic Hero,” will be available for purchase and signed by the author at the presentation.

MacDonald received his undergraduate degree from Bob Jones University, his master of divinity from McCormick Theological Seminary, and his Ph.D. in New Testament from Harvard University (1978). From 1980-1998 he taught at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, with stints as a visiting professor at the Harvard Divinity School (1985-1986) and the Union Theological Seminary of New York (spring 1991).

From 1999-2010 he served as the director of The Institute for Antiquity and Christianity at Claremont Graduate University. Twice, he was awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and he has served on editorial boards, chaired program units for various professional societies, and appeared as an authority on programs on A&E, PBS and the History Channel.

MacDonald’s scholarship has largely been devoted to Christian apocryphal writings, the Synoptic Problem, and the influence of classical Greek literature, especially the Homeric epics, on Jewish and Christian narratives.

In addition to his latest book, “Mythologizing Jesus,” his many published works include “The Legend and the Apostle: The Battle for Paul in Story and Canon (Westminster, 1983);” “Christianizing Homer: ‘The Odyssey,’ Plato, and ‘The Acts of Andrew’ (Oxford, 1994);” “The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark (Yale, 2000);” “Does the New Testament Imitate Homer? Four Cases from the Acts of the Apostles (Yale, 2003);” “The Gospels and Homer: Imitations of Greek Epic in Mark and Luke-Acts (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014),” and “Luke and Vergil: Imitations of Classical Greek Literature (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014).”

He also has completed manuscripts for two more books: “How Did Mark Know about Jesus? He Read the First Gospel (Q+),” and “John and Euripides: The Dionysian Gospel.”

The lecture is co-sponsored by the CSUSB history department, History Club/Phi Alpha Theta, the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and John M. Pfau Library.

Contact Jeremy Murray, associate professor of history, for more information at jmurray@csusb.edu.

For more information on Cal State San Bernardino, contact CSUSB’s Office of Public Affairs at (909) 537-5007 and visit news.csusb.edu.

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