Jesus the Magician: Charlatan or Son of God?

Jesus the Magician: Charlatan or Son of God? is a 1978 book by Morton Smith arguing that the historical Jesus was a magician who "sprang from a Galilean strain of Semitic paganism" (p. 68).

Background

The charge that Jesus was a magician did not originate with Morton Smith. It was previously voiced by the philosopher and critic Celsus (The True Word c. 200 CE) as we know from the rebuttal authored by the Christian apologist/scholar Origen: “It was by magic that he was able to do the miracles” (Contra Celsum 1.6). Clearly, for Celsus to have repeated the story, it must have had long currency before he came to write his book. Hans Dieter Betz (1994) observes that "from early on even Jesus of Nazareth was implicated in that he was said to be mad or a magician possessed by Satan" and R. Joseph Hoffmann writes (1987) that "that the early Christian mission was advanced by the use of magic is well attested."

Discovery News reported in 2008 the discovery by French marine archaeologist Franck Goddio of a bowl dating "to between the late 2nd century B.C. and the early 1st century A.D." which refers to Jesus as a magician: "DIA CHRSTOU O GOISTAIS," which, the article tells us, "has been interpreted to mean either, 'by Christ the magician' or, 'the magician by Christ.'" Assuming this references Jesus, this is the earliest known reference to Jesus as a magician.^{[citation needed]}Depiction of Jesus describes how Jesus was artistically portrayed in early Christian art.

Reviews

The relationship between magic and religion is hotly contested in scholarly circles. With regards to this charge leveled against Jesus, H.S. Versnel makes the observation (1991) that "Once again magic is not always magic, depending as it does upon the authority of the person who is using the term." Archaeologist William G. Dever argues (2005) that magic is "precisely what religion is, or at least was, however much that may offend modern sensibilities."

Barry Crawford (Ph.D Vanderbilt University), currently Co-Chair of the Society of Biblical Literature's Consultation on Redescribing Christian Origins, in his 1979 review states that "Smith exhibits an intricate knowledge of the magical papyri, but his ignorance of current Gospel research is abysmal", concluding that the work has traits of a conspiracy theory.

Editions

• Harper & Row (1978)
• Ulysses Press (1998), ISBN 978-1569751558.

References

• Hans Dieter Betz, "The Birth of Christianity as a Hellenistic Religion: Three Theories of Origin," The Journal of Religion 74 (1994), pp. 1–25
• Barry Crawford, Journal of the American Academy of Religion (1979), 321-322.
• Celsus, On the True Doctrine. A Discourse Against the Christians tr. by R. Joseph Hoffmann (1987), p. 53 n3.
• William G. Dever, Did God Have a Wife? Archaeology and Folk Religion in Ancient Israel (2005), 4.
• H.S. Versnel, "Some Reflections on the Relationship Magic-Religion," Numen 38 (1991), pp. 177–197.
• Jennifer Viegas, "Earliest reference describes Christ as 'magician'" October 1, 2008. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26972493/ Accessed November 2, 2009.