Criticism of Jesus

Jesus was criticised in the first century CE by the Pharisees and scribes for disobeying Mosaic Law. He was decried in Judaism as a failed Jewish messiah claimant and a false prophet by most Jewish denominations. Judaism also considers the worship of any person a form of idolatry,^[4]^[5] and rejects the claim that Jesus was divine. Some psychiatrists, religious scholars and writers explain that Jesus' family, followers (John 7:20)^[6] and contemporaries seriously regarded him as delusional, possessed by demons, or insane.^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]

Early critics of Jesus and Christianity included Celsus in the second century and Porphyry in the third.^[12]^[13] In the 19th century, Friedrich Nietzsche was highly critical of Jesus, whose teachings he considered to be "anti-nature" in their treatment of topics such as sexuality. More contemporary notable critics of Jesus include Ayn Rand, Hector Avalos, Sita Ram Goel, Christopher Hitchens, Bertrand Russell, and Dayananda Saraswati.

^ The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament by Andreas J. Köstenberger, L. Scott Kellum 2009 ISBN 978-0-8054-4365-3 pp. 104–108
^ Evans, Craig A. (2001). Jesus and His Contemporaries: Comparative Studies ISBN 0-391-04118-5 p. 316
^ Wansbrough, Henry (2004). Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition ISBN 0-567-04090-9 p. 185
^ Kaplan, Aryeh (1985). The real Messiah? a Jewish response to missionaries (New ed.). New York: National Conference of Synagogue Youth. ISBN 978-1879016118. The real Messiah (pdf)
^ Singer, Tovia (2010). Let's Get Biblical. RNBN Publishers; 2nd edition (2010). ISBN 978-0615348391.
^ John 7:20
^ Cite error: The named reference SN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Murray, Evan D.; Cunningham, Miles G.; Price, Bruce H. (October 2012). "The Role of Psychotic Disorders in Religious History Considered". Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. 24 (4). American Psychiatric Association: 410–426. doi:10.1176/appi.neuropsych.11090214. ISSN 1545-7222. OCLC 823065628. PMID 23224447. S2CID 207654711.
^ Meggitt, Justin J. (June 1, 2007). "The Madness of King Jesus: Why was Jesus Put to Death, but his Followers not?". Journal for the Study of the New Testament. 29 (4). London: SAGE Publications: 379–413. doi:10.1177/0142064X07078990. ISSN 0142-064X. S2CID 171007891.
^ Hirsch, William (1912). Religion and Civilization: The Conclusions of a Psychiatrist. New York: The Truth Seeker Company. p. 135. LCCN 12002696. OCLC 39864035. OL 20516240M. That the other members of his own family considered him insane, is said quite plainly, for the openly declare, "He is beside himself."
^ Kasmar, Gene (1995). All the obscenities in the Bible. Brooklyn Center, MN: Kas-mark Pub. Co. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-9645-9950-5. He was thought to be insane by his own family and neighbors in 'when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself [...] (Mark 3:21–22 – The Greek existemi translated beside himself, actually means insane and witless), The Greek word ho para translated friends, also means family.
^ Chadwick, Henry, ed. (1980). Contra Celsum. Cambridge University Press. p. xxviii. ISBN 978-0-521-29576-5.
^ Stevenson, J. (1987). Frend, W. H. C. (ed.). A New Eusebius: Documents illustrating the history of the Church to AD 337. SPCK. p. 257. ISBN 978-0-281-04268-5.

[Kostenberger104-1] The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament by Andreas J. Köstenberger, L. Scott Kellum 2009 ISBN 978-0-8054-4365-3 pp. 104–108

[Evans,_Craig_A._2001_page_316-2] Evans, Craig A. (2001). Jesus and His Contemporaries: Comparative Studies ISBN 0-391-04118-5 p. 316

[Wansbrough,_Henry_2004_page_185-3] Wansbrough, Henry (2004). Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition ISBN 0-567-04090-9 p. 185

[KaplanA-4] Kaplan, Aryeh (1985). The real Messiah? a Jewish response to missionaries (New ed.). New York: National Conference of Synagogue Youth. ISBN 978-1879016118. The real Messiah (pdf)

[SingerT-5] Singer, Tovia (2010). Let's Get Biblical. RNBN Publishers; 2nd edition (2010). ISBN 978-0615348391.

[6] John 7:20

[SN-7] Cite error: The named reference SN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[JNCN-8] Murray, Evan D.; Cunningham, Miles G.; Price, Bruce H. (October 2012). "The Role of Psychotic Disorders in Religious History Considered". Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. 24 (4). American Psychiatric Association: 410–426. doi:10.1176/appi.neuropsych.11090214. ISSN 1545-7222. OCLC 823065628. PMID 23224447. S2CID 207654711.

[Meggitt-9] Meggitt, Justin J. (June 1, 2007). "The Madness of King Jesus: Why was Jesus Put to Death, but his Followers not?". Journal for the Study of the New Testament. 29 (4). London: SAGE Publications: 379–413. doi:10.1177/0142064X07078990. ISSN 0142-064X. S2CID 171007891.

[10] Hirsch, William (1912). Religion and Civilization: The Conclusions of a Psychiatrist. New York: The Truth Seeker Company. p. 135. LCCN 12002696. OCLC 39864035. OL 20516240M. That the other members of his own family considered him insane, is said quite plainly, for the openly declare, "He is beside himself."

[11] Kasmar, Gene (1995). All the obscenities in the Bible. Brooklyn Center, MN: Kas-mark Pub. Co. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-9645-9950-5. He was thought to be insane by his own family and neighbors in 'when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself [...] (Mark 3:21–22 – The Greek existemi translated beside himself, actually means insane and witless), The Greek word ho para translated friends, also means family.

[Celsus-12] Chadwick, Henry, ed. (1980). Contra Celsum. Cambridge University Press. p. xxviii. ISBN 978-0-521-29576-5.

[13] Stevenson, J. (1987). Frend, W. H. C. (ed.). A New Eusebius: Documents illustrating the history of the Church to AD 337. SPCK. p. 257. ISBN 978-0-281-04268-5.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]