Did the gospel writers have to invent the miracle stories of Jesus to gain an audience?

PROBLEM SOLVED! — THE INVENTION OF “MIRACLES”
by Michael R. Burch

The authors of the gospels had a problem.

A very big problem.

A huge problem.

An immense problem.

The apostle Paul, who created what we now call the christian religion, wanted people to believe in an impersonal Cosmic Christ.

Paul’s savior lacked character and color.

Why?

Paul knew nothing about Jesus living on earth, having an earthly ministry, having earthly teachings, performing earthy miracles, etc.

Who could love or admire such a faceless being?

The immense problem of the early christian cult was that it was competing with cults whose “saviors” had far more compelling (and entertaining) resumes.

• Dionysus turned water into wine.
• Poseidon and his sons could walk on water.
• Asclepius healed the sick and raised the dead.
• Romulus, after his death and resurrection, appeared to friends on a road where he explained his divinity to them.
• And a whole slew of “saviors” were “sons of god” who were “born of virgins”: Horus, Krishna, Attis, Dionysus, Romulus, Perseus, et al.
• Etc.

These other “saviors” had been brought to vivid “life” by storytellers. For instance, Dionysus in the Bacchae by Euripides, the Shakespeare of his day.

Clearly, the colorless Jesus needed his Euripides.

Unfortunately, Paul was no Euripides.

This is where the fan fiction authors of the gospels stepped in. None of them were Euripides, granted, but they would follow in his footsteps, as best they could, with more than a few stumbles (i.e., blatant contradictions) along the way.

The authors of the gospels had a simple solution to their immense problem:

“Anything your god can do, our god can do better!”

So they copycatted the “miracles” of other gods and demigods.

They plagiarized the stories of Euripides, Homer and other ancient mythmakers.

As the Greek philosopher Celsus accused, “The christians have used the myths of Danae and the Melanippe, of the Auge and Antiope, in fabricating this story of virgin birth!”