The Christ Myth

by Arthur Drews

"The Christ Myth" by Arthur Drews is a book published in 1909 that argues Jesus never existed as a historical figure. Drews contends that Christianity emerged from a blend of Jewish messianic expectations, Old Testament prophecy, and pagan mystery religions featuring dying-and-rising gods. Drawing on nineteenth-century German historical criticism and comparative mythology, he challenges the Gospel accounts as mythical constructs rather than historical records, proposing that the Christ figure arose through syncretism in the ancient Mediterranean world.