Well most scholars believe that the gospels are from the genera of Greco-Roman biographies, Carrier claims that they are myth (like Hercules, ) what evidence suggests that they are myth?
That same article also says:
All four were anonymous (the modern names were added in the 2nd century), almost certainly none were by eyewitnesses,
the authors of Matthew and Luke, acting independently, used Mark for their narrative of Jesus's career, supplementing it with the collection of sayings called the
Q document and additional material unique to each;
[15] and there is a near-consensus that John had its origins as a "signs" source (or gospel) that circulated within a
Johannine community.
[16] The contradictions and discrepancies between the first three and John make it impossible to accept both traditions as equally reliable.
[
So it's really just Mark.
The narrative scores 18 out of 22 on the Rank Ragalin myth scale, higher than King Arthur.
The lack of sources and similar is a myth device:
"First of all, before even identifying or examining these literary constructs, allegories, and prospective elements of myth, we can already see by reading the Gospels that they fail to show any substantive content of being actual researched histories. Nowhere in the Gospels do they ever name their sources of information, nor do they read as eye witness testimonies (nor do they identify themselves as such), nor is it mentioned why any sources used would be accurate to rely upon. The authors never discuss any historical method used, nor do they acknowledge how some contents may be less accurate than others, nor do they mention alternate possibilities of the events given the limited information they had from their sources. They never express amazement or any degree of rational skepticism no matter how implausible an event within the story may be — something we would expect from any rational historian (even one living in antiquity). The authors never explain why they changed what their sources said, nor do they even acknowledge that they did such a thing in the first place — despite the fact that Matthew and Luke clearly relied on Mark as a source (as did John, though less obviously so), for example, and then they all redacted Mark’s version as needed to serve their own literary and theological purposes"
There are endless examples of how Mark is taking Paul's letters and transforming them into a real story:
Mark's Use of Paul's Epistles • Richard Carrier
Examples of older stories being transformed into Jesus stories:
"
Only a few verses later, we read about the rest of the crucifixion narrative and find a link (a literary source) with the Book of Psalms in the Old Testament (OT):
Mark 15.24: “They part his garments among them, casting lots upon them.”
Psalm 22:18: “They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon them.”
Mark 15.29-31: “And those who passed by blasphemed him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘…Save yourself…’ and mocked him, saying ‘He who saved others cannot save himself!’ ”
Psalm 22.7-8: “All those who see me mock me and give me lip, shaking their head, saying ‘He expected the lord to protect him, so let the lord save him if he likes.’ ”
Mark 15.34: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Psalm 22.1: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”"
Later a Kings narrative is transformed line by line to reflect the message of the gospels - the least shall be first:
"Earlier in
Mark (chapter 5), we hear about another obviously fictional story about Jesus resurrecting a girl (the daughter of a man named Jairus) from the dead, this miracle serving as another obvious marker of myth, but adding to that implausibility is the fact that the tale is actually a rewrite of another mythical story, told of Elisha in
2 Kings 4.17-37 as found in the OT, and also the fact that there are a number of very improbable coincidences found within the story itself.
Ring cycles, a common mythic literary device:
"Another way Mark develops this theme is through an elegant ring composition, another common literary device popular at the time (used in myth as well as in history). In the central part of Mark’s narrative (revolving around Jesus’ travel by sea), Mark carefully crafted nested cycles of themes specifically to convey an underlying message about faith and one’s ability (or lack thereof) to understand the gospel. Here is what the ring structure looks like:
Cycle 1:
Phase 1 (4.1-34) — Jesus with crowds by the sea (preaching from a boat)
Phase 2 (4.35-41) — Eventful crossing of the sea
Phase 3 (5.1-20) — Landing with healings/exorcisms
Interval 1: Step 1 (5.21-43) — First stop (after an uneventful boating)
Step 2 (6.1-6) — Second stop
Step 3 (6.6-29) — Going around
Cycle 2:
Phase 1 (6.30-44) — Jesus with crowds by the sea (with an uneventful boating)
Phase 2 (6.45-52) — Eventful crossing of the sea
Phase 3 (6.53-55) — Landing with healings/exorcisms
Interval 2: Step 1 (6.56-7.23) — Going around
Step 2 (7.24-30) — First stop
Step 3 (7.31-37) — Second stop
Cycle 3:
Phase 1 (8.1-12) — Jesus with crowds by the sea (with an uneventful boating)
Phase 2 (8.13-21) — Eventful crossing of the sea
Phase 3 (8.22-26) — Landing with healings/exorcisms
Here Mark uses a Jesus ben Ananias narrative:
1 – Both are named Jesus. (Mark 14.2 = JW 6.301)
2 – Both come to Jerusalem during a major religious festival. (
Mark 11.15-17 =
JW 6.301)
3 -Both entered the temple area to rant against the temple. (
Mark 14.2 =
JW 6.301)
4 – During which both quote the same chapter of Jeremiah. (Jer. 7.11 in
Mk, Jer. 7.34 in
JW)
5 – Both then preach daily in the temple. (
Mark 14.49 =
JW 6.306)
6 – Both declared “woe” unto Judea or the Jews. (
Mark 13.17 =
JW 6.304, 306, 309)
7 – Both predict the temple will be destroyed. (
Mark 13.2 =
JW 6.300, 309)
8 – Both are for this reason arrested by the Jews. (
Mark 14.43 =
JW 6.302)
9 – Both are accused of speaking against the temple. (
Mark 14.58 =
JW 6.302)
10 – Neither makes any defense of himself against the charges. (
Mark 14.60 =
JW 6.302)
11 – Both are beaten by the Jews. (
Mark 14.65 =
JW 6.302)
12 – Then both are taken to the Roman governor. (Pilate in
Mark 15.1 = Albinus in
JW 6.302)
13 – Both are interrogated by the Roman governor. (
Mark 15.2-4 =
JW 6.305)
14 – During which both are asked to identify themselves. (
Mark 15.2 =
JW 6.305)
15 – And yet again neither says anything in his defense. (
Mark 15.3-5 =
JW 6.305)
16 – Both are then beaten by the Romans. (
Mark 15.15 =
JW 6.304)
17 – In both cases the Roman governor decides he should release him. (Mark 14.2 = JW 6.301)
18 – But doesn’t (
Mark)…but does (
JW) — (
Mark 15.6-15 =
JW 6.305)
19 – Both are finally killed by the Romans: in
Mark, by execution; in the
JW, by artillery. (
Mark 15.34 =
JW 6.308-9)
20 – Both utter a lament for themselves immediately before they die. (
Mark 15.34 =
JW 6.309)
21 – Both die with a loud cry. (
Mark 15.37 =
JW 6.309)
The odds of these coincidences arising by chance is quite small to say the least, so it appears Mark used this Jesus as a model for his own to serve some particular literary or theological purpose. In any case, we can see that Mark is writing fiction here, through and through.
It’s really quite brilliantly crafted when you look at it: three triadically composed intervals, each of which contains one triadically composite minimal unit. Furthermore, every “Phase 1” in all cycles, takes place during the day and describes Jesus’ actions with crowds on one side of the sea. Every “Phase 2” occurs on the evening of that same day (though not stated explicitly in Cycle 3’s “Phase 2”, it is implied by what would have been a long sea crossing), and also describes actions between Jesus and the twelve disciples in the boat while in transit across the sea. Each “Phase 3” represents Jesus’ healing (and/or exorcising) of people who either come to him or that are brought to him following his arrival on the other side of the sea. Then there are other healings or exorcisms that are interspersed among the intervals that follow each “Phase 3”. Each cycle of this triad occupies one day, so the whole ring structure represents three days, ending with a resolution on the third day — all of which concludes by transitioning into a debate regarding who Jesus really is and what the gospel really is (
Mark 8.27-9.1, which is the first time we hear Jesus speak about any of this himself).
There are many many more examples.
