George Albert Wells

George Albert Wells (born May 22 1926), usually known as G. A. Wells, is an Emeritus Professor of German at Birkbeck, University of London. He is best known as an advocate of the theory that Jesus is a largely mythical rather than a historical figure.

Wells is a former Chairman of the Rationalist Press Association. He is married and lives in St. Albans, near London. He studied at the University of London and Bern, and holds degrees in German, philosophy, and natural science. He has taught German at London University since 1949, and has been Professor of German at Birkbeck College since 1968.

Work on early Christianity

Wells suggested that the earliest extant Christian documents from the first century, most notably the New Testament epistles by Paul and some other writers, show no familiarity with the Gospel tradition of Jesus as a preacher and miracle-worker who lived and died in the recent decades. Rather, they present him "as a basically supernatural personage only obscurely on Earth as a man at some unspecified period in the past".G. A. Wells, " [http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/g_a_wells/earliest.html Earliest Christianity] ", "The New Humanist", Vol. 114, No.3., Sept 1999, pp. 13-18.] Wells believed that the Jesus of these earliest Christians is not based on a historical character, but a pure myth, derived from the mystical speculations based on the Jewish Wisdom tradition. According to Wells, the Gospel tradition was a later stage of the development of the Jesus myth, which was given a concrete historical setting and subsequently embellished with more and more details.

Wells allows for the possibility that certain elements of the Gospel traditions might be based on a historical figure from the first-century Palestine: " [T] he Galilean and the Cynic elements ... may contain a core of reminiscences of an itinerant Cynic-type Galilean preacher (who, however, is certainly not to be identified with the Jesus of the earliest Christian documents)." However, Wells insists that this line of first-century traditions is separate from the sacrificial Christ myth of Paul's epistles and other early documents, and that these two traditions have different origins. Wells concludes that the reconstruction of this historical figure from the extant literature would be a hopeless task. Co-author R. Joseph Hoffmann has called Wells "the most articulate contemporary defender of the non-historicity thesis." [R. Joseph Hoffmann's foreword in "The Jesus Legend," xii]

Wells' claim of a mythical Jesus has received support from scholars Earl Doherty, Robert M. Price and other writers. [cite news | url=http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=price_20_1 | title=Of Myth and Men A closer look at the originators of the major religions-what did they really say and do? | publisher=Free Inquiry |date= | first=Robert | last=Price | accessdate =2007-11-17] [cite news | url=http://newhumanist.org.uk/901 | title=No god in the details | publisher=The New Humanist |date=Volume 120 Issue 4 July/August 2005 | first=Brain | last=Flemming | accessdate =2007-11-17] R. E. Witt, reviewing "The Jesus of the Early Christians" in the "Journal of Hellenic Studies", offered some criticisms but concluded that "Hellenists should welcome the appearance of this challenging book." [R. E. Witt, "Reviewed Work: 'The Jesus of the Early Christians' by G. A. Wells" The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 92 (1972), pp. 223-225.] However, Wells' conclusions have been criticized by historians, such as W. H. C. Frend. [W. H. C. Frend, "Review of 'The Jesus of the Early Christians.' by G. A. Wells" in The English Historical Review, Vol. 87, No. 343 (Apr., 1972), pp. 345-348 (p. 348: "Though Professor Wells has written a shrewd, challenging and entertaining book, his case fails.")] In response to Grant, Michael Martin "defend [ed] Wells against critics who dismiss his hypothesis." [Robert E. Van Voorst, "Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence", 2000 Page 14] [Michael Martin, "The Case Against Christianity", 1991, Page 123]

The one published review of his "Who Was Jesus?: A Critique of the New Testament Record" (1989), in part, says "Wells contends that the existence of a historical Jesus is, at best, highly doubtful. He begins by questioning the general reliability of the gospels and then focuses on Jesus' virgin birth, public ministry, passion, and resurrection, considering current scholarship and presenting some challenging suggestions. However, his radical thesis negatively affects the selection and interpretation of data: Scholars cited in support of his thesis acknowledge problems in the New Testament but not the necessity or soundness of his conclusions. Wells's previous books have not significantly affected New Testament studies, and it is doubtful that this one will." [ Craig W. Beard, Harding Univ. Lib., Searcy, Ark. writing in "Library Journal" see [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0812690966/ amazon citation] ]

Wells' latest book, 'The Jesus Myth' (1999), departs from his earlier insistence that Jesus did not exist, acknowledging the Q document as early historical evidence. ['A final argument against the nonexistence hypothesis comes from Wells himself. In his most recent book, The Jesus Myth (1999), Wells has moved away from this hypothesis. He now accepts that there is some historical basis for the existence of Jesus, derived from the lost early "gospel" "Q" (the hypothetical source used by Matthew and Luke). Wells believes that it is early and reliable enough to show that Jesus probably did exist, although this Jesus was not the Christ that the later canonical Gospels portray. It remains to be seen what impact Wells's about-face will have on debate over the nonexistence hypothesis in popular circles.', Van Voorst, Robert E, 'NonExistence Hypothesis', in Houlden, James Leslie (editor), 'Jesus in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia', page 660 (Santa Barbara: 2003)]

Books

German intellectual history

His major works in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century German language thought and letters are
*"Herder and After: A study in the development of sociology" (Gravenhage, Mouton, 1959)
*"The Plays of Grillparzer" (Pergamon Press, 1969) ISBN 0080129501
*"Goethe and the development of science, 1750-1900" (Alphen aan den Rijn: Sijthoff & Noordhoff, 1978) ISBN 902860538X
*"The origin of language: Aspects of the discussion from Condillac to Wundt". (Open Court Publishing Company, 1987) ISBN 081269029X

Early Christianity

* "The Jesus of the Early Christians", (Pemberton, 1971) ISBN 0301710147
* "Did Jesus Exist?" (Prometheus Books, 1975) ISBN 0-87975-395-1
* "The Historical Evidence for Jesus" (Prometheus Books, 1982) ISBN 0879751800
* "The Jesus Legend" (co-author R. Joseph Hoffmann) (Open Court Publishing Company, September 1996) ISBN 0812693345
* "The Jesus Myth" (Open Court Publishing Company, September 1998) ISBN 0812693922
* "Can We Trust the New Testament?" (Prometheus Books, 1988) ISBN 087975429X
* "Religious Postures: Essays on Modern Christian Apologists and Religious Problems" (Open Court Publishing Company, August 1988) ISBN 0812690702
* "What's in a Name?"
* "Belief and Make Believe"
* "Who Was Jesus?" (Open Court, 1989) ISBN 0812690966

ee also

*Jesus-myth hypothesis
*Historicity of Jesus

References

External links

* [http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/g_a_wells/index.shtml G. A. Wells at the Secular Web]
* [http://www.abc.net.au/religion/stories/s1517078.htm Jesus - History or Myth?] (Debate with Wells)