Robert M. Price
Encyclopedia
- For other people named Robert Price, see Robert Price (disambiguation)Robert PriceRobert Price or Bob Price may refer to:*Robert M. Price , American theologian and writer*Robert M. Price , American computer scientist and business executive, CEO of Control Data Corporation...
Robert McNair Price (born July 7, 1954) is an American theologian and writer. He teaches philosophy and religion at the Johnnie Colemon Theological Seminary, is professor of biblical criticism at the Center for Inquiry Institute, and the author of a number of books on theology and the historicity of Jesus
Historicity of Jesus
The historicity of Jesus concerns how much of what is written about Jesus of Nazareth is historically reliable, and whether the evidence supports the existence of such an historical figure...
, including Deconstructing Jesus (2000), The Reason Driven Life (2006), Jesus is Dead (2007), and Inerrant the Wind: The Evangelical Crisis in Biblical Authority (2009).
A former Baptist minister, he was the editor of the Journal of Higher Criticism
Journal of Higher Criticism
The Journal of Higher Criticism was an academic journal presenting "articles dealing with historical, literary, and history-of-religion issues from the perspective of higher criticism", published by the Institute for Higher Critical Studies. The editor-in-chief was Robert M...
from 1994 until it ceased publication in 2003, and has written extensively about the Cthulhu Mythos
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
, a "shared universe
Shared universe
A shared universe is a fictional universe to which more than one writer contributes. Work set in a shared universe share characters and other elements with varying degrees of consistency. Shared universes are contrasted with collaborative writing, in which multiple authors work on a single story....
" created by the writer H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
. He also co-wrote a book with his wife, Carol Selby Price, Mystic Rhythms: The Philosophical Vision of Rush (1999), on the rock band Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
.
Price is a fellow of the Jesus Seminar
Jesus Seminar
The Jesus Seminar is a group of about 150 critical scholars and laymen founded in 1985 by Robert Funk under the auspices of the Westar Institute....
, a group of 150 writers and scholars who study the historicity of Jesus, the organizer of a Web community for those interested in the history of Christianity, and sits on the advisory board of the Secular Student Alliance
Secular Student Alliance
The Secular Student Alliance , founded in May 2000, is an independent, democratically structured organization in the U.S. that aims to serve the needs of freethinking high school and college students. The Secular Student Alliance is based in Columbus, Ohio...
. He is a religious skeptic
Religious skepticism
Religious skepticism is a type of skepticism relating to religion, but should not be confused with atheism. Religious skeptics question religious authority and are not necessarily anti-religious but are those skeptical of a specific or all religious beliefs or practices. Some are deists, believing...
, especially of orthodox Christian beliefs, occasionally describing himself as a Christian atheist. He is known in particular for his skepticism about the existence of Jesus as an historical figure, arguing in 2009 that Jesus may have existed but "unless someone discovers his diary or his skeleton, we'll never know."
Background
Price was formerly a Baptist minister in New Jersey, with doctorates in both theology (Drew UniversityDrew University
Drew University is a private university located in Madison, New Jersey.Originally established as the Drew Theological Seminary in 1867, the university later expanded to include an undergraduate liberal arts college in 1928 and commenced a program of graduate studies in 1955...
1981), and New Testament (Drew 1993).
A self-described humanist
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
, he is a member of the Episcopal Church
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
and is friendly with fundamentalist Christians outside of academia. He is also friends with the evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
(but not fundamentalist) pastor and author Greg Boyd
Gregory A. Boyd
Gregory A. "Greg" Boyd is an evangelical pastor, Christian theologian and author. He is Senior Pastor of the Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States and is President of Christus Victor Ministries.-Biography:...
, with whom he has had numerous public debates concerning the historicity of Jesus
Historicity of Jesus
The historicity of Jesus concerns how much of what is written about Jesus of Nazareth is historically reliable, and whether the evidence supports the existence of such an historical figure...
.
Religious writings
In books like The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man and Deconstructing Jesus, Price challenges Biblical literalismBiblical literalism
Biblical literalism is the interpretation or translation of the explicit and primary sense of words in the Bible. A literal Biblical interpretation is associated with the fundamentalist and evangelical hermeneutical approach to Scripture, and is used almost exclusively by conservative Christians...
and argues for a more skeptical and humanistic approach to Christianity. He questions the idea of a historical Jesus
Historicity of Jesus
The historicity of Jesus concerns how much of what is written about Jesus of Nazareth is historically reliable, and whether the evidence supports the existence of such an historical figure...
; in the documentary The God Who Wasn't There
The God Who Wasn't There
The God Who Wasn't There is a 2005 independent documentary written and directed by Brian Flemming. The documentary questions the existence of Jesus, examining evidence that supports the Christ myth theory against the existence of a historical Jesus, as well as other aspects of Christianity.- Jesus...
, Price supports a version of the Jesus myth hypothesis, suggesting that the early Christians adopted the model for the figure of Jesus from the popular Mediterranean dying-rising saviour myths of the time, such as that of Dionysus
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
. He argues that the comparisons were known at the time, as early church father, Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr, also known as just Saint Justin , was an early Christian apologist. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue survive. He is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church....
had admitted the similarities. Price suggests that Christianity simply adopted themes from the dying-rising god stories of the day and supplemented them with themes (escaping crosses, empty tombs, children being persecuted by tyrants, etc.) from the popular stories of the day in order to come up with the narratives about Christ. He has argued that there was an almost complete fleshing out of the details of the gospels by a Midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
(haggadah) rewriting of the Septuagint, Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
, Euripides' Bacchae
The Bacchae
The Bacchae is an ancient Greek tragedy by the Athenian playwright Euripides, during his final years in Macedon, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. It premiered posthumously at the Theatre of Dionysus in 405 BC as part of a tetralogy that also included Iphigeneia at Aulis, and which...
, and Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
.
Price denies that the Q source is a reliable source for the historical Jesus, because Q simply shows a common cynical tang and therefore does not imply a single sage existing behind it. Price acknowledges that there are a few ancient non-New Testament sources (such as Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
) that claim Jesus Christ was a real living person. However, Price points out that even if these references are taken as genuine, they at most refer to the claims of the contemporary Christians of the time about Jesus, and were never claims of Jesus as a contemporary of the ancient writers.
H. P. Lovecraft scholarship
As editor of the journal Crypt of CthulhuCrypt of Cthulhu
Crypt of Cthulhu was a fanzine devoted to the writings of H. P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos. It was published as part of the Esoteric Order of Dagon mailing lists for a short time, and was formally established in 1981 by Robert M...
(published by Necronomicon Press
Necronomicon Press
Necronomicon Press is an American small press publishing house specialising in fiction, poetry and literary criticism relating to the horror and fantasy genres. It is run by Marc A. Michaud....
) and of a series of Cthulhu Mythos
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
anthologies, Price has been a major figure in H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
scholarship and fandom for many years. In essays that introduce the anthologies and the individual stories, Price traces the origins of Lovecraft's entities, motifs, and literary style. The Cthulhu Cycle, for example, saw the origins of the octopoid entity in Alfred Lord Tennyson's "The Kraken" and particular passages from Lord Dunsany, while The Dunwich Cycle points to the influence of Arthur Machen
Arthur Machen
Arthur Machen was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror...
on Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror
The Dunwich Horror
"The Dunwich Horror" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft. Written in 1928, it was first published in the April 1929 issue of Weird Tales . It takes place in Dunwich, a fictional town in Massachusetts...
".
Price's religious background often informs his Mythos criticism, seeing gnostic themes in Lovecraft's fictional god Azathoth
Azathoth
Azathoth is a deity in the Cthulhu Mythos and Dream Cycle stories of H. P. Lovecraft and other authors. Its epithets include Nuclear Chaos, the Daemon Sultan and the Blind Idiot God.-Inspiration:...
and interpreting "The Shadow Over Innsmouth
The Shadow Over Innsmouth
The Shadow Over Innsmouth is a novella by H. P. Lovecraft. Written in November-December 1931, the story was first published in April 1936; this was the only fiction of Lovecraft's published during his lifetime that did not appear in a periodical....
" as a kind of initiation ritual.
Other works
Price runs The Bible Geek, a broadcast show that allows people to ask the Bible Geek questions that he will answer. In 2010 he became one of three new hosts on Point of InquiryPoint of Inquiry
Point of Inquiry is the radio show and podcast of the Center for Inquiry, a think tank promoting science, reason and secular values. Started in 2005, Point of Inquiry has consistently ranked highly among similar podcasts. It has been celebrated for its guests, and for the quality of its interviews....
(the Center for Inquiry
Center for Inquiry
The Center for Inquiry is a non-profit educational organization with headquarters in the United States whose primary mission is to encourage evidence-based inquiry into paranormal and fringe science claims, alternative medicine and mental health practices, religion, secular ethics, and society...
's podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
), following the retirement of host D. J. Grothe from the show. Having appeared on the show twice before as a guest (see external links below), he will now host about a quarter of the new podcasts.
In 2005, he appeared in Brian Flemming
Brian Flemming
Brian Flemming is an American film director and playwright.- Early career :Flemming was born and raised in California's San Fernando Valley, and studied English at the University of California, Irvine, graduating in 1998...
's documentary film The God Who Wasn't There
The God Who Wasn't There
The God Who Wasn't There is a 2005 independent documentary written and directed by Brian Flemming. The documentary questions the existence of Jesus, examining evidence that supports the Christ myth theory against the existence of a historical Jesus, as well as other aspects of Christianity.- Jesus...
.
Books
On religion- The Widow Traditions in Luke-Acts: A Feminist-Critical Scrutiny Society of Biblical LiteratureSociety of Biblical LiteratureThe Society of Biblical Literature, founded 1880, is a constituent society of the American Council of Learned Societies , with the stated mission to "Foster Biblical Scholarship"...
. ISBN 0-7885-0224-7 (Mar 1997). - The Evolution of the Pauline Canon, in Hervormde Teologiese Studies, Number 1&2 June 1997, 36-67
- Mystic Rhythms: The Philosophical Vision of Rush Borgo PressBorgo PressThe Borgo Press was a small publishing company founded by Robert Reginald in 1975 funded by the royalties gained from his first major reference work.The same year Borgo Press was founded, Robert Reginald met Mary Wickizer Rogers, a student at Cal State...
. ISBN 1-58715-102-2. with Carol Selby Price (1 Nov 1998) - Deconstructing Jesus Prometheus BooksPrometheus BooksPrometheus Books is a publishing company founded in August 1969 by Paul Kurtz, who also founded the Council for Secular Humanism and co-founded the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is currently the chairman of all three organizations. Prometheus Books publishes a range of books, including many...
. ISBN 1-57392-758-9. (20 Mar 2000). - The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man: How Reliable is the Gospel Tradition? Prometheus BooksPrometheus BooksPrometheus Books is a publishing company founded in August 1969 by Paul Kurtz, who also founded the Council for Secular Humanism and co-founded the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is currently the chairman of all three organizations. Prometheus Books publishes a range of books, including many...
. ISBN 1-59102-121-9. (20 Dec 2003) - The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond The Grave Prometheus BooksPrometheus BooksPrometheus Books is a publishing company founded in August 1969 by Paul Kurtz, who also founded the Council for Secular Humanism and co-founded the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is currently the chairman of all three organizations. Prometheus Books publishes a range of books, including many...
. ISBN 1-59102-286-X. with Jeffery Lowder (20 April 2005) - The Da Vinci Fraud: Why the Truth Is Stranger than Fiction Prometheus BooksPrometheus BooksPrometheus Books is a publishing company founded in August 1969 by Paul Kurtz, who also founded the Council for Secular Humanism and co-founded the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is currently the chairman of all three organizations. Prometheus Books publishes a range of books, including many...
. ISBN 1-59102-348-3. (20 Sep 2005). - The Reason Driven Life: What Am I Here on Earth For? Prometheus BooksPrometheus BooksPrometheus Books is a publishing company founded in August 1969 by Paul Kurtz, who also founded the Council for Secular Humanism and co-founded the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is currently the chairman of all three organizations. Prometheus Books publishes a range of books, including many...
. ISBN 1-59102-476-5. (1 Sep 2006). - The Pre-Nicene New Testament: Fifty-four Formative Texts Signature BooksSignature BooksSignature Books is a press specializing in subjects related to Utah, Mormonism, and Western Americana. The company was founded in 1980 by George D...
ISBN 1-56085-194-5. (30 Oct 2006) - The Paperback Apocalypse: How the Christian Church was Left Behind Prometheus BooksPrometheus BooksPrometheus Books is a publishing company founded in August 1969 by Paul Kurtz, who also founded the Council for Secular Humanism and co-founded the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is currently the chairman of all three organizations. Prometheus Books publishes a range of books, including many...
. ISBN 1-59102-583-4. (1 Sept 2007). - Jesus is Dead American Atheist Press ISBN 1-57884-000-7. (30 April 2007).
- Top Secret: The Truth Behind Today's Pop Mysticisms Prometheus BooksPrometheus BooksPrometheus Books is a publishing company founded in August 1969 by Paul Kurtz, who also founded the Council for Secular Humanism and co-founded the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is currently the chairman of all three organizations. Prometheus Books publishes a range of books, including many...
. ISBN 1-59102-608-3 (8 April 2008) - Beyond Born Again: Towards Evangelical Maturity Wildside PressWildside PressWildside Press is an independent publishing company located in Maryland, USA. It was founded in 1989 by John Gregory and Kim Betancourt. While the press was originally conceived as a publisher of speculative fiction in both trade and limited editions, it has broadened out somewhat since then, both...
. ISBN 1-4344-7748-7 (30 Oct 2008). - Inerrant the Wind: The Evangelical Crisis of Biblical Authority Prometheus BooksPrometheus BooksPrometheus Books is a publishing company founded in August 1969 by Paul Kurtz, who also founded the Council for Secular Humanism and co-founded the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is currently the chairman of all three organizations. Prometheus Books publishes a range of books, including many...
. ISBN 1-59102-676-8 (1 Dec 2008). - The Case Against The Case For Christ: A New Testament Scholar Refutes the Reverend Lee Strobel with editor Frank R. Zindler, American Atheist Press. ISBN 1-57884-005-8 (15 Feb 2010)
- Chapter "Jesus: Myth and Method" in The Christian delusion edited by John W. Loftus ( Amherst, NY Prometheus BooksPrometheus BooksPrometheus Books is a publishing company founded in August 1969 by Paul Kurtz, who also founded the Council for Secular Humanism and co-founded the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is currently the chairman of all three organizations. Prometheus Books publishes a range of books, including many...
2010 ISBN 1-61614-168-4
On the Cthulhu Mythos (as editor or author)
- Acolytes of CthulhuAcolytes of CthulhuAcolytes of Cthulhu is an anthology of Cthulhu Mythos stories edited by Robert M. Price. It was published by Fedogan & Bremer in 2001 in an edition of 2,500 copies...
- The Antarktos Cycle: Horror and Wonder at the Ends of the Earth
- The Azathoth Cycle: The Blind Idiot God
- Black Forbidden Things
- Blasphemies & Revelations Mythos Books. ISBN 0-9789911-9-2. (30 Sep 2008).
- The Book of Eibon
- The Book of Iod
- The Cthulhu Cycle: Thirteen Tentacles of Terror
- Dark Wisdom: New Tales of the Old Ones
- The Dunwich Cycle: Where the Old Gods Wait
- The Hastur Cycle
- The Horror of It All: Encrusted Gems from the "Crypt of Cthulhu"
- H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos
- The Innsmouth Cycle: The Taint of the Deep Ones
- The Ithaqua Cycle: The Wind-Walker of the Icy Wastes
- Lin Carter: A Look Behind His Imaginary Worlds
- Lin Carter's Anton Zarnak, Supernatural Sleuth
- Lovecraft: A Look Behind the Cthulhu Mythos (with Lin Carter) Borgo Pr; Rev Sub edition (Nov 1997) ISBN 978-0-89370-013-3
- Mysteries of the Worm
- The Necronomicon
- The New Lovecraft Circle
- The Nyarlathotep Cycle: The God of a Thousand Forms
- Shards of Darkness
- The Shub-Niggurath Cycle: Tales of the Black Goat with a Thousand Young
- The Taint of Lovecraft
- Tales of the Lovecraft Mythos
- Tales Out of Dunwich
- Tales Out of Innsmouth: New Stories of the Children of Dagon
- The Tsathoggua Cycle: Terror Tales of the Toad God
- The Xothic Legend Cycle: The Complete Mythos Fiction of Lin CarterThe Xothic Legend Cycle: The Complete Mythos Fiction of Lin CarterThe Xothic Legend Cycle: The Complete Mythos Fiction of Lin Carter is a collection of horror short stories by science fiction and fantasy author Lin Carter, edited by Robert M. Price. It was first published as a trade paperback by Chaosium in 1997 as book 13 of the publisher's "Cthulhu Cycle" series...
- The Yith Cycle:Lovecraftian Tales of the Great Race and Time Travel
External links
- A Review of Jesus is Dead in Review of Biblical Literature (2009).
- Official website
- Point of Inquiry audio interview: Jesus: The Failed Hypothesis
- Point of Inquiry audio interview: The Reason Driven Life
- Interview about the Cthulu Mythos on The Polyschizmatic Reprobates Hour
- Interview about the Paperback Apocalypse at The Polyschizmatic Reprobates Hour
- Interview on The Nick and Josh Podcast
- Audio Interview: Fairness in argument