R. Joseph Hoffmann

R. Joseph Hoffmann

Raymond Joseph "Joe" Hoffmann (born December 16, 1947 ) is an American historian . His work is essentially concerned with biblical criticism .

Life

Hoffmann studied at Harvard University , Oxford University and Heidelberg University and has since taught at various universities, including Wells College in New York. He worked many times in Africa. Hoffmann dealt extensively with the origins of Christianity.

He gained fame for his thesis on the role and dating of Marcion in the history of the New Testament canon and for the reconstruction of the writings of early opponents of Christianity: Celsus (1987), Porphyrios (1994) and Kaiser Julian (2004).

Hoffmann is considered a supporter of the Jesus myth . According to Hoffmann, the gospels were not about portraying the person Jesus correctly, but about emphasizing his alleged divinity. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were only written two generations after Jesus, little is known about Jesus outside of the Gospels. Therefore the historical existence of Jesus must be questioned. Hoffmann is chairman of the Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion and was active in the Center for Inquiry .

Fonts

• Jesus Outside the Gospels (1987), ISBN 0879753870
• Porphyry's Against the Christians: The Literary Remains (1994), ISBN 0879758899
• The Jesus Legend (1996), ISBN 0812693345 (with George Albert Wells )
• Biblical V. Secular Ethics: The Conflict . Prometheus Books, Amherst, New York 1988, ISBN 0-87975-418-4 (English).
• Marcion, on the Restitution of Christianity: An Essay on the Development of Radical Paulist Theology in the Second Century . Scholars Press, 1984, ISBN 0-89130-638-2 (English).
• R. Joseph Hoffmann (Ed.): The Secret Gospels: A Harmony of Apocryphal Jesus Traditions . Prometheus Books, Amherst, New York 1996, ISBN 1-57392-069-X (English).
• Jesus in History and Myth . Prometheus Books, Amherst, New York 1986, ISBN 0-87975-332-3 (English).