A Historiographical Assessment of the Judas Myth Hypothesis: Methodological Principles for Academic Debate

ARTICLE GUIDE

At a Glance

This study evaluates the hypothesis that Judas Iscariot was a later literary invention. It distinguishes literary parallels from historical demonstration and weighs chronology, Paul’s testimony, naming evidence, competing explanations, and the limits of mimetic reconstruction.

What evidence is needed to move from a possible literary invention to a persuasive historical hypothesis?

This guide introduces the argument developed in the complete article.

Key Claims

• The essay distinguishes the possibility of literary construction from evidence that a particular person was fabricated.
• Critical realism and inference to the best explanation organize its methodological approach.
• Paul’s wording in 1 Corinthians 11:23 is assessed within the chronology of the passion tradition.
• Ancient naming patterns and demographic evidence are weighed against symbolic-name arguments.
• The author evaluates mimetic hypotheses through explanatory scope, power, plausibility, and engagement with competing scholarship.

Primary Textual Anchors

• 1 Corinthians 11:23; Isaiah 53
• Genesis 3:15; Romans 11

Scripture Connections

1 Corinthians 11:23; Isaiah 53; Genesis 3:15; Romans 11

Selected Scholarship

• McCullagh, C. B. (1984). Justifying historical descriptions. Cambridge University Press.
• MacDonald, D. R. (2000). The Homeric epics and the Gospel of Mark. Yale University Press.

Related Guides

• Historical Embodiment and the Lexical Contours of the Last Supper
• Deconstructing Pseudohistory and Esoteric Revisionism: Reviewing Historical Criteria

Explore This Topic

• Historical Jesus & Gospel Evidence
• Reading Scripture in Context

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