Morton Smith: Jesus the Magician (1978)

Morton Smith: Jesus the Magician. Harper & Row, 1978; reprinted Barnes & Noble, 1993.

ISBN 1566192854 | 222 pages | PDF

Morton Smith (1915-1991), professor of ancient history at Columbia University, argues that the historical Jesus was a magician who "sprang from a Galilean strain of Semitic paganism". He discusses in great detail magic and magicians in the geographical and historical world of Jesus. Comparing the history of Apollonius, a near contemporary of Jesus, he establishes a great similarity between the two. Both were miracle workers and preachers surrounded by a cadre of disciples. Both delivered themselves in an oracular and epigrammatic style, emphasizing morality. Most significantly, both were arraigned on the charges of sedition and magic. The point of Professor Smith's detailed consideration of Apollonius is to indicate that such "magicians" were fairly common characters at this time.

The work won the 1978 Lionel Trilling Book Award.

For more on the book's background and its scholarly reception, see Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_the_Magician