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28-650: Initiated by historian of religion R. Joseph Hoffmann , chair of the Committee, the project sought to improve upon what Hoffmann saw as the failure of the Jesus Seminar to determine what, if anything, can be recovered about Jesus, using the highest standards of scientific and scholarly enquiry. The Committee suspended the Project's funding in June 2009 after Hoffmann expressed concern about its purpose and direction;

56-568: A final report will be issued by the committee members." Its fellows included Richard Carrier , Bruce Chilton , Robert Eisenman , Dorothy King , Paul Kurtz , Stephen Law , Niels Peter Lemche , Gerd Lüdemann , Dennis MacDonald , Justin J. Meggitt , Robert M. Price , James M. Robinson , Richard E. Rubenstein , James D. Tabor , Frank Zindler and Thomas L. Thompson . The first meeting took place in New York in December 2008. The project

84-487: A year, with geographical venues changing each year. The meetings and discussions will also be open to the public. The work of the seminar will consist of the writing of unanimous opinions, and where that is not possible, majority and minority opinions, written as articles, which will be gathered and published once a year under the CSER imprint with Prometheus Books . The work of the Project is limited to five years; at which point

112-640: The Religionsgeschichtliche Schule , a late 19th-century German school of thought, originated the systematic study of religion as a socio - cultural phenomenon. It depicted religion as evolving with human culture, from polytheism to monotheism . The Religionsgeschichtliche Schule emerged at a time when scholarly study of the Bible and of church history flourished in Germany and elsewhere (see higher criticism , also called

140-545: The Middle and Lower Paleolithic periods: some archaeologists conclude that the apparently intentional burial of archaic humans , Neanderthals and even Homo naledi as early as 300,000 years ago is proof that religious ideas already existed, but such a connection is entirely conjectural. Other evidence that some infer as indicative of religious ideas includes symbolic artifacts from Middle Stone Age sites in Africa. However,

168-901: The Muslim conquest of Persia (633–654); Christians fought against Muslims during the Arab–Byzantine wars (7th to 11th centuries), the Crusades (1095 onward), the Reconquista (718–1492), the Ottoman wars in Europe (13th century onwards) and the Inquisition ; Shamanism was in conflict with Buddhists , Taoists , Muslims and Christians during the Mongol invasions and conquests (1206–1337); and Muslims clashed with Hindus and Sikhs during

196-1038: The Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent (8th to 16th centuries). Many medieval religious movements continued to emphasize mysticism , such as the Cathars and related movements in the West, the Jews in Spain (see Zohar ), the Bhakti movement in India and Sufism in Islam. Monotheism and related mysticisms reached definite forms in Christian Christology and in Islamic Tawhid . Hindu monotheist notions of Brahman likewise reached their classical form with

224-575: The Thirty Years' War which ravaged Central Europe between 1618 and 1648. The 18th century saw the beginning of secularisation in Europe, a trend which gained momentum after the French Revolution broke out in 1789. By the late 20th century, religion had declined in most of Europe. Timeline of religion Religion has been a factor of the human experience throughout history, from pre-historic to modern times. The bulk of

252-471: The historical-critical method ). The study of religion is important: religion and similar concepts have often shaped civilizations' law and moral codes, social structure, art and music. In order to better understand the origin and current diversity of religious belief systems throughout the world, recent studies have attempted to focus on historical interrelationships and diversification of all major organized religions, applying modern evolutionary philosophy to

280-481: The lion man , the Venus figurines , and the elaborate ritual burial from Sungir . In the 19th century, researchers proposed various theories regarding the origin of religion, challenging earlier claims of a Christianity-like urreligion . Early theorists, such as Edward Burnett Tylor (1832–1917) and Herbert Spencer (1820–1903), emphasized the concept of animism , while archaeologist John Lubbock (1834–1913) used

308-481: The 1940s, in the absence of canonical material, would support the existence of a historical founder," he wrote. "No material regarded as canonical and no church doctrine built upon it in the history of the church would cause us to deny it. Whether the New Testament runs from Christ to Jesus or Jesus to Christ is not a question we can answer." Historian of religion The history of religion refers to

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336-423: The Project has not been active since then. As reported in a press release , Hoffmann's goal was: ...not to 'disprove' Jesus or to sensationalize the question of his existence, but to acknowledge the question and examine it impartially—without theological or apologetic constraints. The Jesus Project is an attempt to evaluate every scrap of evidence for the historical Jesus, but it is also an attempt to evaluate

364-447: The comparative analysis of putative ideological groups. These studies take an agnostic, pluralistic approach in the hope of moving beyond chauvinistic cultural tribalism, which is increasingly interfering with our ability to understand "other" cultures and address growing global challenges. The earliest archeological evidence interpreted by some as suggestive of the emergence of religious ideas dates back several hundred thousand years, to

392-468: The construction of Göbekli Tepe implies organization of an advanced order not hitherto associated with Paleolithic , PPNA , or PPNB societies. The site, abandoned around the time the first agricultural societies started, is still being excavated and analyzed, and thus might shed light on the significance it had, if any, for the religions of older, foraging communities, as well as for the general history of religions. The Pyramid Texts from ancient Egypt,

420-604: The foundations upon which humanity still subsists today." Intellectual historian Peter Watson has summarized this period as the foundation time of many of humanity's most influential philosophical traditions, including monotheism in Persia and Canaan , Platonism in Greece, Buddhism and Jainism in India, and Confucianism and Taoism in China. These ideas would become institutionalized in time – note for example Ashoka 's role in

448-481: The human religious experience pre-dates written history , which is roughly 70,000 years old. A lack of written records results in most of the knowledge of pre-historic religion being derived from archaeological records and other indirect sources, and from suppositions. Much pre-historic religion is subject to continued debate. Despite claims by some researchers of bear worship , belief in an afterlife, and other rituals, current archaeological evidence does not support

476-489: The interpretation of early paleolithic artifacts, with regard to how they relate to religious ideas, remains controversial . Archeological evidence from more recent periods is less controversial. Scientists generally interpret a number of artifacts from the Upper Paleolithic (50,000–13,000 BCE) as representing religious ideas. Examples of Upper Paleolithic remains that some associate with religious beliefs include

504-504: The media was sensationalizing the project, with the only newsworthy conclusion being that Jesus had not existed, a conclusion he said most participants would not have reached. He also argued that New Testament documents, particularly the Gospels, were written at a time when the line between natural and supernatural was not clearly drawn, and concluded that further historical research was not realistic. "No quantum of material discovered since

532-678: The oldest known religious texts in the world, date to between 2400 and 2300 BCE. The earliest records of Indian religion are the Vedas , composed c.  1500–1200 BCE during the Vedic Period . Surviving early copies of religious texts include: Some historians have labelled the period from 900 to 200 BCE as the "axial age", a term coined by German -Swiss philosopher Karl Jaspers (1883–1969). According to Jaspers, in this era of history "the spiritual foundations of humanity were laid simultaneously and independently... And these are

560-429: The oldest potentially religious site yet discovered anywhere includes circles of erected massive T-shaped stone pillars, the world's oldest known megaliths decorated with abstract , enigmatic pictograms and carved -animal reliefs. The site, near the home place of original wild wheat, was built before the so-called Neolithic Revolution , i.e., the beginning of agriculture and animal husbandry around 9000 BCE. But

588-483: The people or the cultures in which these sacred texts were written. The word religion as used in the 21st century does not have an obvious pre-colonial translation into non-European languages. The anthropologist Daniel Dubuisson writes that "what the West and the history of religions in its wake have objectified under the name 'religion' is ... something quite unique, which could be appropriate only to itself and its own history". The school of religious history called

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616-433: The quality of the evidence itself—something that earlier projects did not do explicitly. This new project will be more inclusive and rigorous in its approach. It will include scholars from a variety of areas outside biblical and religious studies , including archaeologists , social historians , classicists and people in historical linguistics . The Jesus Project will be limited to 50 members; scholars plan to meet twice

644-615: The spread of Buddhism, or the role of Neoplatonic philosophy in Christianity at its foundation. The historical roots of Jainism in India date back to the 9th century BCE with the rise of Parshvanatha and his non-violent philosophy. World religions of the present day established themselves throughout Eurasia during the Middle Ages by: During the Middle Ages, Muslims came into conflict with Zoroastrians during

672-727: The teaching of Adi Shankara (788–820). From the 15th century to the 19th century, European colonisation resulted in the spread of Christianity to Sub-Saharan Africa , and the Americas , Australia and the Philippines . The invention of the printing press in the 15th century played a major role in the rapid spread of the Protestant Reformation under leaders such as Martin Luther (1483–1546) and John Calvin (1509–1564). Wars of religion broke out, culminating in

700-465: The term " fetishism ". Meanwhile, the religious scholar Max Müller (1823–1900) theorized that religion began in hedonism and the folklorist Wilhelm Mannhardt (1831–1880) suggested that religion began in "naturalism" – by which he meant mythological explanations for natural events. All of these theories have been widely criticized since then; there is no broad consensus regarding the origin of religion. Pre-pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) Göbekli Tepe ,

728-537: The use of evolutionary philosophy and broad comparativism. Writing played a major role in standardizing religious texts regardless of time or location and making easier the memorization of prayers and divine rules. The concept of "religion" was formed in the 16th and 17th centuries. Sacred texts like the Bible, the Quran, and others did not have a word or even a concept of religion in the original languages and neither did

756-474: The written record of human religious feelings, thoughts, and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,200 years ago (3200 BCE). The prehistory of religion involves the study of religious beliefs that existed prior to the advent of written records. One can also study comparative religious chronology through a timeline of religion , or the interrelationships and historical diversification of religious ideologies through

784-467: Was halted in June 2009 when Hoffmann announced that in his view the project was not productive, and its funding was suspended. He wrote that there were problems with adherents to the Christ myth theory , the idea that Jesus did not exist, asking to set up a separate section of the project for those committed to the theory, which Hoffmann felt signalled a lack of necessary skepticism. He was also concerned that

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