Jesus of Nazareth, a cynic rabbi. On the "Cynic Hypothesis"

Abstract

The author first shows that there is a written record of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, to be distinguished from the preaching of Jesus Christ. This record can be clearly identified in the Gospel of Luke, through its language, the Greek of koinè, whereas the rest of the Gospel is written in a Semitic-Greek pidgin. Then I compare the form and the contents of this teaching with the form and the contents of the "chreiai" or moral anecdotes attributed to the tradition of the old cynical philosophers (Diogenes of Sinope and Crates). Remarkable convergences appear between the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth and those of the cynic philosophers.