Cynicism and Christianity in Antiquity

Was Jesus really a Cynic? This book examines the arguments submitted by some New Testament scholars who believe that Jesus and his disciples were influenced by the ethics and social behaviors of Cynic preachers in Galilee.

In examining the "Cynic Jesus hypothesis," Marie-Odile Goulet-Cazé offers a reliable, accessible, and fully documented summary of Cynicism and its ideas, from Diogenes to the Imperial Period, and she investigates the extent and nature of contact between Cynics and Jewish people, especially in the first century BCE and CE. While recognizing similarities between the ideas and morals of ancient Cynicism and those evident in early Christian movements, Goulet-Cazé identifies more significant, fundamental differences between them in terms of culture, theology, and worldview.