Are the Gospels mythical?

A rather long, but excellent article by Rene Girard from the journal of Catholic thought and practice, "First Things". No, Jesus is not the same as other Savior gods:

http://www.firstthings.com/article/2007/10/002-are-the-gospels-mythical-11

how strange it is for me (and I suspect for Cradle) to see people like Rene Girard writing pieces like this. We encountered Girard in grad school courses (alongside other recent defenders of the faith like Terry Eagleton and Stanley Fish), in an environment totally hostile to orthodoxy. To find them now, all these years later, writing pieces like this is as surprising as anything I've encountered as a reader.

That idea of mimetic contagion is brilliant. Girard is brilliant. I used his work as the basis of a grad school essay almost 15 years ago.

It's hard to convey how very, very strange it is. And I also feel a little cheated--like, hey, what took you guys so long? I could've used your support back in grad school!

In all serious, though, to have these voices emerging that add some diersity to the academic discourse in this way is beyond exciting for me.

and I don't come to the same conclusions as you folks but what's new, huh?