I made some comments in a blog last week about the Bible and I got a storm of reaction!
by Charlie Leck
I’ve learned it’s best not to write here about the Bible and Jesus. I got some pretty significant reactions to my blog about the gospels being altered a bit by the early church and that Jesus probably didn’t really say all the things attributed to him (Reverend Idiots). I upset a number of Christians who questioned my own standing in the Faith. I allowed some of those comments to be posted; however, the majority of the comments were so nasty in both tone and language (and, of course, completely anonymous) that I would not permit them to be published. You think people who want to comment on a blog could at least use a name.
And, you would think a CHRISTIAN would at least be kind and considerate in his or her comments. Wouldn’t you? Perhaps I’m naïve.
I want to share with you some information about the development of the New Testament of the Bible and how it came about, but it is not a light or simple matter. I’m working slowly through a blog about this topic and I’m enjoying the process of going back into some of these theories and complicated studies about the historical Jesus – that is, the things about Jesus and what he said that we can be fairly certain are accurate and historical.
One day, in spite of what I say in the first sentence of this blog, when I’m satisfied with it – even as troubling as it might be to some readers – that blog will appear here. In the meantime, if any of you would like to read about the work of the Jesus Seminar you can always go to this web site. The introduction on the home page of that web site explains clearly what it’s all about.
“Convened in 1985 by Robert W. Funk, the Jesus Seminar has become a lightning rod for international debate about the "historical Jesus" - that is, the real facts about the person to whom various Christian gospels refer. The Seminar's on-going project has been to evaluate the historical significance of every shred of evidence about Jesus from antiquity (about 30-200 CE). Over the past twenty years more than 200 scholars from North America & beyond have participated in its semi-annual meetings. Seminar Fellows include prominent scholars from Canada, Great Britain, Germany, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand as well as the U.S. For a roster of active participants click here.
“The first phases of the Seminar's work on the evaluation & interpretation of Jesus tradition are complete & the results have been published. The Seminar is now turning its attention to analysis of the historical value of materials about & by the first generation of Jesus people: e.g., the Acts of the Apostles & letters of Paul.”
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It's your blog and you are free to share any uninformed, ignorant views of Jesus, the creator of the universe, that you wish. You certainly wouldn't be the first, but you won't get the publicity or the big bucks of some like Brian McLaren or the 19th and 18th century "scholars" and wannabee who preceded him.
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