Posted by
Bob Siegel on Friday, April 18, 2008 6:07:47 PM
Discussions about Jesus, these days, inevitably bring about
the following words: “The latest consensus of scholarship is that Jesus Christ
did not in fact rise from the dead. Neither did he make any special claims to
be God incarnate or to even be the Messiah at all."
I just completed two articles on my blog, showing from the
scripture that Jesus made both of those claims. Today, I’d like to briefly mention one of the more recent and
popular sources for the erroneous accusation above, The Jesus Seminar. Sponsored
by the Westar Institute, The Jesus Seminar was made up of 70 some scholars who
“demythologized” the gospels.
Contrary to popular opinion, this was not a collection of
historians and archaeologists. Most of these men either graduated from or taught
at a liberal seminary. In short, this was (for the most part) a group of
theologians and clergymen. One can get a PhD from a seminary just as they can
get one from a university. I mean no
disrespect. I am a seminary graduate myself but let’s be clear: There is a difference between pure
historians/archaeologists and representatives of a liberal seminary with a
distinct view toward the Bible (ironically a distinctly negative view toward
the Bible as opposed to the positive view taught at a conservative seminary).
There were originally some 200 participants of the Jesus
Seminar. Most of them left due to concerns about the methods being used. The Jesus Seminar shamelessly admits that
one of their presuppositions was a naturalistic view of the universe. Since
they were looking for “the truth” and since they had decided beforehand that
the supernatural is impossible, we can guess that any account of miracles in
the text was in grave danger of rejection.
Now then, how did these scholars conclude that Jesus did not
in fact rise from the dead? Hold on to
your seat: They took a vote. That’s right. They took a vote. I was just shaking
the night the election returns came in.
But miracles were not their only concern. Marcus Borg, one
of the leaders said he refused to believe in a God who claims He’s “the only way
of salvation.” Therefore, whenever
Jesus did claim to be the only way (John 10:10) Borg assumed that Jesus
could not possibly have made the remark and that such words must have been
some Christian interpolation.
Is this intellectual honesty or is this is a joke? Nobody is
making Borg or anyone else believe in Jesus or even like Jesus. If you disagree
that Jesus is the only way, fine. But have the academic honesty to say, “Jesus
and I are in conflict.” Don’t go
pulling words away from Jesus, simply because you don’t like what He says.
Conclusion: Hearing that “scholars say this” or “scholars
teach that” is not enough. Who were these scholars? What were the reasons behind their conclusions?
Were their reasons valid? What facts did they use to back up their positions? Are they the
only scholars on the subject? What
about the scholars who disagree?”
This is Bob Siegel, making the obvious, obvious.
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:
It is difficult to write articles without painting with a broad brush.
Not everyone at the Jesus Seminar had the same opinion and some were more
scholarly than others. One of my good friends, Dr. Robert Price, attended the
seminar, coming to a completely different conclusion than most of the others.
Price does not believe Jesus even lived at all. Now, mind you, I do not agree
with my friend, but I do find him to be scholarly and consistent in his
approach. In fact, I actually wrote a positive review of his book because I am a
believer in allowing people to hear both sides. In short, my opinion of the
Jesus Seminar in general is not intended as a reflection on every individual
who participated.
Also from Bob Siegel:
Did Jesus Really Claim to be The Messiah?
Did Jesus Really Claim To Be God?