Is it just me, or is Jesus on the cover of every magazine that is on news stands these days. OK a bit of an overstatment, but consider US News and World Report, The New Yorker, Slate.com, and the more I haven't noticed, it seems Jesus is pretty popular.
Duh, it's Easter. And duh, DaVinci Code is coming out in 30 days. However, it's interesting that people are choosing to research about Jesus so much. The Jesus Papers, The Jesus Dynasty, The Gospel of Judas, What Jesus Meant, and of course new editions of The DaVinci Code. Of course this could also be that publishers are choosing to publish there works because that's where the money is. I guess Kanye West will not be taking a loss financially for his Jesus Walks song (which I like) - so much for trying to play the underdog in his lyrics (if I talk about God my record won't get played huh / Well if this take away my from spins / Which will probably take away from my ends)
Personally, I find it hard to keep up with all of it. Too much to take in. Each book has it's own trail to follow, research, and discuss. Something I'm noticing, however, especially with Judas' gospel, is that some of these questions have been answered already, but the answers have been forgotten, or not yet discovered by some of us in this century. Take Judas: the gnostic emphasis on the flesh being evil and also the cosmological atmosphere the book has - these issues the church has dealt with in the past.
We'll see how many more books and discoveries will be used to undermine Jesus' lordship and radical message? Regardless... I'm hopeful that passionate and thinking Christ followers can see oportunities for the conversations that will help people take a look at Jesus through the gospels that have been known since the 1st century (for good foundation on the 4 gospel recognition in the canon see www.jesuscreed.org; good stuff for Judas' gospel here too)
PEACE
FYI John Reed on www.beliefnet.com summarizes the the Jesus Papers as a "revisionist fantasy masquerading as legitimate history."
ALSO, decent article: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/115/43.0.html
6 comments:
Dave,
Great post! I had a chance to visit downtown Chapters today and glanced at all the recent Jesus books out. I likewise find it remarkable just how popular he is these days. Unfortunately, most of the books that get the attention are the wacky one.
The Jesus Papers if by far the most imaginative I came across. And I thought George Lucas was creative when he created the Star Wars universe! Michael Baigent is brillant though. He add the perfect ingredients for a best-selling recipe. Ingredient #1: claim Jesus wrote a letter that proves he was only human and survived the crucifixion until at least 45 AD. Ingredient #2: the Catholic church knows of this letter and want it destroyed so that they can keep faithful people believing in a lie. Ingredient #3: by sheer coincidence, claim you saw the letter, only you could not read the original language and the letter has now gone missing.
Bart Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus is another interesting book that mostly deal with textual criticism, but hardly anything about Jesus. The man was cleaver enough, though, to hint that the book is about Jesus cause no one would have read about how scholars try to get to the original greek text.
Brilliant! These men are all brilliant! Jesus is hot topic these days; it's just too bad no one wants historic Christianity's opinion.
JC
Dave,
It's true that the Church has dealt with many of these "new" claims centuries ago. Unfortunately, Christianity is old news. Nothing new to the stew. On a "brighter" note, we have the media that is willing to provide the world with breaking news about Jesus, and those that coincidently stir controversy -- now that sells!
Sure, what the media is inventing is pure sophistry, but again, we also need to remember how much power it has on our culture. The media is more powerful than the government these days! (maybe that's why politicians depend on it so much). All to say that people take in what the media is saying as though it were some kind of divine oracle. Many tend to equate news with unadulterated facts.
That being said, I'm not too crazy about the "opportunites" the media creates for the spreading of the real Gospel. I don't think the heathens should be the ones directing the world's interest in Jesus -- but that's just me. On the other hand, those who are not completely convinced about all the jazz they come across will come along our path and ask us where orthodoxy stands. So, I wouldn't say that there isn't an opportunity to spread the Gospel... I guess we have a greater responsibility now given the scandals. What do you think?
Camardicus
Joe, well said. No one wants historic Christianity because it doesn't sell.
Joe:
I read a review of Ehrman's book and it said something similar (not that much really on Jesus)
You're right though, no one wants historic Xnty's opinion; the tide in our culture is against anything with roots and spectical of everything traditional, thinking we've been told a lie for years... so stories sell big and change minds at the same time; unfortunately (though I appreciate the church) the church has caused lots to feel this way b/c lots of churches and Xians don't resemble Jesus. You say, ya what ever... reality is teaching and doctrine is great - but if there ain't no life, it ain't what Jesus intended - not for me.
Carlo,
opportunities are everywhere; like poker - you never know what hand you'll be dealt... but you do the best with what you get (hopefully my ignorance about poker is not coming through here).
I don't think we need to jump on or over create (?) opportunities; i.e. turn everything into a Jesus conversation.
However, if our hearts our inclined towards mission and the spirit simultaneously, I have a feeling we'll lack not with opportunity. (I'm not there yet)
I'd love to live out Peter's word: be ready to give a reason for your faith.
In a letter about persecution and living out one's faith wholeheartedly, I think Peter had a hunch that people would be asking these 'people of the way' about their leader - b/c their lives were so radically different; their response to persecution so radically counter-culture; their living so authentic.
Above the Q & A's about Mary M, the P/S, the Opus Dei, and the Holy Grail - I hope my life will be so much more about Jesus that people start asking me questions about him... not Dan Brown. Of course I fail miserably at this - compared to others - and thankfully my journey isn't over.
Make Sense?
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