Thoughts and Prayers: The Religion Thread

Twisted? The words and story of the historical Jesus were twisted before Jerusalem even burned, let alone before Mark was set to paper. He probably never even claimed to be the son of God.



Maybe humanity can one day stop clinging to concepts.

Until then, I guess myths from millennium past will continue to be fought-over "Truths."

Merry Christmas!

 

Okay.

(Is this where I'm supposed to work up a lather over people not believing? That's cute.)

 

Can anyone refer the best book on the historical Jesus?

 

Two things to keep in mind: This is not in my wheelhouse beyond my personal beliefs and I am trying to not turn this into an Everyperson's Guide to Anglican Tenets. Other people here might be able to point you to better resources.

Reza Aslan's The Zealot is an interesting place to start. Aslan put together a portrait of Jesus based on other people's research, but he's done so in a way that creates a clear image of the Christ historians and theologians see. It's a decent gateway to whichever area of scholarship ultimately appeals.

The Gospel of St. Luke and Acts of the Apostles were written by Luke years after Christ died. Some theologians maintain that Luke went to the places Christ lived and taught and talked to those who knew him. I have a soft spot for Luke because he was a scientist, the patron saint of artists, and it seems might have also been an historian/folklorist of sorts. His are the most readable of the Gospels. If you're going to dig into the story of Jesus, you need to read the source material as well as the attendant scholarship.

Thomas Cahill's Desire of the Everlasting Hills is a fun look at the world Jesus lived in and how things were changing at the time. He makes a few stretches, but most of his ideas are pretty sound.

 

Is that the same as how current sources revealed?

 

Absolutely correct.

Thanks, Guy. I was being glib in response to what I took to be a glib "What are God's pronouns?" question.

 

Glib is all make-believe deserves.

 

Whether or not God exists is unanswerable.

Religion exists.

 

The glibness of God's pronouns had nothing to do with religion.

 

But yes, religion is real.

 

Oscar, thank you as usual for your thoughtful reply.

We probably have more proof of the existence of Jesus of Nazareth than we do that of Bonaparte.

I'm OK with not having to prove the divinity to guys like Songbird if we are ever able to further flesh out his earthly life. I want to know about Jesus the man.

 

I think the Jeffersonian Jesus - the redacted, not-miraculous Jesus - is such an interesting and very American reading of the bible.