Jesus Interrupted (review by Cern)

[cernowain]

When I brought Bart D. Ehrman’s book Jesus Interrupted to share with my male coffee clutch friends, the title of the book evoked in them the impression that Jesus practiced an old traditional (and unreliable) birth control technique called coitus interruptus, with Jesus having to stop before finishing the job, so to speak.  For some reason, they

Comments

[beldar]

As I like to say, my God is too big to be bound into a book. I need to find this book -- hopefully the library has a copy. I don't mind reading challenging things -- I just finished Jeffrey Archer's "Gospel According to Judas, by Benjamin Iscariot" and I really liked "The Gospel According to the Son" which seem to resonate with a lot of Biblical truth even though they are nowhere near canon.

It is a little disappointing that the author can be dismissed as a non-believer, or that after opening his mind, it slams shut (possibly erring in the opposite direction from those who refuse to accept and confront the contradictions).

I don't know why, after all I've heard and read, I'm still a Christian. It's just that on some level at some point I grokked it, and that kernel of Jesus stayed stuck with me. I constantly try to divine what actually is divine and right in the example of Christ and other followers of God.

[cernowain]

I think you'll enjoy reading the book. I've read the Judas Gospel but not any books about it. I imagine it was the Gnostic Christian's response to the scapegoating of Judas that is done in the canonical Gospels, giving Judas an honored role in helping fulfill the divine plan. If only it had been preserved and at least critiqued, perhaps centuries of antiJudaism and antisemitism that was based on the Judas betrayer/scapegoat role could have been averted.

Re: Ehrman's "non-believer" status, yes, its unfortunate that some Christians won't hear him out. But I also think its sad that Ehrman is stuck, not being able to work out his faith. He admits in the book that other colleages of his who are NT scholars are believers, but he can't make that leap.

Beldar, I think it is commendable that your faith is still alive and works for you, and that you are also intellectually open. That is a powerful combination.

bb,

Cern

[virginia_fell]

In my opinion, this admission unfortunately undercuts the credibility of Ehrman to make the argument at hand. Why listen to an agnostic ex-believer’s invitation for Christians to focus on the Bible’s contradictions? Why follow the path of someone would ended up leaving the faith?

I think you've just summed up the aversion a lot of Christians have to learning in general. Becoming worldly and educated causes people to forget their good God-given bellyfeel common sense (aka the unquestioned assumptions drilled into them by people who want those assumptions to remain unquestioned).

I think you hit it on the head there. Why learn about the Bible at all? The Evangelical movement (as opposed to more Liturgical approaches) is all about "feeling" Jesus. I don't know a single non-theologian Christian anywhere who really cares to know what's been said about him.

[cernowain]

Many of the evangelical leaders and their people I meet have conflated their own personal/cultural views with Biblical teachings to the point where they can't tell them apart. So, they really don't know the Bible separate from their own biases. The "feeling" Jesus which you refer to doesn't have anything to do with the historical Jesus or even with the Jesus(es) of the Gospels.

That's why I think books like Ehrman's are important, because they challenge a faith based on the "feeling" Jesus. And I think they may be few, but those seeking a deeper faith (usually because their "feeling" level of faith no longer helps them deal with life's brutal realities) are drawn to read these books.

Also, Ehrman's books are popular among those liturgical/mainline Sunday School groups that read. Hopefully _Jesus Interrupted_ will keep them from being Bible thumpers.

bb,

Cern

[lucretiasheart]

NICELY presented!

"As someone who follows a Pagan path, this book makes me think about my own journey out of Christianity. It shows the pitfalls of having a "holy book" that cannot be questioned. But we don't need a "book" to get stuck in an old mindset that doesn't re-examine our traditions. We need to be continually open to the future, to new ideas, to doing things in new ways. Learning to adapt to changes has been one of the strengths of the Pagan movement that I hope we never lose."

so mote it be!

[cernowain]

Lurcretiasheart,

Thanks!

blessed be,

Cern