I've noted a number of times the ongoing gyrations amongst the far right Christianists in response to the fact that human genome research has proven that the Adam and Eve of the Bible did not exist. That's right, they were not historic individuals who really existed. The implications for the Christian storyline are earth shattering: no Adam and Eve, no fall, no need for a resurrected Messiah. A new cat fight among biblical scholars involves the question of whether or not Jesus really existed. In "Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth," New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman - I've read a number of his books - comes to the conclusion that there was a historical Jesus. Beyond his historical existence, however, the rest of the Christian story line - that Jesus was the son of God or divine in any way, was born of a virgin or resurrected, or is the way to salvation - remains unconfirmed and open to debate. At least from a hard, factual historical basis. Here are highlights from Huffington Post on Ehrman's book and the debate:
For years, nonbelievers rejoiced at the publication of a new book by New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman, relishing the professor's pugnacious attacks on the cherished beliefs of evangelical Christians.But in his latest offering, the University of North Carolina historian and author of such provocative titles as "Misquoting Jesus," "Forged," and "Jesus Interrupted," targets the very crowd that formed the bulk of his audience.
In "Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth," Ehrman soundly refutes the arguments -- sometimes made by atheists, agnostics and humanists -- that early storytellers invented Jesus.
Ehrman, an agnostic, convincingly demonstrates in clear, forceful prose that there was a historical Jesus, a Jewish teacher of the first century who was crucified by Pontius Pilate.
The fact that Ehrman is siding with Christians on the historical truth of Jesus does not indicate a change of heart, much less a conversion. Instead, he said, it's an attempt to say, "history matters."
Ehrman points out that only about 3 percent of Jews in Jesus' time were literate, and Romans never kept detailed records. (Decades after Jesus' crucifixion, three Roman writers mention Jesus in passing, as does the Jewish historian Josephus.) Though the Gospel accounts are biased, they cannot be discounted as non-historical. As for Jesus being a Jewish version of the pagan dying and rising god, Ehrman shows that there is no evidence the Jews of Jesus' day worshipped pagan gods. If anything, Jesus was deeply rooted in Jewish, rather than Roman, traditions.
While the Jewish tradition of the 1st century did not worship pagan gods, the traditions of death and resurrection gods and goddesses long predated the time of Jesus and included among others the cult of Isis and Osiris, Mithras and others. Indeed, the cult of Mithras was extremely popular among the ranks of the Roman legions during the time of Christ. I don't deny that Christ existed. I do question as to what the truth is about his ministry and his death and resurrection. Given that the Bible is 100% wrong on the issue of Adam and Eve and the leadership of the Catholic Church has shown its willingness to rewrite history to suit its agenda, I often believe that we will never know the real truth.
2 comments:
Comment Part 1
Michael, a post all Christians should read.
It might surprise you to know that speaking as a Christian, the fact that Adam and Eve did not actually exist as the Bible portrays it has no implications whatsoever for true Christians whose faith is more than just the recitation of myths and conjecture.
For true Christians, Christ is not a character in a book falsely labeled as "Holy," but rather a living, spirit within us for guidance, comfort and the motivation to serve others.
I might further point out that according to the latest scientific information I have read, I believe scientists who study the history of man, more precisely the history and genetic markers of women, have concluded that indeed there was an Eve. In fact there were somewhere between 3 and 6 of them and all living humans can be genetically traced back to one of this few women.
As a thoughtful Christian, I have always considered the creation of the earth as having been spoken into existence by God in six days as more akin to a cheap magician's trick that an event worthy of the God of the universe.
Much more amazing as an act of the God of the universe is that the universe has been unfolding and creating itself for billions of years and that it all can be represented and explained mathematically, at least up to our present level of scientific and mathematical expertise. That everything we can see in the universe exploded into being from a pinpoint "big bang" speaks of a powerful and awesome God (force).
In the end, whether my fundamental Christian brothers and sisters will admit it or not, we are all Christian agnostics and honest and thoughtful atheists (and I know a few such people) also have to admit that they too are agnostic for neither they nor I can truly know if there is God as we perceive him or not perceive him as the case may be.
Comment Part 2
God exists, or does not exist, as a matter of faith - not certainty.
Albert Einstein had one of the greatest scientific minds that man has yet known. Einstein was an agnostic. Yet even he said, "I am of the opinion that all the finer speculations in the realm of science spring from a deep religious feeling, and that without such feeling they would not be fruitful."
Of God himself, he had this to say, "I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon. In the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thought, the rest are details."
Adam and Eve are mere details, so is the virgin birth, so is the nature of the atonement, so even is the resurrection we celebrate as Christians tomorrow. None of these things actually matter at all. They are merely topics of conjecture.
We need know only one thing, The universe has been and is being created. There is a corner within it that is quite benevolent to man and perhaps millions of other corners which are also benevolent to other cogent beings who call themselves by other names and ponder what they refer to as God.
All that has been and is being created has a creator. That creator could be and in fact must essentially be God to us. While there are evils within this world, on balance it is a benevolent world filled with millions of people capable of the most astoundingly caring acts. That in and of itself speaks for the possibility of a loving God.
Fundamental Christianity as we know it is doomed. Even fundamental Christians know this in their collective gut. It is why they have become so reactionary to the world about them. They know they are pissing into the wind with their ignorance and rigid dogmas. They have read the back of the book and they know that they loose - not win. Thinking, loving and caring Christians win. Christians who recognize that the details of God's existence are unimportant and certainly not worth fighting over win!
True Christians don't suppose to know the mind of God though, like Einstein, they long to know it and even look forward to knowing it. But for them, for now, a peace that passes that which the world can understand tells them that God in some benevolent form, does exist.
Ponder that God!
Jack Scott
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