WHAT CAN WE BELIEVE?

“Jesus and The Good Life” Part 1

“Jesus Seminar” scholar John Dominic Crossan asks these questions regarding the Jesus of history: “what did the historical Jesus do and say in the late 20’s of that first common-era (AD) century that made some people say, ‘He is a criminal; we must execute him,’ and others say, ‘He is divine; we must follow him.’? How would people look at the same Jesus and judge so divergently?” How would you answer these questions?

In his book, Jesus Before Christianity, Albert Nolan says that as Jesus understood it, Satan ruled the world. “This was evident not only in the sufferings of the poor and the oppressed and in the power which evil spirits had over them; it was also evident in the hypocrisy, heartlessness and blindness of the religious leaders…and in the merciless avarice and oppression of the ruling classes.” For Jesus, Satan is the spirit that rules the world. “Jesus condemned all the political and social structures of the world as it was in his day. They were all evil. They all belonged to Satan.”

What would Jesus say of the political and social structures of today? Would he think it possible to compromise with them to enjoy “the good life”? Would he advocate revolution in our time in favor of the poor, the oppressed, the exploited? Why? Why not?

In his book, Jesus – A New Vision, “Jesus Seminar” organizer Marcus Borg says Jesus challenged the status quo of the ruling classes – political, religious and economic opportunity and equality for the poor, and the breakdown of barriers between classes, races and gender. Borg says Jesus “was not simply a victim, but one who provocatively challenged the ethos of his day. He was killed because he sought, in the name and power of the spirit, the transformation of his own culture. He issued a call for a relationship in the God that would lead to a new ethos and thus a new politics. For that goal he gave his life, even though his death was not his primary intention.”

Do you agree with Borg? Why? Why not? Would Jesus make a similar stance in our time? Would our culture also put him to death?