Reading the Gospels

An email from Spong's website. I found this interesting and the last paragraph insightful. I am curious if those of you doing Jesus and the Gospels on Thursdays would agree with the last paragraph.

SteveBull, via the Internet, writes:

Thanks for your scholarship, which has opened my eyes to much about Jesus. I've read a number of your books and struggle to find the "hermeneutical key" that tells me how to decide what Jesus really said and did and what was read back into his life from later tradition. Do I turn to the Jesus Seminar people for that (The Five Gospels)? Or can you refer me to one of your books? I remember reading in your work that there's enough original/historical material in the gospels for one to find Jesus, but how do you know what's what?

Dear Steve,
Only those who have a divinity degree (M.Div.), as you do, would ask for the "hermeneutical key" to the gospels. That is a foreign language in today's world.

The problem with your question is that you assume some part of the gospels must be active recordings of Jesus' words and deeds, so you seek to separate the authentic from the unauthentic. I think that puts you into a "fundamentalist/minimalist" camp. Let me propose a different approach.

Take all of the gospels seriously. Take none of them literally. I am convinced they are written about the experience people had with the historical figure Jesus of Nazareth. They are written, however, two to three generations after the life of Jesus came to an end and in a language that neither Jesus nor his disciples could speak or write. So none of them can be regarded as literally accurate, but all of them serve the purpose of allowing you and me to gain insight into the meaning of this Jesus by examining the interpretative portrait that each gospel writer painted about Jesus.

The gospels are also not independent sources, since Mark was the first and Matthew incorporated about 90 percent of Mark into his gospel and Luke incorporated about 50 percent of Mark into his. John alone reveals no dependency on Mark, and indeed counters Mark at a number of places: Jesus was not actually baptized by John the Baptist, for example, the cleansing of the Temple occurred early in Jesus' ministry and not during the last week and the Last Supper was not the Passover. John does appear to have some affinity for Luke's gospel.
My recommendation is that you study them in their historical order (Mark about 70-72, Matthew about 82-85, Luke about 88-93 and John about 95-100). When studying the first three and recognizing the dependency of both Matthew and Luke, note what these two gospels leave out of Mark and ask why. Note what they add to Mark and ask why.

Read them as interpretive portraits and not as objective photographs. Do not ask "Did this really happen?" but rather ask "What was there about Jesus that caused people to think it appropriate to portray him as having power over nature, over sickness and over death?" The Five Gospels by Robert Funk and Roy Hoover is good, but not interpretive. The book of mine that I would recommend is Liberating the Gospels: Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes. I hope this helps.
– John Shelby Spong

The Battle for God - Preface/Introduction

I am eager to dive into this text and discuss not only Armstrong's perspective, but also look at fundamentalism with some objectivity. I like the idea that we will not only look at Christian fundamentalism, but Muslim and Jewish as well. There are too many world events - and local activity if we are honest - that arise out of a result to fundamentalism.

I want to hightlight a snippet of Eddie's perspective,

"The book on fundamentalism we're reading ties into this because the opposite of critcal inquiry is dogmatism - ignorance - which is injurious to all of us and has afflicted all societies and religions from time immemorial."

I hold the impression that "dogmatism" is not only ignorance, but a belief held by a person or group which is not open to any criticism. A dogmatic person may see a different perspective and may see it's logic, but the belief is held in spite with such vigor and passion. Hence, no discourse exists and if it does, then it becomes a battle for power and influence. Scripture evens tells us that passion wins over logic in some instances.

Now, where is that balance?

Thoughts?

The Book of Amos

Jim Hoggard will be teaching the book of Amos during the Living the Questions Sunday School class on January 18 and January 25, 2009. Please read Amos and if you would like some additional reading for Amos, please don't hesitate to email me at michael_paris@hotmail.com for a PDF copy.

I encourage everyone to share thoughts about your reading and hopefully responses to Mr. Hoggard's insight.

NOVA - Bibles Buried Secrets Link

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bible/program.html

Welcome! Take your time and give attention to each chapter of the BBS series. You will notice topic headings for each chapter. Your ideas and opinions are what will make this study beneficial for all participants. Don't hesitate to email me at michael_paris@hotmail.com if I can offer any assistance.

Chapter 1 - Merneptah Stele

Pharaohs:
In 1896 the Merneptah Stele is discovered. Pay attention to which pharaoh is associated to stele. Then pay attention to the father of the pharaoh. Please feel free to comment on the significance.

1208 BC:
What are your thougts regarding this date in relevance to bible history as you know it and what archeology may imply.

Belief in one God:
As suggested, are the Israelites the source for a belief in one God?

Chapter 2 - Who Wrote the Bible?

Synopsis between the commonly understood Old Testament author Moses and the theory of 4 writers or contibutors. Is corroboration for the Old Testament important? Moving away from the notion of "fact" or "fiction" but the question is "who wrote the Torah?"

Chapter 3 - The Exodus

How has the discovery of a Hebrew alphabet impact our understanding of the Exodus story?

Chapter 4 - The Canaanite Cities

...and the walls came tumbling down.

Chapter 5 - Israelite Origins

Chapter 6 - The Search for YHWH

Chapter 7 - House of David

Chapter 8 - Archeological Methods

Chapter 9 - Architectural Evidence

Chapter 10 - Ideas About Worship

Chapter 11 - The Birth of Judaism

Chapter 12 - Sacred Scrolls

Chapter 13 - The Bible Today

NOVA - Bible's Buried Secrets Link

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bible/program.html

Feel free to blog about BBS before Sunday school class on Jan 4, 2009.