Historical Jesus

I just read in the newspaper about a convicted perjurer, Jeffrey Archer, who has written a book called, “The Gospel According to Judas”. I wonder if I am the only one that thinks that is funny.

The article went on to say that that the book was co-written with Francis Moloney, a top theologian for the Vatican. So that is where the credibility comes from, I suppose.

The article says that 3 of Jesus miracle stories were left out because it is not generally believed that these particular miracles happened and that they were added later as the story grew.

This article raises several issues for many people. Did the writers of Holy Scripture add a bit? What does that mean for a divinely inspired book? Was it then solely written by humans? Many of these issues are discussed during the study theology. I have my own way through this mess. Not that my view is correct but it works for me.

There are 4 Gospels included in what we have as the Bible. Four written from different times places and people and all having a bit of a different slant because of the context that they were written from. As people this is how we are. News from the tunnel fire in Melbourne is an example. I have seen interviews of several people, all interviewed were in the tunnel but there are differences in their story based on where in the tunnel they were and what was important to them.

Because people are this way does not mean that God did not have a hand in what they saw and recorded. God is amazing that way and inspired people from where they were to write what they saw, in their words, according to their memories. So this means the result may not be exactly historic but the result is what God intended. And we ended up with three miracles recorded that may not have happened but since the miracles are there we can learn about God from them as well.

I am not sure leaving them out benefits the story. Do we want the Bible to be historical for history sake or for the sake of God’s message?

I may read the book at some stage when I have time but until then I am confident that I have just what I need for now.

My daughter Mia added, (we were talking as I wrote this)
“There are two points of view. In a historical sense, people want to know Jesus’ true life, so then the Bible itself is not sufficient. For religion alone, have the stories as they are benefit us because it may give us more insight into God and God’s purpose; something that we can relate to in a religious sense.”