What's the problem with Jesus?
I'm immensely enjoying listening to and reading N.T. Wright. I've just finished "The Challenge of Jesus" which looks at the quest for the historical Jesus and then puts Jesus firmly in his context as a first-century Palestinian Jew. In this resource from Emergent UK, he talks about why it is necessary to study Jesus in his historical context (it's way more interesting than it sounds!). He is an intelligent and engaging speaker who is challenging me to go back to the Scriptures.
- Roger Saner's blog
- 515 reads
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Six ways to leave your Lover
As a little teaser for those who have not yet listened - my imperfect notes…
NT Wright discusses six “big picture” distractions that gets in the way of discovering the real Jesus:
1. The misunderstanding of historical figures and timelines by today's people which reduces the reality of Jesus as an historical figure - he was real and He is real.
2. The upsurge in syncretistic or agnostic pop religions which make mere self-discovery the objective of life
3. The impact of the Holocaust making us want to find a Jesus who will not cause further offence
4. Jesus is often rejected as an implicit part of colonialism - or turned into a revolutionary figure against colonialism - both caricatures which obscure his character
5. The desire to discover the previously repressed but now rediscovered voices on the margin that will reveal to "those in the know" a more exciting way of being a Christian - in the process reducing Jesus to the charismatic teller of love stories and aphorisms (and conveniently providing a "reason" for us not being better in the first place?! We didn't know... It wasn't our fault...)
6. The church is scared of the academic discipline of history and prefers the packaged and processed Jesus of the liturgy
Aaaah - this is such fun!
More on NT Wright who is Bishop of Durham in the Anglican Church at http://www.ntwrightpage.com/
Factoid: He was a member of the Lambeth Commission set up to deal with controversies that emerged following Episcopal Church in the United States of America's ordination of a practising homosexual as bishop, and Wright is the senior member from the Church of England. (Source: Wikipedia)
Thanks Roger - once again a blessing to me!
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