Jesus Seminar

Why Is This News? pt.2

Last week I saw this story on the interweb.

'Basic Instinct' Director Paul Verhoeven: Jesus Was Son of Mary and Roman Rapist

And of course it gets headlines. To save you from reading it, here it is in a nutshell. Paul Verhoeven has spent 20 years researching a book, Jesus of Nazareth: A Realistic Portrait, so that he can gin up some interest and hopefully make a movie about Jesus.

Since he’s a director and has a couple of hit movies under his belt, people care what he has to say. But here’s the deal.  In his 20 years of study he has learned nothing. But he cannot accept the idea of a miracle so he makes something up. In this case, he says Jesus may have been the result of a rape. Also apparently Judas didn’t betray Jesus.

Every so often I like to write posts like this, and they all have the same theme. You may remember a few weeks ago a story about MosesSome scholar cannot buy into the idea of miracles so he makes something up. This is the same thing. Verhoeven apparently has no real reason to believe this except that he doesn’t want to. If you go back to the Jesus Seminar where he gets his ideas you will find that their view of Jesus excludes all miracles and deny all quotes where He talks about himself or eternity. Per wikipedia:

The seminar's reconstruction of Jesus portrays him as an itinerant Hellenistic Jewish sage who did not die as a substitute for sinners nor rise from the dead, but preached a "social gospel" in startling parables and aphorisms…

Why do people who insist on denying every major Christian doctrine also insist on calling themselves Christian? I think it is dishonest. They deny literally the very core of Christianity, the atonement. Why not just come up with a new title and be honest about who they are.  I believe it is because Christ is so appealing that even those who don't follow Him, or in this case don't believe in Him, or believe in a false version of Him, still want to be associated.

I can't blame them for that.  I came to belief in Christ around 25 years ago, and it is the best thing that ever happened to me.