Have just read Jesus by A.N. Wilson. WARNING! This review could damage your faith!! This book looks at Jesus the man rather than the one from ‘Christian mythology’ (Wilson's words, not mine). The author writes from a sceptical viewpoint of Christianity and it is indeed a challenge to those who believe. It was certainly a challenge to me and this came as quite a shock because (a) the book wasn’t what I expected and (b) I’ve read challenging books in the past.
Some of what I read wasn’t new to me and having studied a Certificate Course in Biblical and Theological Studies I was certainly not blinkered in my approach (that was knocked out of me on the course which was perhaps the first shake up of my faith!) but there are new ideas put forward here and though it was unnerving I had to continue to the end. For those who are sceptical they will say this is the proof they were looking for, but proof it isn’t, it just leads to more questions.
Wilson looks at the gospel stories and what is known from historical records and the first one is the ‘Christmas Story’ quoted in Luke and Matthew. Luke says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the reign of Herod at the universal census commanded by Caesar Augusta when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Wilson says that Quirinius was never governor during that period and Herod’s reign was from 37BCE until 4BCE, meaning that Herod was already dead when Jesus was supposed to have been born. Wilson also suggests that the early Christian church probably never knew of the ‘virginal birth story’ – and I would go along with that (Mark and John never mention it). You have to remember that the gospels were written long after Jesus died, after the book known as Acts in New Testament, when it was realised that Jesus wasn’t returning in the lifetime of the disciples and others who knew him. If an account wasn’t written, soon what Jesus said and did would be lost.
It is thought by scholars that Mark's was the first gospel, possibly written around 70AD and John’s as late as 90AD. So you can see that the earliest gospel was written about 40 years after Jesus died. Nothing had been written down, it was all word of mouth, but that is not to say there is no truth in it. I know from the course I took that just because a book of the Bible has an author’s name, it does not mean that person wrote it. Like any kind of writing things were ‘played up’, to make certain people look good – propaganda, in other words. In one book ‘written by Moses’ (Old Testament) he writes about his own death and burial. He could not have written that. The gospels in the New Testament were written for different ‘audiences’, some for Jews, some for Gentiles and for different purposes – a different way to portray who Jesus was. Mark’s is the shortest gospel, Matthew and Luke borrowed some of his material and added other bits. John’s is the spiritual story. It has also been suggested (and not just by A.N. Wilson) that the gospels were written to fit in with the ‘church year’ and also to show how the Old Testament prophesy was fulfilled.
Again (on my course) I learnt how a Bible reading can be misleading. At Christmas we hear Handel’s excerpt from the Messiah ‘Unto us a Child is Born’ which is taken from Isaiah Chapter 9. Verse 6 reads: ‘For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders, and he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace’. Somewhere else in Isaiah (if I remember correctly) there is also writing about the ‘suffering servant’. These two passages have been quoted in the New Testament (and we celebrate them as Christmas and Easter) but these passages were never meant to be read this way. They were written about Israel and their exile in Babylon. They were warnings of what would happen because God’s people had turned away from God. I must say this came as a blow to me at the time (The Messiah will never be the same!) but it is so easy for the Bible to be quoted out of context. Wilson in his book is saying this and there may indeed be some truth in it.
That Jesus existed is undoubtedly true. History confirms this from various writings but the things Jesus did were quite common at that time. He would have been seen as just one of many magicians who cast out demons and healed the sick and there were many prophets too. Some of the points Wilson raises have rankled with me too over the years, such as in Matthew when after Jesus’ death the graves of the dead open and they rose up and walked around the city. If that happened how come nothing else is written about it? Then there’s the trial, who wrote that account, none of the disciples were there in the room, they had all deserted him. Only Peter remained and he was in the courtyard. Who wrote the account of Jesus in the garden at Gethsemane? While Jesus was praying all the disciples were asleep! Wilson also suggests that Jesus did not institute the Eucharist. Jesus was a Jew and had not come to abolish the Law (Jewish Law) but to fulfil it. Wilson also has a lot to say about Paul, far too much for me to discuss here, but basically he is saying that Paul instituted Christianity (I am well aware that Paul and Peter had a major disagreement about Christians and Jews) and Wilson also suggests that Paul did actually meet Jesus and may have been the soldier whose ear was cut when Jesus was arrested. None of this can be proved and there is a lot more in this book which Wilson stirs up including who Jesus thought he was (basically a prophet.)
This book has, for me, raised a lot of questions and made me think about Christianity still further. I always like to debate things and I have an open mind to all religions. Like most things, the more you know the more you realise how much you don’t know!
Sorry if this has been too heavy going. I'm off for a more light-hearted read now, I think!!
Some of what I read wasn’t new to me and having studied a Certificate Course in Biblical and Theological Studies I was certainly not blinkered in my approach (that was knocked out of me on the course which was perhaps the first shake up of my faith!) but there are new ideas put forward here and though it was unnerving I had to continue to the end. For those who are sceptical they will say this is the proof they were looking for, but proof it isn’t, it just leads to more questions.
Wilson looks at the gospel stories and what is known from historical records and the first one is the ‘Christmas Story’ quoted in Luke and Matthew. Luke says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the reign of Herod at the universal census commanded by Caesar Augusta when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Wilson says that Quirinius was never governor during that period and Herod’s reign was from 37BCE until 4BCE, meaning that Herod was already dead when Jesus was supposed to have been born. Wilson also suggests that the early Christian church probably never knew of the ‘virginal birth story’ – and I would go along with that (Mark and John never mention it). You have to remember that the gospels were written long after Jesus died, after the book known as Acts in New Testament, when it was realised that Jesus wasn’t returning in the lifetime of the disciples and others who knew him. If an account wasn’t written, soon what Jesus said and did would be lost.
It is thought by scholars that Mark's was the first gospel, possibly written around 70AD and John’s as late as 90AD. So you can see that the earliest gospel was written about 40 years after Jesus died. Nothing had been written down, it was all word of mouth, but that is not to say there is no truth in it. I know from the course I took that just because a book of the Bible has an author’s name, it does not mean that person wrote it. Like any kind of writing things were ‘played up’, to make certain people look good – propaganda, in other words. In one book ‘written by Moses’ (Old Testament) he writes about his own death and burial. He could not have written that. The gospels in the New Testament were written for different ‘audiences’, some for Jews, some for Gentiles and for different purposes – a different way to portray who Jesus was. Mark’s is the shortest gospel, Matthew and Luke borrowed some of his material and added other bits. John’s is the spiritual story. It has also been suggested (and not just by A.N. Wilson) that the gospels were written to fit in with the ‘church year’ and also to show how the Old Testament prophesy was fulfilled.
Again (on my course) I learnt how a Bible reading can be misleading. At Christmas we hear Handel’s excerpt from the Messiah ‘Unto us a Child is Born’ which is taken from Isaiah Chapter 9. Verse 6 reads: ‘For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders, and he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace’. Somewhere else in Isaiah (if I remember correctly) there is also writing about the ‘suffering servant’. These two passages have been quoted in the New Testament (and we celebrate them as Christmas and Easter) but these passages were never meant to be read this way. They were written about Israel and their exile in Babylon. They were warnings of what would happen because God’s people had turned away from God. I must say this came as a blow to me at the time (The Messiah will never be the same!) but it is so easy for the Bible to be quoted out of context. Wilson in his book is saying this and there may indeed be some truth in it.
That Jesus existed is undoubtedly true. History confirms this from various writings but the things Jesus did were quite common at that time. He would have been seen as just one of many magicians who cast out demons and healed the sick and there were many prophets too. Some of the points Wilson raises have rankled with me too over the years, such as in Matthew when after Jesus’ death the graves of the dead open and they rose up and walked around the city. If that happened how come nothing else is written about it? Then there’s the trial, who wrote that account, none of the disciples were there in the room, they had all deserted him. Only Peter remained and he was in the courtyard. Who wrote the account of Jesus in the garden at Gethsemane? While Jesus was praying all the disciples were asleep! Wilson also suggests that Jesus did not institute the Eucharist. Jesus was a Jew and had not come to abolish the Law (Jewish Law) but to fulfil it. Wilson also has a lot to say about Paul, far too much for me to discuss here, but basically he is saying that Paul instituted Christianity (I am well aware that Paul and Peter had a major disagreement about Christians and Jews) and Wilson also suggests that Paul did actually meet Jesus and may have been the soldier whose ear was cut when Jesus was arrested. None of this can be proved and there is a lot more in this book which Wilson stirs up including who Jesus thought he was (basically a prophet.)
This book has, for me, raised a lot of questions and made me think about Christianity still further. I always like to debate things and I have an open mind to all religions. Like most things, the more you know the more you realise how much you don’t know!
Sorry if this has been too heavy going. I'm off for a more light-hearted read now, I think!!
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