Saturday, March 15, 2008

Outside the New Testament, even the simplest facts about Jesus are essentially non-existent

Deepak Chopra Riffs on the Mystery of Jesus from ~C4Chaos by ~C4Chaos
Deepak Chopra is riffing on the mystery of Jesus over at Deepak Chopra and Family blog. Here's his opening salvo.

"A stir was made recently by the documentary film from 'Titanic' director James Cameron that claimed to have found the final resting place of Jesus and his family, and although the evidence presented wasn't satisfying to the vast majority of biblical scholars, the search for the real Jesus has become a preoccupation, even obsession. Modern people want evidence that a wandering rabbi, or teacher, actually preached in northern Galilee two thousand years ago, yet outside the New Testament, even the simplest facts about Jesus are essentially non-existent. This has given rise to a number of contending views: " [read more]

I remember reading books about the historical Jesus when I was still in college. There are lots of theories out there, including Jesus studying in Tibet where he was known as St. Issa. Some of the stories are fascinating while some are considered to be blasphemous by others.
The story of Jesus is only one of the many Bible inconsistencies and contradictions. Most Christians don't read the Bible anyway. So the contradictions and inconsistencies don't matter that much. It's a good pastime for theologians, scholars, and those who believe that the Bible is the word of God -- whatever that means. Personally, I find this bickering irrelevant and a waste of human effort.

I agree with the premise that, even if there was really a historical Jesus then he's already buried under layers of theology. Whatever we read about "the story of Jesus" are nothing but interpretations and propaganda of people who are biased with their own ideologies. So might as well forget about it and treat Jesus as a metaphysical construct and use his teachings and story as metaphors for psycho-spiritual development -- something like Chopra's Third Jesus.
P.S. Serendipitously, Scott Adams is also riffing on Jesus (pronounced "Hay-Soos"). The Holy Week is in the air.

1 comment:

  1. Isnt this completely obvious to anyone who really does their home work?

    And what about the "evidence" contained in the "new" Testament itself?

    Wasnt it ALL put together by the power seeking faction(s) that ruled the church politics of the day/time when the Bible was given its then "official" final form.

    Besides which the Bible is ESSENTIALLY a piece of fictional religious story-telling.

    A form which was then used to persecute and exterminate "heretics", especially those that expressed a more "gnostic" or mystical understanding/appreciation of the archetypal drama(s) described in that book.

    It is/was very difficult to get "gnostics" and mystics interested in the inevitable bloody power politics of EMPIRE.

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