Posted by Writers Festival on March 28, 2008, 3:03 pm
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Jesus in His Own Words
The Jesus Sayings: The Quest for his Authentic Message by Rex Weyler. House of Anansi Press;
Toronto, Ontario, 2008. (370 pages). Reviewed by Donald R. Officer.
On what basis should the world’s most successful religion (in terms of organized numbers at least) be founded? Christianity, unlike Judaism, as Barrie Wilson argues in How Jesus Became Christian, is not primarily a tradition of oral teaching and written authority nor is it like ancient mystery religions dependent on a fanciful weave of mythological tales. To be sure, there are elements of both approaches in the New Testament, the liturgy and the proselytizing documents of the early centuries of the faith. For others then and now, belief depends on acceptance of revelation, plain and simple.
Rex Weyler, a co-founder of Greenpeace International and biblical scholar looks to another plausible basis for the authority of Jesus – his core teachings themselves. His task was made both easier and harder by a century of surprising discovery and new more rigorous study. Although there were hints of excluded gospels, epistles etc. in the critical writings of early church fathers and commentators, textual examination has since determined substantial fragments of writings by Thomas, Mary Magdalene and others close to the historical Jesus are in some sense, authentic. As well there are references in the works of Gnostic writers, and a few scant remarks among the Jewish scholars of the period that also merit consideration.
The linguistic and archaeological tools of our times and the concerted, rigorous efforts of the “Jesus Seminar” as well as those of independent scholars including Albert Schweitzer have yielded a more modest, but rather more credible version of the message of Jesus Christ than that proffered by the revisionism of the familiar gospel writers. Weyler also tries to present us with a more authentic portrait unretouched by the unmistakable hand of Saint Paul, the leading propagandist of the new faith. The record actually shows Paul had little to say about Jesus’ message regarding the narrow road to righteousness or the ultimately painful events of his brief life on earth. Paul generally preferred to emphasize the importance of believing in his contemporary, whom he personally never met in the flesh, as savior. One could flat out argue that, however visionary he may have been, Paul was also an extraordinary salesman.
Unlike some commentators however, this author does not believe in an academically naïve Jesus. Although Jesus was almost certainly illiterate, with all of what he said being recorded more or less directly from the vernacular Aramaic by disciples or witnesses, derived from later interviews or gathered from anecdotes, the sophisticated psychology and resonance with other traditions of his core sayings indicates a powerful, distinctive personality familiar with the greater world. Even in the most presumably authentic sayings of Jesus are echoes of wisdom from many ancient traditions and teachers. These include sentiments familiar among Buddhists, Hindus, Confucionists, Zoroastrians and Egyptians as well as Jewish teachers like Hillel.
Take away the polemical revisionism of later centuries or obvious plants in the form of ancient prophetic references and there remain clear strains or refrains that Weyler is convinced represent the genuine Jesus. The evidence for this core teaching appears to be sufficiently triangulated and its tone so notably distinguishable even from the meld of Judaism and Hellenism that also informs what Jesus probably said, that the author of The Jesus Sayings confidently repeats differently sourced versions of this digest to help extrapolate his interpretation.
The following may be the earliest summary of what Jesus wished to convey to the world. It is a particularly compelling and succinct version of his message:
Look within and out into the world.
Commit fully, now.
Remain humble.
Don’t worry about your comfort.
Act on your knowledge.
Speak out, teach others.
Be generous.
Be merciful.
Heal the sick.
Love everybody, not just family and friends.
And announce the divine kingdom.
Otherwise, avoid rules and the rulers who enforce them. (p.125-6)
There is something to be said for a system so radically grounded in right behavior plain and simple. Considering the cosmology and society of the times, the promise of life eternal, the notion of a virgin birth, a resurrection, miracles, healing by touch, indeed the entire framework of fulfilled law and prophetic consummation seem like reasonable accompaniments to powerful ideas that could and still do change lives. Cynics have always dismissed the magical and supernatural elements of the biblical narratives as self-serving superstition. However, given the pre-scientific sensibility of the ancient world, that is probably a harsh judgment.
Weyler like many full time modern Jesus scholars has painstakingly separated the historical from the mythical. As Barrie Wilson has concluded in How Jesus Became Christian, this author is also confident that the central figure of Christianity would never have regarded himself as a Christian. We do not really need a mountain of scholarship to reach similar conclusions. Modernity or post modernity over determine this kind of reconfiguration among all but the most steadfastly devout. When we see the cover story on last week’s Maclean’s Magazine, “Jesus has an identity crisis” we need not anticipate another round of earthquakes in Jerusalem.
Weyler seems closer to appreciating what Jesus has to offer the world than Wilson. Jesus’ dynamic message really looks like a significant departure from the scrupulous rigidity of the Torah. I do not believe Wilson makes the case that Jesus was basically another nice Jewish boy trying to understand his roots. Can we, however, still accept a Christ as savior of the world or is that just too magical for our times? Is it furthermore a superfluous addition to an already profound enough spiritual message as Weyler suggests? Should we try to reconfigure the mythical dimension of the Jesus story as Tom Harpur would have us do? Is it so extraordinary that such big ideas are being pondered by Canadians or are we just being typically over modest?
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