08-09-2008, 01:10 AM
Vermes's latest book is essentially a commentary on every word ascribed to Jesus by Matthew, Mark and Luke. It reaffirms the conclusion of his earlier New Testament works - <b>that Christianity rests on a colossal mistake.</b> The carpenter's son from Nazareth performed exorcisms, healed the sick and preached the coming of the Kingdom of God. <b>But he had no message for the Gentiles, still less any urge to found a universal church. </b>He belonged solidly within his Jewish milieu, and his downfall resulted only from an act of prophetic zeal. "He caused a fracas in the merchants' quarter in the Temple a few days before Passover," Vermes writes.
"The nervous priestly authorities ... sensed danger, and feared that the disorder might start a rebellion ... Pilate, notorious for his cruelty, did not hesitate to put to death the 'king of the Jews', whom he believed to be an insurgent ... Jesus expired on a Roman cross and was buried. But his disciples saw him in repeated visions, which persuaded them that he had been raised from the dead before ascending to heaven."
It follows from this that historic Christianity must have come from elsewhere. Vermes sees the true source of doctrinal development in the writings of St Paul. When the Jewish roots of the gospel were transplanted into foreign soil through Paul's mission, a human prophet addressing a local audience was recast as a divine redeemer for all humanity.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/dec/2...education.news2
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The more the nails in the missionary's coffin, the merrier the Christmas we celebrate.
"The nervous priestly authorities ... sensed danger, and feared that the disorder might start a rebellion ... Pilate, notorious for his cruelty, did not hesitate to put to death the 'king of the Jews', whom he believed to be an insurgent ... Jesus expired on a Roman cross and was buried. But his disciples saw him in repeated visions, which persuaded them that he had been raised from the dead before ascending to heaven."
It follows from this that historic Christianity must have come from elsewhere. Vermes sees the true source of doctrinal development in the writings of St Paul. When the Jewish roots of the gospel were transplanted into foreign soil through Paul's mission, a human prophet addressing a local audience was recast as a divine redeemer for all humanity.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/dec/2...education.news2
---
The more the nails in the missionary's coffin, the merrier the Christmas we celebrate.