Inventions of the Gospels II
In order to impress potential converts, particularly Jewish ones, Christian missionaries claimed that the life and death of Jesus was a fulfillment of prophecy. As was noted last month, they were not above making up stories to bolster their claims.
One classic example was the alleged birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. He was well known to be from Nazereth, an obscure town. The prophet Micah had foretold that the Great king or Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. To make it appear that Jesus was born there, gospels attributed to Luke and Matthew made up the most absurd and far fetched stories. They invoked such things as a guiding star, the massacre of children by Herod and an empire-wide census ordered by Augustus. None of these tales were ever verified by historical writings or other evidence.
Christians claimed that the crucifixon of Jesus was foretold by Psalm 22 in the Jewish scriptures. The suffering person declares "my god, my god, why have you forsaken me?" He claimed he could count his bones (i.e. the verse seems to refer to a victim of famine not crucifixion). Also, that "evildoers surround me" and others "cast lots over my clothes." Beginning with the earliest canonical gospel, attributed to Mark, Jesus was portrayed in the same situation. He was surrounded by evildoers--the two thieves, who were probably a mere invention, since theft probably wouldn't warrant the death penalty. Likewise, Roman soldiers supposedly cast lots over his clothes. It's highly unlikely they'd be interested in such sweaty, bloodstained garments. And Jesus in the end uttered the "cry of dereliction" of the Psalm. The "My god, my god...." last words were almost certainly put in his mouth just as additional "fulfillment" of prophecy.
One classic example was the alleged birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. He was well known to be from Nazereth, an obscure town. The prophet Micah had foretold that the Great king or Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. To make it appear that Jesus was born there, gospels attributed to Luke and Matthew made up the most absurd and far fetched stories. They invoked such things as a guiding star, the massacre of children by Herod and an empire-wide census ordered by Augustus. None of these tales were ever verified by historical writings or other evidence.
Christians claimed that the crucifixon of Jesus was foretold by Psalm 22 in the Jewish scriptures. The suffering person declares "my god, my god, why have you forsaken me?" He claimed he could count his bones (i.e. the verse seems to refer to a victim of famine not crucifixion). Also, that "evildoers surround me" and others "cast lots over my clothes." Beginning with the earliest canonical gospel, attributed to Mark, Jesus was portrayed in the same situation. He was surrounded by evildoers--the two thieves, who were probably a mere invention, since theft probably wouldn't warrant the death penalty. Likewise, Roman soldiers supposedly cast lots over his clothes. It's highly unlikely they'd be interested in such sweaty, bloodstained garments. And Jesus in the end uttered the "cry of dereliction" of the Psalm. The "My god, my god...." last words were almost certainly put in his mouth just as additional "fulfillment" of prophecy.
posted by starman at 3:20 AM
4 Comments:
Although the "cry of dereliction" was almost certainly just intended as "confirmation" that Jesus was the one "foretold" by Psalm 22, it does seem likely that Jesus would've actually said something like that. Jesus was an apocalyticist, who expected te "son of man" to come to Earth, overthrow the "forces of evil" and inaugurate god's Kingdom on Earth. Jesus told his disciples that in this new era they would sit on twelve thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. And Jesus presumably thought he would be the king ruling over them. Jesus thought the "son of man" would come very soon-- well within his lifetime. As god's favored one, he would surely live to be King. It must have been this confidence that led him to fail to put up a defense at his trial before Pilate. Jesus didn't deny he was the king of the Jews because even if Pilate sentenced him to death, god would surely bring about the new age in time to save him. Now imagine him on the way to Golgatha and death. He must have felt that if the guy upstairs was going to save him and make him king, he had better hurry. After a while on the cross, with his life ebbing away, Jesus must have finally realized that god wasn't going to do anything to save him. Under the circumstances "my god, my god why have you forsaken me" sound like very plausible last words.
I've never understood why certain books were omitted from the Bible, for example, Smyrnans. That is a very arbitrary thing to do. Some writings mention Jesus making some clay pigeons able to fly. I've wondered why that was not put in the Bible.
Neal
Neal, you should read JESUS INTERUPTED by Ehrman. He explains, among other thngs, why some books were ommitted from the canon of scripture. Some were considered heretical or nonapostolic. Actually none of the canonical gospels was written by one of the original 12 disciples.
Some of the biggest fantasies ever started are those that Joseph Smith (i.e. the founder of the Mormon church) made up. One is the idea that Jesus visited North America. Another is the idea that American Indians are descendents of two Hebrew tribes that sailed across the Atlantic to America. That is absolutely absurd. American Indians (i.e. Native Americans) are racially Mongolian. They are not descended from Hebrew tribes.
Neal
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