Bill
O’ Reilly, author of Killing Lincoln
and Killing Kennedy, declared that
Jesus merely started “a philosophy”1 and much of the biblical
narratives are allegorical and symbolic—not in fact real history. He also
suggested that Christians do not worship Jesus Christ but they worship the
“spirit of Jesus.”2 He’s convinced that Christ’s main undertaking
was to teach men how to live properly. I have no doubt that Christ’s moral
teaching is as important as it is profound, yet His primary mission was to die
to set men free. Many other skeptics and liberals have mounted quests for the
historical Jesus and have landed not so far from where O’ Reilly takes his
readers. In the end, the Bible holds, as the skeptics have found nothing. But skeptics
will continue to publish books about their new theories on the life and death
of Christ even though we have an infallible account of Him in the New
Testament.
Beyond
Bill O’ Reilly, few disbelieving sleuths believe that Jesus Christ died for the
ungodly (Romans 4:5) and rose from the grave in victory (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
I do. And not only that, I know with full certainty.
Some contend Christ was a good teacher who died because of a tragic set of
accidents. Still a few others say that Christ never existed, thus He never died.
Of
course, theories abound in cases of history where evidence is scarce. But, there exists not only deep layers of historical data for
the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, there are also potent logical
reasons why such must be the case.[see book that defends the Biblical view of Christ's death HERE]
The theories suggested by skeptics (O’ Reilly, Aslan, Ehrman,
etc.) not only have several faults, but what they pen, especially when it is
inconsistent with the scriptural accounts of Christ, cannot possibly be true. I maintain:
- God is.
- His word has been revealed.
- Scripture reveals the truth about Christ’s arrest, trial, crucifixion, death, and resurrection; the contrary is plainly impossible.
Indeed,
Jesus Christ died. He was crucified. Nevertheless, His illegal execution was
merely the beginning of a comprehensive transformation in history. Since Jesus’
death and resurrection, it often appears that the kingdom of man and the
kingdom of God have traded places. Christ's outlook, however, was a bold and
challenging assurance. The kingdom Jesus launched is the one we still see
expanding today.
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NOTES
Any treatment of the historical Jesus is bound to be controversial. With a few notable exceptions, I found O'Reilly's account of the historical Jesus was a pulp non-fiction version that was very much in line with the canonical Gospel accounts. Aslan was more skeptical, but still made very clear the demarcation between historical fact and belief. I am re-reading John Dominic Crossan's The Birth of Christianity, as a prelude to reading his The Historical Jesus. Crossan is probably the best writer about the historical Jesus, in that he is very careful to lay out his assumptions - something that few writers do with his alacrity.
ReplyDeleteHere is my reader's guide to O'Reilly's Killing Jesus, I hope your readers will consider it when discussing O'Reilly's rather weak discussion: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HP9YEDI