Reza Aslan And Theological Scholar Peter Lillback Debate Who Jesus Really Was

[edhopper]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/22/reza-aslan-jesus_n_6367402.html

The different historical and religious interpretations of Jesus are generally cause for a heated debate, and in a HuffPost Live panel discussion on Monday, author Reza Aslan and theological scholar Peter Lillback had just that.

The "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth" author argues that a tension exists between the historical and theological narratives of Jesus, as "many Christians would say Jesus fulfilled" the prophecies detailed in the Bible, while "many historians would say Jesus' life was crafted so that it would fulfill these prophecies."

The debate is on video.

[Promethean]

1. I'll go with the "big fish" explanation.

Most I am sure have heard of the concept. Fisherman says I caught a fish "this big." Tells the story the next day and he caught a fish "Thiiiiis Big!" Tells the story the next day and he caught a fish "THIS BIG!!!"

One thing scholars do not disagree on is that the new testament didn't start to get written down until around 40 years after the events described within. Considering that is longer than the average human lifespan at that time that is a lot of "big fish" distortion. If you don't believe it could change so much in such a short time just look at recent history. George Washington and the apple tree. Heard of the story? Washington himself publicly declared that it was not true. During the subjects lifetime a completely false story managed to spread.

Now consider the actual confirmed socio-political atmosphere of the time of the new testament events. Times were hard for the Hebrew tribe. Internally they were split into 3 major theological factions. The lay people were suffering under extreme poverty while the clergy had become wealthy. On top of that a foreign power had conquered them and was swift and brutal to silence dissent. There were many street preachers during that time claiming the end times were upon them. Those whose message got to anti-establishment were executed. The odds of one of these preachers spreading an anti-priesthood and anti-wealth message were high. The odds of the priesthood of the time retaliating to maintain their power was also high.

The message resonated enough with people that they remembered him and retold how they remembered him. The big fish effect starts to kick in. Soon instead of just having a message and getting noticed someone says he walked into the temples and flipped the tables. The myth grows and soon people start saying they witnessed him performing healing miracles. The story kept floating around getting more and more big fish on it until finally a man named Paul comes along and the story of what happens is well documented from there.