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The Meaning of Jesus
A Study in Holy Manners

A Cyberspace Discussion Group
Section What did Jesus do and teach?
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SUMMARIES

Discussion Format		 The new proposed format is:
1. 10 minutes housekeeping and followup,
2 .5 minutes for the Traditional View. A summary of the chapter and relevant discussion.
3. 5 minutes for the Revisionist View. A summary of the chapter and relevant discussion.
4. 10 minute break.
5. 50 minute general discussion of the interleaving of the two perspectives.
These discussions to be taped and transcribed to these web pages as a starter and continuation of the issues raised.
SUMMARY. The Mission and Message of Jesus. - N.T. Wright. Click HERE.
Jesus was a first-century Jewish prophet. "Jesus seems to have drawn not merely upon the current revolutionary ideology, but on the idea of the "gospel," the good news, which traces the kingdom theme back to the prophets, and particularly to Isaiah." This meant a return from exile, defeat of evil and the return of YHWH. and Jesus was telling people this kingdom was not what they expected.
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REFERENCES
The Hidden Meaning of Jesus' Words - Jesus' Language. by Jim Myers
It should be expected that Yeshua taught in the Hebrew language, the language of religious study. Therefore, it is essential that we view his words through his Hebrew culture and language if we expect to achieve an accurate understanding his words. Even though there are sayings which can be rendered both in Hebrew and Aramaic, certain sayings can only be rendered into Hebrew - none can be rendered only into Aramaic.
The earliest documents concerning Jesus were written by his disciples, or their disciples, many years after his death. They were written in an early Rabbinic Hebrew which contained strong undercurrents of Biblical Hebrew. Even in books of the New Testament originally composed in Greek, such as the Pauline Epistles, there are clear traces of the Hebrew language. The terminology in the books of the New Testament which were composed in Greek is often understandable only when we view them through Hebrew eyes.
Click HERE for the paper.
A Brief Summary of Historical Jesus Studies By Hershel Shanks. Click HERE for the paper.
Modern biblical scholarship is barely two hundred years old. Three hundred years ago, it was dangerous to engage in such enquiry. ... Albert Schweitzer began the second phase of Jesus scholarship but failed because he didn’t have adequate data to support his thesis. ... Now the third phase is in progress. During the last 20 years it has resulted in a flood time of interest in the study of the historical Jesus.

With the passing of a man, the birth of a myth by Jeffrey Simpson. Wednesday, October 4, 2000 Globe and Mail. Here is a discussion of the process of myth of some contemporary interest reflecting on the death of Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Click HERE for the article.

Myths are not history, but versions of it. They are not rounded portraits of what actually happened, but tales of triumph and tragedy that emerge over time, with lessons extracted by those who learn them.
What Did Jesus Teach? Charles Bradlaugh. An essay written in 1860. A most contrary and illuminating view. From a site of free-thinkers and secularists.
Jesus teaches that the poor, the hungry, and the wretched shall be blessed. But blessing only comes when they cease to be poor, hungry, and wretched. Contentment under poverty, hunger, and misery is high treason, not to yourself alone, but to your fellows. Slavery spreads quickly wherever humanity is stagnant and content with wrong. Click HERE for article.
MIDRASH. Dr. Charles T. Davis (Appalachian Statue University, Philosophy and Religion Department, NC) has prepared a summary of the definition and features of Midrash, based on Rabbi Burton Visotzky's "Reading the Bible". This summary says that once a canon (i.e., approved scriptural text) is closed, the problem facing the community is the problem of "searching out" the canon. Midrash is a method of reading the Bible as an Eternal text, and is the result of applying a set of hermeneutical principles evolved by the community to guide one in reading the canon, in order to focus one's reading. The ultimate goal of midrash is to "search out" the fullness of what was spoken by the Divine Voice.
This excerpt is from HERE.
MIDRASH.Here is an example of Midrash on the subject of Moses coming down from the mountain, a story familiar to we Christians also. Click HERE. Many other basic readings of Jewish tradition are at this site. It is a worthwhile look into their tradition.
Midrash continues in Jewish rabbinic training. At Hebrew Union College, there is a course in Midrash with a bibliography of about 200 volumes!
Professor Michael A. Meyer, through numerous books, articles and reviews, has managed to explain the complexity of modern Jewish history with great eloquence and lucidity. In a 1991 lecture at Syracuse University, Meyer described the job of the historian:
Memories are like rocks that we dig out of the shallow waters of a stream. At one time the stones had jagged edges, but gradually the river has worn them smooth. So too our minds, in recalling, wear away the details, the contradictions, the ironies of what we once learned and leave only the smooth message that is easily remembered and easily conveyed. Young minds, learning from the recollections of others, sometimes receive only the worn-away form of the transmitted memory. If they want to know the jagged original, they must restore it on their own.... Historians must try to preserve the jagged edges, even if that makes it more difficult to generalize. SOURCE
MIDRASH. Bishop Spong tells us that much of the New Testament is well explained by the fact that the first Christians were practicing Jews and Midrash was basic to the method of their study. Midrash is the continuing effort of the community to make sense of what is happening now in terms of what has happened before. It is an interpretive effort to understand. Where legend belongs as a layer over scripture for example. Much of what makes little sense or seems mythical in the New Testament is better understood from this Jewish practice of midrash.
Some current Jewish examples and definitions follow.
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St. David's United Church.Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The United Church of Canada.

October 15, 2000