I have to be honest, I haven't read the assignment in the Crossan book yet. Please keep this in mind as you read this blog post about it.
I'm a bit concerned to read this. I went to Catholic school for most of my life and I had always questioned it, but I never completely stopped believing in God. I'm not too sure about Jesus, and I'm afraid this book will convince me that he was just a poor man with schizophrenia. The only reason I'm worried about this is because my grandparents are very religious, and I'm very close with them. Talking to my grandmother about how I no longer believe in Jesus will certainly disappoint her.
This post may seem pointless, and it kind of is. The main points of it are that I'm not a Jesus freak, but I don't really want to be a non-believer. Unfortunately, it's difficult for me to be close-minded about these things.
Don't be afraid; Jesus was not mentally ill. Nor is it Crossan's task to debunk anyone's religion -- quite the contrary, he reasons that because Christianity begins in historical events, we need to understand the historical Jesus if we are to determine how or whether to worship Christ.
ReplyDeleteOn a very personal note, I found that this book actually deepened my faith. My religious beliefs are rather unorthodox to begin with, but the book gave me a new appreciation and love for the figure of Jesus.
ReplyDeleteThe last sentence in this post - "Unfortunately, it's difficult for me to be close-minded about these things." - made me think quite a bit. I have not heard close-mindedness referred to in a positive sense before, and it caused me to consider if there is such a thing as being too open-minded.
ReplyDeleteI concluded that the answer depends on one's definition of open-mindedness. If one considers it to be a state in which one makes no decisions and develops no opinions, then yes, one could indeed be too open-minded. If, on the other hand, one defines it as a state in which one thinks about and considers every possibility prior to discarding it, then I believe the answer would be no. Avoiding thinking about something because one is afraid that doing so will change one's views is not a good thing. If one thinks fully about something and concludes that it is the right view, then it most likely is. If one thinks about something and decides that it is not the right view, then at least one can defend one's decision adequately against critics. Simply ignoring the possibility that one might be wrong can (and has) lead to some of the worst events in human history. So, in response to your worries, I do not think that reading even something which might be challenging to your views (which I do not think the Crossan book is) is a bad thing - it will either lead to to change your views to better ones, or will reaffirm your belief in the views you already held.
P.S. I also posted this on my blog if you'd rather read it there :)