As the world awaits the celebration of the birth of the Christ child — and as, on the eve of this celebration, municipalities around the United States clear out Occupy encampments, pepper-spray peaceful protesters, and threaten them with felony convictions and two-year jail sentences — it is worth remembering what the historical Jesus actually told people to do: he told them precisely to behave like Occupy protesters.
The wealthy land-owning Trinity Church in lower Manhattan shies away from Occupy’s recent request to it to allow its peaceful protesters to set up camp on its property: a spokesman for the Church dismissed them as “marginal protesters” and said that to do so would detract the Church from its “mission.” The Episcopal church in London dithers over whether or not to support the Occupy protesters encamped on its own premises. But it is worth taking a second look at what Jesus actually asked his nascent church to do: he asked his followers — who were “marginal protesters” — in no ambiguous terms precisely to support Occupy’s mission.
Jesus was the original Occupy protester. More and more scholarship about the historical Jesus is establishing — as, indeed, the scholars of the Jesus seminar and others have been documenting for nearly three decades — a set of facts that are regularly taught in full in seminaries, but which active clergy have told me off the record they are reluctant to preach about, let alone inform their congregations about, once they are established in ministries: that is: the original Jesus texts probably did not include language about Jesus being a unique Son of God, or about the embrace of Jesus being a unique path to salvation. Rather, the original historical Jesus, according to such scholars as Spong and Crossan, was much more likely to have been a revolutionary Jewish Rabbi continually pointing, not to himself, but to God, and to a “kingdom of heaven” which was not elsewhere – not doctrinal nor ecclesiastical in its essence — but was, rather, made up of the grace that comes from creating economic justice and manifesting egalitarian love, here on earth.
This revolutionary rabbi, according to these scholars, was not determined to set up a new religion but rather to compel the Judaism of his own time to live up to its own core ideals, and he wished to include pagans in what he saw as God’s message of universal love and economic justice.
According to these scholars, the New Testament’s language about Jesus as the one path to salvation, and the anti-Semitic language that separated the emerging first-century Church from its roots as a reform movement aimed at Judaism itself, were later additions, added about sixty years after the crucifixion of Jesus, and resulted from political pressures — including Roman persecution — and the need of an emerging institution to claim certain kinds of doctrinal legitimacy.
Jesus’ original message, they insist, as you can see in the Jesus Seminars’ book “The Five Gospels: What did Jesus Really Say? The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus” — which separates the Testaments into what the historical Jesus almost certainly said, what he probably said, what he probably did NOT say and what he almost certainly did not say — indeed reveal a revolutionary Jewish rabbi; and if you read his original message as presented in these scholar’s arguments, you see that today, much more than the established Church, it is Occupy protesters who are most directly carrying out Jesus’s instructions.
Jesus was constantly occupying public and authority-invested space, just as Occupy does. As Yale scholar Dr Wayne Meeks explains, the historical Jesus was continually staging uncomfortable public challenges to the social order; continually holding a mirror in the most disruptive and impolite way up to public hypocrisy and injustice; continually challenging the ’1%” of his day; and continually staging spectacles in public space that blurred conventional boundaries of propriety and that upended conventional separations between Jew and Gentile, “respectable” people and prostitutes, tax collectors and marginalized people; he was continually inviting all to a feast that represented the universalizing love of God. He disruptively and illegally “occupied” that Holy of Holies, the Temple Mount, where the bankers and clergy of the day made massive profits capitalizing the revenue-driven and financially corrupted institutions of the Priesthood and a bloated commerce in the sacrifice trade. He engaged in dangerous and public civil disobedience by literally upending the tables of the money-changers — a direct parallel to the Occupy boycotts and closings of accounts that were staged at major banks this autumn in America. Jesus occupied the Mount of Olives: and as he gave the Sermon on the Mount — a confrontational speech about economic justice (Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall inherit the earth) — he was staging a major subversive public assembly, without a permit — in the very face of a tyrannical Imperial power that consistently arrested political prisoners and other social justice revolutionaries, held them without trial, tortured them and lined the skyscapes of Jerusalem with their crucified bodies (Meeks and others point out that crucifixion in Jesus’ time was not a unique event at all, but a standard punishment for crime and for social justice preaching, as well as for issuing public messages of challenge to the unjust authority of Rome).
Do the Occupy protesters set up kitchens and feed all who are hungry, rich or poor, thus creating an inclusive table? This is exactly, argues Crossan, what Jesus sought to do: by inviting rich and poor to sit at the same table and telling his followers to feed all who joined them, he was creating a kind of public theater to demonstrate the power of a society in which people were not divided by race, class, gender and religion, but united in love and justice. When Rabbi Jesus staged an event at which people contributed all the bread and fish they had with them (the miracle of the loaves and fishes) he was setting up a public kitchen like those that Bloomberg cleared out of Zuccotti Park for “safety reasons.” Are the Occupy protesters continually being swept out of public space with attacks on them for being “dirty”? One of the continual themes of Jesus’ preaching is that conventional assessments of what is dirty and what is clean are corrupt, and that true cleanliness comes from compassion and justice, whereas hypocrisy and injustice make one like a “whited sepulcher” — pretty on the outside, but filled with corruption within.
When he confronted the wealthy young man and said, Give up all you have and follow me — when he issued parables that asserted that it was harder for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven — he was challenging confrontationally the unjust distribution of wealth and the injustice of a system in which the meager possessions of the poor were continually eaten away by crippling, ever-escalating taxation that flowed to a superpower, to military might and to a small wealthy elite of Romans and of a small group of Pharisaic and Sadducean officials mediating between Rome and the common people.
According to the Jesus Seminar scholars, the historical Jesus was not some ethereal divinity, wanting people to “believe in him” as a new kind of God; rather he was a very angry,very loving Jew, confronting the entrenched injustices and superficialities of the Jewish and Roman Establishments of his day, demanding an inclusive love that transcended rigid religious and ethnic boundaries, and insisting that “the Kingdom of God” was a state within each of us, that could be manifested on Earth by sharing what we had, visiting the prisoner, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, and engaging in the political and personal practice of peace. He said that THAT was what God wanted. Did he say it in Churches on Sunday, politely? No: he was constantly confronting power in public, constantly p—ing off the powers that be, constantly impolite and disruptive in order to hold a mirror up to hypocrisy, constantly destabilizing “business as usual”, constantly telling his followers to do the same, and constantly asking his disciples to continue that work in his name after he was gone.
Are the Occupy protesters faced with show trials, and more to come now that the NDAA, which suspends due process in America, is due to pass? Yes; so were the early followers of Jesus, and Jesus himself was arrested without evidence, convicted without evidence, tortured and murdered by a state edict, in a politicized show trial. Are the Occupiers practicing non-violence in the face of state violence? Yes; and in so doing they are exactly following Jesus’ instructions to his first-century followers, to ‘turn the other cheek” and not to respond to violence with violence but with love. In creating libraries in which all are free to learn, kitchens in which all are free to eat, and public spaces in which love and justice are modeled as a new social order, are they creating chaos and mess, or are they establishing the Kingdom of Heaven exactly as the historical Jesus insisted it must be built? If you really follow Jesus — the historical Jesus — there is nothing to conclude but that Occupy, more than Trinity Church, more than the British Anglican church, more than any church today that does not publicly step forward to house, feed and support the Occupy movement — is following Jesus’ direct instructions; and that the established Churches who fail to do so, are derelict in their duties, and disobeying the direct commandments of their boss.
Do you want to be a real Jesus follower this Christmas, instead of a Christian-ish “whited sepulcher”? It is worth taking a look at the Five Gospels to see what that angry Jew said and did, according to many scholars. After you have taken on board his message of confrontation of power, public disruption, and universal love, you might make different choices. In his own words, he didn’t want you sitting in Church talking about how great he is; he wanted you in the streets, making the wealthy uncomfortable, and feeding the poor. Do you want to really follow the historical Jesus? If you are a church, welcome Occupy to your physical site. If you are a person, fight for Occupy and other movements’ rights to do what Jesus did: in feeding the hungry, confronting injustice, and speaking truth to power.
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Who wrote this? It’s very surprising that Noami Wolf, who referenced over 80 books in her New York Times bestseller, would allow something so factually INCORRECT and unreferenced and blasphemous to be put on her website! No one who has ever lived had their life more documented than Jesus of Nazareth! On many occasions, He claimed that He was the only path to God the Father.
In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” and “For unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins” (John 8:24). The Apostle Peter said, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). St. Paul concurred, “There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…” (1 Timothy 2:5). It is the united testimony of the New Testament that no one can know God the Father except through the person of Jesus Christ.
I consider this very factually CORRECT, the Bible in its current form is not a reliable source.
Nicole, where’s your proof that it’s not factually incorrect? Many people have tried to prove the Bible wrong, including Lee Strobel and Josh McDowell, and they ended up being Christians when all of the evidence proved otherwise.
The other question this blog post addresses is whether Jesus claimed to be God. Among the religious leaders who have attained a large following throughout history, Jesus Christ is unique in the fact that He alone claimed to be God in human flesh. A common misconception is that some or many of the leaders of the world’s religions made similar claims, but this is simply not the case.
Buddha did not claim to be God; Moses never said that he was Yahweh; Muhammad did not identify himself as Allah; and nowhere will you find Zoroaster claiming to be Ahura Mazda. Yet Jesus, the carpenter from Nazareth, said that he who has seen Him (Jesus) has seen the Father (John 14:9).
The claims of Christ are many and varied. He said that He existed before Abraham (John 8:58), and that He was equal with the Father (John 5:17, 18). Jesus claimed the ability to forgive sins (Mark 2:5-7), which the Bible teaches was something that God alone could do (Isaiah 43:25).
The New Testament equated Jesus as the Creator of the universe (John 1:13), and that He is the one who holds everything together (Colossians 1:17). The Apostle Paul says that God was manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16), and John the evangelist says that “the Word was God” (John 1:1). The united testimony of Jesus and the writers of the New Testament is that He was more than mere man; He was God.
Not only did His friends notice that He claimed to be God, but so did His enemies. There may be some doubt among skeptics who refuse to examine the evidence, but there was no doubt on the part of the Jewish authorities.
When Jesus asked them why they wanted to stone Him, they replied, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God” (John 10:33).
This fact separates Jesus from the other religious figures. In the major religions of the world, the teachings – not the teacher – are all-important.
Confucianism is a set of teachings; Confucius is not important. Islam is the revelation of Allah, with Muhammad being the prophet, and Buddhism emphasizes the principles of the Buddha and not Buddha himself. This is especially true of Hinduism, where there is no historic founder.
However, at the center of Christianity is the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus did not just claim to be teaching mankind the truth; He claimed that He was the truth (John 14:6).
What Jesus taught is not the important aspect of Christianity, but what is important is who Jesus was. Was He the Son of God? Is He the only way a person can reach God? This was the claim He made for Himself.
Suppose this very night the president of the United States appeared on all of the major networks and proclaimed that “I am God Almighty. I have the power to forgive sin. I have the authority to raise my life back from the dead.”
He would be quickly and quietly shut off the air, led away, and replaced by the vice-president. Anybody who would dare to make such claims would have to be either out of his mind or a liar, unless he was God.
This is exactly the case with Jesus. He clearly claimed all of these things and more. If He is God, as He claimed, we must believe in Him, and if He is not, then we should have nothing to do with Him. Jesus is either Lord of all or not Lord at all.
Yes, Jesus claimed to be God. Why should anyone believe it? After all, merely claiming to be something does not make it true. Where’s the evidence that Jesus is God?
The Bible gives various reasons, including miracles and fulfilled prophecy, that are intended to convince us that Jesus is the one whom He said He was (John 20:30, 31). The main reason, or the sign which Jesus Himself said would demonstrate that He was the Son of God, was His resurrection from the dead.
When asked for a sign from the religious leaders, Jesus replied, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a whale, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40).
In another place He said, when asked for a sign, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up… but He spake of the temple of His body” (John 2: 19, 21). The ability to raise His life back from the dead was the sign that separates Him not only from all other religious leaders, but also from anyone else who has ever lived.
Anyone wishing to refute the case for Christianity must explain away the story of the resurrection. Therefore, according to the Bible, Jesus proves to be the Son of God by coming back from the dead (Romans 1:4). The evidence is overwhelming that Jesus did rise from the grave, and it is this fact that proves Jesus to be God.
[References: “Evidence that Demands a Verdict” and “Jesus: A Biblical Defense of His Deity”, by Josh McDowell. “The Truth of God Incarnate” by Michael Green. “Mystery of the Incarnation” by Sir Norman Anderson. ]
You keep quoting the Bible without discussing how the Bible came to be, or how much it was mistranslated or edited. Does this mean you think the Bible as we read it in English today is the direct word of God?
The story of Jesus Christ is simply the story of Horus.
Horus was born on the 25th December of a virgin called IsisMery. He taught in the Temple at age 12, was baptized by Anup the Baptizer – who was beheaded – at thirty, had 12 companions or disciples, healed the sick and raised the
Dead
dead, was crucified, died and was burried
and so on – all of it is in the story of Horus and his Father Osiris and his Mother IsisMery. ALL of it. The word KRST means the anointed one and the word messiah also meant anointed.
The entire Bible was lifted from the teachings and mythology of other vultures.
ps. That was meant to be “cultures” NOT “vultures” !!
There was no “exodus”, no Moses (THAT is the story of Sargon the Great mixed with the story and actual history of Hammurabi!) and certainly no temple other than a DESCRIPTION of an EGYPTIAN temple to be found in the Old Testament. ThThere was no Solomon and IF there wa any DAvid he was no king since there is no mention of any kind of any “King David” to be found in any of the records of the surrounding cultures and powers of the time. None at all.
Read “The Bible Unearthed” by Israel Finkelstein and see the videos made by John McCarthy called “It Aint Necessarily So.” There was no Hebrew presence in Jerusalem. The Western Wall was built by Muslims and the tower the Jews like to call “The Tower of King David” at the East Gate of Jerusalem is a minaret and it was built by Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th Century.
this is completely true and accurate. jesus was a political and religious revolutionary. if he did exist, or a man on which the “jesus” character existed, this is who he was and he was killed because he spoke truth to power, often and loudly enough to actually threaten the power structures in the society in which he lived. the one parable that is sometimes told in churches, was told in mine, was the story of jesus throwing the tables around in the temple. that was the real jesus.
I watched Ms. Wolf make some incredible predictions at a St. Louis library a couple of years ago. She compared George Bush to Hitler…not figuratively, but literally. She claimed there was “no way” the Bush administration was going to let the 2008 elections happen and that we were entering a Hitler-like era of totalitarianism. She had no proof other than flimsy comparisons like photo ops and political slogans that she thought were similar.
The audience gasped. I walked out. It’s 2012 and none of it happened. This person isn’t held accountable for her lies, half truths and baseless fear mongering. She is despicable.
The people of Iceland have paved the way for taking back their (and our) country from private interests who enslave us with their central banking schemes involving debt generated to promote their agendas.
http://www.positivenewsus.org/editions/fal11/fal1105.html
The word is “repudiate”. The belief that citizens had to pay for the mistakes of a financial monopoly, that an entire nation must be taxed to pay off private debts was shattered.
Jesus would approve.
Luke 19:13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
Here is more wisdom from the Bible than most can get?
Wright, discuss PRAYERFULLY among yourselves.
All these comments do not address the import of the message that Jesus was the Original Occupier…..which he definitely was, and still is today if we but follow his teachings. This is about God’s Love being expressed in the world today…..NOT about all of you arguing about the Bible, which was a ceating of man not God. Wake up America!!
I was fortunate find when I was going through Manhattan several months ago zines promoting the Occupy Movement for free distribution at the historical Riverside Church. I believe of all people who understand the Christian message, it IS them and they should be commended for their actions as proud Americans using direct action in ways to get the message across.
This should panic the Christian Conservatives. Christianity is discovered to be Socialist!
Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and the distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.
Acts 4:34-5:11.
Spong is not a scholar. He is a retired Bishop who sells lots of books by saying rather outrageous things that make liberals cheer and conservatives grind their teeth. Naomi is right to say that there is a group of scholars called “The Jesus Seminar” (of which John Dominic Crossan is a member). But to say that the conclusions of the Seminar represents a consensus of scholarship on the historical Jesus is highly debatable. In fact, the Seminar’s heyday was about 15 years ago.