Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 17, 1994 TAG: 9404190009
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: D-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Reviewed by RANDY WALKER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Jesus Seminar, an association of New Testament scholars, has become famous, some might say notorious, for its pronouncements on the authenticity of Jesus's sayings. Those findings are summed up in ``The Five Gospels.''
The scholars have translated the five gospels (the fifth is the Gospel of Thomas, discovered at Nag Hammadi, Egypt in 1945) into everyday contemporary English. The words of Jesus are color-coded according to the degree of authenticity as determined by a vote of the scholars. Red sayings are deemed almost certainly authentic, while black sayings are judged almost certainly inauthentic. There are two shades in between. Commentary accompanies the scripture.
In general, only those quotations and parables of Jesus which can stand independently of the evangelists' narrative framework are thought to have been accurately preserved through oral tradition. The rest are judged to be inventions or elaborations by the evangelists to meet the needs of the early church.
Readers unfamiliar with New Testament scholarship may be shocked.
The scholars think it unlikely that Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, quoted Scripture or forecast the imminent end of the world. He is portrayed as a wandering healer and preacher upon whom Messianic claims were retroactively projected.
``The Five Gospels'' is well-reasoned and highly accessible to the lay reader. It casts a bright light on the mechanics of oral transmission, the situation of the early church and the compilation of the gospels, as well as the methods of gospel scholarship. It is a must-read for any lay person interested in early Christianity and the historical Jesus.
Randy Walker is a free-lance writer and musician in Roanoke.
by CNB