08 May, 2008

Gospel truth

I came across an excellent Penguin paperback copy of the Gospels in a charity shop, so I've been reading them. Gosh, they're bizarre. Very episodic and unliterary, and nothing seems to follow anything else with any kind of logic. And some of the parables are just strange and incomprehensible. I like the fact that they are four retellings of the same story, and in some bits the story is exactly the same and other bits the emphasis is completely different. I also like this bit from the end of Matthew 28, which my brother says shows that Jesus didn't really rise again.

11 Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.
12 And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,
13 Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.
14 And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.
15 So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. [22]

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

One interesting thing about the gospels are all the random 'facts' about Jesus which were included by authors who went flicking back through the Old Testament for prophecies about the Messiah, then made sure that all these prophecies were fulfilled in the definitive account of Jesus' life. Eg. modern historical scholarship rejects the story about the census which sent Joseph and Mary back to Bethlehem. Jesus was most likely actually born in Nazareth. However some OT prophet said that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, so the facts were altered to fit the prophecy. These prophecies still stand good stead as convincing arguments for Jesus being the Jewish Messiah among the type of proselytising Christians who also use the argument 'Jesus said "I am the Son of God"' to demonstrate that Jesus was in fact, the son of God.