What Did Jesus Actually Teach and Do?

Geza Vermes, a distinguished biblical scholar set out to examine the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) line by line to try and discover the real Jesus whose short life has had such a collosal impact on human history. What was his character, what did he actually teach and what did he actually do? These 3 gospels were written between 35 and 60 years after Jesus' death so the authors relied on accounts of his life handed down over those years. Vermes aim was to sieve out the changes, additions and legends that the authors had added to their gospels to present their particular view of Jesus teaching and the significance of his life.

Vemes recorded his ideas in The Authentic Gospel of Jesus, published in 2003.

But how did Vermes know what is authentic?

Of course he did not know with any certainty what is authentic and what is not, but he used his years of studying that period of Middle East history to arrive at what he considers was most probably what Jesus taught and what he did. His sources included:

• the gospels themselves
• other Christian writings that were circulating at the time
• the Judaism of Jesus day,
• the Dead Sea Scrolls
• The Apochrypha - a collection of ancient religious writings
• other writings of those years including records of the history of the period

Why not the gospel of John? 

1. John is the last gospel to be written and is very different from the other three gospels in many ways. John has his own agenda  - see Gospel of John compared to Synoptics
2. The synoptic gospels are linked. Mark was written first and both Matthew and Luke used Mark as the backbone of their own accounts. They also shared another collection of Jesus' sayings that scholars refer to as Q (Quelle - German "source"). Then there are verses that are unique to Matthew or unique to Luke such as the birth narratives.

Why not take the gospels at face value?

Differences in the accounts

The biblical fundamentalists do take the gospels at face value. They claim that every verse in the bible is God inspired so the text is the actual "Word of God" This is clearly not the case as any careful, unbiased reading of the gospels will show. You don't have to be a scholar to spot differences in the three accounts. Even the verses Matthew and Luke take from Mark are sometimes altered in different ways to give different meanings. The two birth narratives in Matthew and Luke are very different and cannot easily be reconciled. The crucial accounts of Jesus arrest, trial, death and resurrection also do not bear close comparison.

Christianity v Judaism

The Gospels were written over 30 years after the death of Jesus. In that time the Christian faith was becoming well established but was not one thing. Different interpretations of Jesus life and death were circulating. Jesus was a Jew and taught from the basis of the Judaism of his day but Christianity had spread throughout the non-Jewish world and was shaking off Jewish beliefs. Matthew differs from Luke in the Jewish or non-Jewish emphasis.

Who was Jesus?

This was a big question never answered to the satisfaction of all groups. Jesus had become more than an iterant Jewish teacher who only lived about 30 years before being executed. He was being proclaimed as.... who exactly? God? Man? God in man? Man in God? The relationship between Jesus and God was a source of contention and led to differences in beliefs and teaching and these differences show up in the gospels.

The Main Conclusions from The Authentic Gospel of Jesus

(summary from ChatGPT)

• The Religion of Jesus - Vermes reconstructs Jesus's religion from the sayings he regards as authentic. It is practical rather than speculative: Jesus teaches people how to live before God rather than developing a theological system.
  
  
• The Kingdom of God - the imminent coming of God's Kingdom is central. Jesus's teaching is strongly eschatological: people are to change their behaviour because God's decisive intervention is approaching.
  
  
• Torah and Jewish observance - Vermes sees Jesus as remaining fundamentally within Judaism. Jesus is not presented as founding a new religion or rejecting the Jewish Law wholesale.
  
  
• Eschatological behaviour - repentance, moral seriousness, generosity, forgiveness, mercy, prayer and trust in God are ways of preparing for the coming Kingdom
  
  
• God as Father - Vermes stresses Jesus's conception of God as benevolent, compassionate and caring. Jesus's God is not primarily an abstract theological principle but a personal God who knows and cares for his creatures.
  
  
• Jesus himself - Vermes portrays him as a Jewish charismatic, healer, teacher and *hasid*, completely committed to what he understood as God's mission. A scholarly discussion of Vermes specifically notes his description of Jesus as a “latter-day prophet” and *Hasid*.
  
  
• Jesus and Christianity - this is the particularly important final movement of the Epilogue. Vermes argues that the religion preached by Jesus and the Christianity that subsequently developed are significantly different. His Jesus expected God's Kingdom rather than founding the institutional Christianity that later emerged.
  
  
• The followers after Jesus - the early followers continued the expectation of the imminent Kingdom and the charismatic activities associated with Jesus. As the expected consummation failed to arrive, Christianity increasingly developed structures and beliefs that substituted for the Kingdom.
  
  
• Jesus versus teaching about Jesus - Vermes ends by urging readers to distinguish between Jesus’s own teaching and later Christian teaching about Jesus. His concluding point is essentially that the route back to Jesus lies through what Jesus taught, rather than through the doctrines subsequently developed about him.

Example from the Appendix of Vermes classification.

(*) means authentic or likely authentic

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Gospel of John & Synoptic Gospels

Introduction

The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) and the Gospel of John tell the story of Jesus, but they differ significantly in style, content, emphasis, and theology.The word synoptic comes from Greek and means "seen together." These three gospels share much of the same material and often describe the same events in a similar order. Mark came first and Matthew and Luke draw substantially on his account. They also share a group of sayings designated "Q" (German "Quelle" = source) plus some material unique to themselves.

John stands apart because it follows a different structure and includes much material not found in the other three.

Comparison Table

Feature	Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke)	Gospel of John
Date	c. AD 65-90	c. AD 90-100
Style	Narrative and action-oriented	Reflective and theological
Main Focus	What Jesus did and taught	Who Jesus is
Teaching Method	Short sayings and parables	Long discourses and dialogues
Miracles	Many miracles recorded	Select symbolic "signs"
Kingdom of God	Central theme - multiple mentions	Mentioned twice
Identity of Jesus	Revealed gradually	Declared openly from the beginning
Length of Ministry	Appears about 1 year	Appears about 3 years
Cleansing of Temple	Near the end of Jesus' ministry	Near the beginning
Last Supper	Institution of the Eucharist emphasized	Foot washing emphasized (but see John 3:53)

Portrait of Jesus

In the Synoptics

Jesus appears as: 

• The Messiah sent by God
• Teacher of the Kingdom of God
• Miracle worker
• Son of Man
• Suffering servant

His identity unfolds gradually. Even the disciples struggle to understand who he is until late in the story.

In John

From Chapeter One John reveals Jesus divine identity. 

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being what has come into being. In him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."

Examples also include the famous "I am" statements:

• "I am the bread of life"
• "I am the light of the world"
• "I am the good shepherd"
• "I am the resurrection and the life"
• "I am the way, the truth, and the life"

John presents Jesus as the eternal Word (Logos) who existed with God before creation. This explicit emphasis on Jesus' divinity is far stronger than in the Synoptics.

Teachings

Synoptics

Jesus often teaches through:

• Parables
• Aphorisms (short memorable sayings)
• Sermons

Examples:

• The Parable of the Good Samaritan
• The Parable of the Prodigal Son
• The Sermon on the Mount
• The Beatitudes

John

John contains almost no traditional parables. Instead Jesus engages in lengthy conversations:

• Nicodemus (John 3)
• The Samaritan woman (John 4)
• The Bread of Life discourse (John 6)
• The Farewell Discourses (John 13-17)

The focus is usually on belief, eternal life, and Jesus' relationship with the Father.

Miracles

The Synoptics record many miracles, often emphasising compassion and the arrival of God's kingdom.

John deliberately selects a smaller number of miracles, calling them "signs." These signs point to Jesus' divine identity.

Traditional list of John's seven signs:

1. Water into wine
2. Healing the official's son
3. Healing the paralytic
4. Feeding the 5,000
5. Walking on water
6. Healing the man born blind
7. Raising Lazarus

Several of these appear only in John.

Chronology

The Synoptics suggest Jesus' public ministry may have lasted roughly one year.

John mentions several Passovers, implying a ministry closer to three years.

This is one reason scholars often use John to help reconstruct the overall timeline of Jesus' life.

Unique Material

Found only in the Synoptics

• Birth narratives (Matthew and Luke)
• The Good Samaritan
• The Prodigal Son
• The Transfiguration
• Most parables

Found only in John

• Wedding at Cana
• Nicodemus
• Raising of Lazarus
• Samaritan Woman at the Well
• Foot washing
• The "I am" sayings
• High Priestly Prayer (John 17)

Theological Emphasis

Synoptics

Key question:

What does it mean to follow Jesus and live in God's kingdom?

Themes include:

• Repentance
• Discipleship
• The Kingdom of God
• Compassion for the poor
• Ethics and obedience

John

Key question:

Who is Jesus?

Themes include:

• Eternal life
• Belief and unbelief
• Light and darkness
• Union with God
• Jesus as the divine Son

Summary

A common scholarly observation is:

• The Synoptics primarily show Jesus' ministry.
• John primarily interprets Jesus' identity.

This is somewhat simplified, but it captures the main distinction. Matthew, Mark, and Luke focus on Jesus' actions, teachings, and the coming Kingdom of God. John focuses more explicitly on the theological meaning of Jesus' person and mission.

For many readers, the Synoptics answer "What did Jesus do?", while John answers "Who was Jesus?".

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Faith & Facts: A Novice Nun's Dilema

 At the age of 17 Karen Armstrong told her parents she was going to become a nun. They were shocked and tried to dissuade her, but to her logical mind the choice was simple. She believed in God so the best way to live, as Jesus said, was to "Love God with all your heart and soul and strength". The only way to do that was to be free of all worldly distractions, enter a convent and dedicate her life completely.

It did not turn out as she hoped. She had many struggles in her first months as a Postulant and these only increased when she entered her two-year Novice training. She tells her story in Through The Narrow Gate. This is an extract from the Chapter 7: "The Death I Have to Die"

One day it all came to a head. I had been put in for a four-year theology diploma and Mother Greta coached me for my first-year exams. I'd been set an essay: “Assess the quality of the evidence for the resurrection”. It was part of a course in Apologetics which set out to explain the mysteries of faith by means of reason. But the more I thought about these mysteries, the more unreasonable they seemed. Surely that was the whole point of faith, I argued to myself. If it was perfectly reasonable to believe that Christ had risen from the dead, then faith was unnecessary. Believing in that would be more no more difficult than believing in the Battle of Hastings. I had researched the essay carefully, reading all the relevant books of apologetics that seemed to argue that the stone that was rolled away from the tomb was sufficient evidence for any sane person to believe that God had become man, was publicly executed outside Jerusalem, and rose from the dead after three days. It can't be proved. I worried. This essay is a sham. However, since I was working for an examination, I'd reproduced the mental gymnastics that were expected of me, feeling all the while a sinking loss of integrity. My pen transformed the flimsy symbolic evidence in the Gospels into weighty, verifiable historical facts. My essay proved clearly by mental sleight of hand, that anyone who looked at this evidence and failed to believe in the resurrection was an imbecile. Wearily, I laid down my pen and handed in my essay.

The following Tuesday I sat with Mother Greta in a tutorial. She took off her glasses, polished them, and peered at me short sightedly.

“This sister,” she beamed at me, “is an excellent essay. You should do very well in your exam”. She replaced her glasses.

I looked back at her. Beneath that frail bird like body I knew there was an honest mind. I trusted her. I had to ask her about my dilemma. The resurrection upon which my whole life depended was a miracle, something that the natural order could not account for.

“But Mother”, I said quietly, staring at her intently, “it just isn't true what I've written, is it?”

There was a silence. She sighed. And thrusting her hand under her wimple in a characteristic gesture. She rubbed her forehead hard. Her voice, when she spoke, was tired. “No sister”, she said flatly. “No, it isn't true, but please don't tell the other novices.”

This faith v facts dilema is faced by many who take a serious look at the doctrines they have believed for years. Where does truth lie in the biblical accounts of the life of Jesus? Karen Armstrong found when she assessed the quality of the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus, the evidence did not stand up to her academic scrutiny. 

She continued her life as a nun but eventually left the convent at the age of 24. Her Christian faith had lost all meaning and she faced many struggles before becoming a world-renowned writer and lecturer on God and religion. 

Her book, "The Spiral Staircase" records these years, and for those making their own, perhaps lonely, spritual journey a very encouraging read.

She now embraces religion in a quite different way. Instead of trying to make sense of the endlesss tangle of beliefs and doctrines of organsied religion she advocates a religion of Compassion,  the Golden Rule, which is found in all faiths and first taught by Confucius:

Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you.

Karen Armstrong's page on Amazon (click image)

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Epiphanies - Karen Armstrong

Karen Armstrong entered a Convent at the age of 17. Her aim, to dedicate her life to God". Seven years later she left. 

She tells the story of those years in her book,  Through The Narrow Gate.

In the introduction she writes:

At first, my new involvement in religion remained on an intellectual, critical level. But as I went deeper into the history of religion, I began to experience that sense of being on a quest that had impelled me to become a nun and had kept me in the convent for all those years. It was different, of course, because I was older, and I hope a wiser person, this time round. Though particularly drawn to the study of mysticism. I knew from my attempts at meditation in the convent I did not have it in me to be a mystic. 

Yet, occasionally, when I'm studying either at my desk at home or in the British Library, I have what can only be described as a glimmer of transcendence. 

It only lasts a fraction of a second, but it gives the sense that life has some ultimate meaning and value for that brief moment, in much the same way as a great piece of music or an inspiring poem. There is no way of categorising that something, any more than it is possible to explain why art or music has this power. It cannot be summed up in a message or doctrine. But I now know enough to realise that what I'm engaged in is what the Benedictine monks called lectio divina (divine study), which they say yields occasionally an inevitably brief second of oratio (prayer). ....

I'm not claiming any great visionary experience, yet occasionally while studying theology, I too feel uplifted by a second of wonder and delight that momentarily illuminates the whole page. This type of spirituality would, it seems, have suited me better than the kind of meditation we learned in the convent. Everybody comes to the divine in his or own way, and it seems that my writing and broadcasting career, which has often been critical of certain aspects of religion, has led me back to some form of religious life.

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Timeline of the Splits in Christianity

 

c. 0-30 Jesus lives. Dies by crucifixion

The first followers of Jesus, not yet called Christians, regard themselves as a Jewish movement centred on Jesus as Messiah – God’s anointed one. “Christ” is the Greek translation of “Messiah” Jesus the man becomes Jesus the Christ

c. 30–50s — Jerusalem and the Gentile question

The earliest major dispute concerns whether Gentile converts must follow Jewish law. The Council of Jerusalem (c. 49) decides that Gentile Christians do not need to become Jews.

c. 30–100 — The first Church founded by the Apostles - chiefly Peter and Paul.

Christian churches, develop throughout the Roman Empire and beyond it.

1. THE FIRST GREAT DIVISIONS

c. 100–300 — Many competing Christian movements
There are disputes over:
·        the nature of Jesus
·        the Trinity – relationship between God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit
·        which writings belong in the New Testament
·        the authority of leaders (bishops)
·        Many different movements and interpretations of this new religion.
 
Most of these movements eventually disappear or become marginal.
 
313 — Roman Emperor Constantine legalises Christianity
The Emperor Constantine ends the major Roman persecution of Christianity.
325 — Council of Nicaea - first major council of existing churches.
The Nicene Creed becomes the foundation of orthodox Trinitarian Christianity.
381 — Council of Constantinople
The Nicene position is reaffirmed and developed, particularly concerning the Holy Spirit. At this point, despite enormous theological disputes, there is still one broad imperial Christian Church.

2. THE CHURCH OF THE EAST BREAKS AWAY

431 — Council of Ephesus
A dispute develops around the nature of Mary the mother of Jesus. Churches in the Persian Empire become increasingly separated from the churches of the Roman Empire.
c. 424–431 onward — Church of the East
The Church of the East develops independently in Persia and subsequently expands enormously into Mesopotamia, Persia, Central Asia, India and China.

3. ORIENTAL ORTHODOXY BREAKS AWAY

451 — Council of Chalcedon - speaks of Christ existing "in two natures", divine and human.
Churches in Egypt, Syria, Armenia and elsewhere reject the Chalcedon formula and eventually become the:
Oriental Orthodox Churches
·       Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Ethiopian, Eritrean, Syrian churches
These churches remain separate from both Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

4. THE ONE IMPERIAL CHURCH GRADUALLY BECOMES EAST AND WEST

500–800
The remaining Chalcedonian Church increasingly develops along two cultural lines:
Latin West – Rome, Latin language, Western Europe, increasing papal authority
Greek East – Constantinople, Greek language, Byzantine Empire, authority shared among patriarchates
There are differences over, authority, the Nicene Creed, liturgy, clerical marriage, fasting, political authority, language and culture
800 — Charlemagne crowned emperor
The coronation of Charlemagne by the Pope symbolises the increasingly separate political development of Western Christianity.
867 — Photian controversy - confrontation between Rome and Constantinople over theology and jurisdiction. (Photius was the patriarch of Constantinople)

1054 — The Great Schism

Rome and Constantinople formally excommunicate each other and the two branches become:
Western Christianity - Roman Catholic Church
Eastern Christianity - Eastern Orthodox Church

5. MEDIEVAL WESTERN CHRISTIANITY

1054–1500
Western Europe is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, but there are numerous dissenting movements.
Among them: Waldensians, Lollards, Hussites & Cathars

6. THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

This is the division that transforms Western Christianity. Leads to the bible being translated into the languages of the people.
1517 — Martin Luther – major theological challenge
The key issues include: authority of Scripture, how people are saved, authority of the Pope, sacraments, priesthood, church government
1520s — Lutheranism - Lutheran churches emerge, particularly in Germany and Scandinavia.
1520s–30s — Anabaptists - The Radical Reformation produces groups that reject infant baptism and emphasise believers' baptism.
1530s — Reformed Christianity - associated particularly with Zwingli and Calvin
This develops into: Reformed churches, Calvinism, Presbyterianism
1534 — Church of England - Henry VIII breaks with papal authority.
Anglicanism treads the line between Catholicism and Lutheranism and develops its own distinctive tradition.

7. CATHOLIC COUNTER-REFORMATION

1545–1563 — Council of Trent  responds to Protestantism
The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) is formed and becomes a major force in Catholic renewal and missionary activity.

8. PROTESTANTISM MULTIPLIES

1600s The Protestant world fragments further.
Major developments include: Baptists, Congregationalists, Quakers, Pietism

9. METHODISM AND THE EVANGELICAL REVIVAL

1700s The Evangelical Revival produces enormous changes.
Important figures include: John Wesley, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards (USA) and others
1784 — Methodism separates institutionally from the Anglican Church
Wesley's movement eventually develops into independent Methodist churches, especially in North America and Britain. But also begins to split into separate branches

10. 1800s — ANOTHER EXPLOSION OF CHRISTIAN GROUPS

The nineteenth century produces an extraordinary number of new movements.
1800s — Restorationist movements
Groups seek to restore what they regard as New Testament Christianity - Churches of Christ, Disciples of Christ
1820s–30s — Plymouth Brethren - movement emphasising simple New Testament church organisation.
1830s–40s — Seventh-day Adventists
1840s onward — Holiness movement
1860s–1900s — Salvation Army - William and Catherine Booth establish a highly evangelistic movement.
1900s — African Independent Churches
Large numbers of independent African Christian churches develop, often combining Christian theology with distinctive African cultural and spiritual traditions.

11. PENTECOSTALISM

1901–1906 emphasises: baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, healing, prophecy, direct experience of the Holy Spirit
It eventually produces enormous denominations such as the Assemblies of God, Church and thousands of independent Pentecostal churches.

12. EVANGELICALISM AND FUNDAMENTALISM – a reaction to Darwinism and liberal theology

Late 1800s–1900s – emphasis on the "fundamentals" of Christianity.
c. 1910–1915 — emphasis on the bible as the “Word of God” and emphasis on preaching and evangelism

13. CHARISMATIC CHRISTIANITY – Pentecostal practices move into main denominations

1960s onward
It reaches: Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian
AND results in many breakaway movements and new groupings of independent churches

14. ROMAN CATHOLICISM CHANGES

1962–1965 — Second Vatican Council
Vatican II produces major changes within Catholicism, including: vernacular languages in worship, increased lay participation, dialogue and cooperation with other churches and religions, a different relationship with the modern world.
But there is substantial disagreements between traditionalist and progressive Catholics.

15. EASTERN ORTHODOXY IN THE MODERN WORLD

Eastern Orthodoxy remains a family of self-governing churches including -  Greek, Russian, Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Georgian, Antiochian, Ukrainian
There have also been modern schisms and disputes, particularly surrounding church authority and national identity.

16. CHRISTIANITY TODAY

By the 21st century, Christianity has become an enormous network of traditions rather than three or four simple denominations.
The major Christian families today
1. Roman Catholic — ~1.4 billion
There are numerous Eastern Catholic Churches which retain Eastern liturgies and traditions while being in communion with Rome.
2. Eastern Orthodox — ~220–300 million
3. Oriental Orthodox — ~60–90 million
4. Church of the East traditions — relatively small
5. Protestant Christianity — roughly 800 million–1 billion
This is where the number of denominations explodes. Major Protestant traditions include:
Lutheran, Reformed / Calvinist, Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Anabaptist, Adventist, Pentecostal
Independent / non-denominational
This is now an enormous category, particularly in Africa, Latin America and parts

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The G-Question 4: What is Truth?

When Jesus was on trial before Pilate, the Roman Governor, he said:

'For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’

Pilate asked him, ‘What is truth?

Pilate dismisses Jesus claim with this cynical put down. Yet is it possible that Jesus, stripped of centuries of Christian theology and doctrine, really does have words of truth we all should hear?

Jesus teaching is found in the four gospels of the New Testament in the bible. For Christian believers the bible is more than a collection of ancient writings, it contains the words of God. For the fundamentalists, it is more, it does not just contain the words of God, it is the Word of God, cover to cover. It is the absolute cornerstone of their faith and any challenge to authenticity is seen as an attack on God himself. This is why biblical fundamentalists defend the book of Genesis so strongly against the theory of evolution. In the USA 30% of the population still reject evolution as the explanation of how human beings emerged on Earth.

I once heard an Iman debating with a Christian priest and a Rabbi. He said, because the Koran was a single book given by an angel to Muhammad in the 7th Century it supersedes any revelation claimed by Jews or Christians and so the Koran must be the final authoritative “Word of God”. From his perspective there can be no argument.

Your Brain Decides Your Belief

When I was much younger, I tried and failed to make the bible, verse by verse The Word of God. Despite having a Biochemistry degree I even questioned the theory of evolution because it was in conflict with Genesis, but I had to give up this pointless struggle. Much later I disagreed with the elders in my church over this issue.

The dispute opened my eyes to the fact that what Christians believe is not first and foremost God, or Jesus but the Bible. The Bible is the authority on which all else stands, whether Christian doctrine, church governance or Christian mission.

But, the interpretation of the Bible is human not divine, so even the bible is not the ultimate foundation of belief, it is the mind of the person who reads it. Each individual brain makes the decision whether to believe or not believe what they read or what they are taught. 

Christianity Divided

The different interpretations of the Bible, and the futile quest for certainty create fault lines that divide Christians from one another.

The Methodist chapels I visited and preached in as a young man usually had over the entrance, carved in stone, “Primitive Methodist Chapel” or “Wesleyan Methodist Chapel” because the church established after Wesley’s death split and then split again. These branches mostly reunited in 1938 but they represent just a tiny example of the fracturing of the Christian church over the centuries.

At the very beginning of the Christian story after the death of Jesus there was a dispute between his followers recorded in the book of Acts.  Some saw themselves as reformed Jews while others believed the message of Jesus went beyond Judaism. They resolved the issue by reaching a compromise. Over the succeeding centuries conflicts between Christians led to wars and the wholesale murder of so-called heretics. Christians have found it impossible to follow one of Jesus main commands, “Love one another as I have loved you”. According to Wikipedia there are approximately 45,000 different Christian groups.

The exclusivity of religions always bothered me and the endless divisions within the followers of Jesus bothered me even more. If we can’t love our brother who we have seen how can we love God who we have not seen? This parody on the hymn "Onward Christian Soldiers" says it perfectly:


Like a mighty tortoise moves the church of God.
Brothers we are treading where we’ve always trod.
We are all divided, many bodies we,
Very strong on doctrine but weak in charity.

One example of division is the place of women in the church. Are women allowed to lead? The Roman Catholic church forbids clergy to marry and does not allow women priests. The Church of England took years to change its view on women, first allowing them to be priests and then to ordain them bishops. Even today, some new churches do not allow women leaders.

My View of The Bible

I now see the Bible as containing words of eternal truth. rather than being the Word of God. In the same way that the soloist in a violin concerto can be heard, either mingled with the orchestra or in sublime purity, so also, embeded in the biblical text can be found words of wisdom to lift the spirit. But, if you have ears to hear, this same wisdom may be heard in many places, not just in the Bible.

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Angles & Men: Scratching Where I Itch

Angels and Men is a novel by Catherine Fox, first published in 1996.(spoilers follow) 

The central character is Mara Johns, a vicar's daughter. She has an English degree from Cambridge and has enrolled to study for an MA in theology at Durham (not actually specified but clearly meant). Her subject is the fanaticism of women in Christian sects in the 17th and 18th century. Her tutor wonders why she has chosen this subject, she says:

 ‘I think . . .’ She cleared her throat. Something was pinching at it. ‘I think it will help me make sense of . . . certain things. Of what’s happened, I mean . . .’ ‘Certain things.’ 

One of these "things" is the death of her twin sister, Hester, who had drowned in the Sea of Galilee a few weeks before the opening of the novel. Mara and Hester had been members of a revivalist sect. Mara left after she rebelled against the teaching on the roll of women and the character of the leader but was unable to pursuade Hester to do so. Hester became pregnant and carried a dead baby to term in the belief it would be healed. She was still in the sect when she drowned. 

The name Mara, means "bitter"*. She is bitter against God, the church, aspects of her chldhood, her Father and men in general. Over the period of the university year we inhabit Mara's world as she struggles with the irreconcilable loss of her sister, the invasion of her solitary life by new friends and one particular man, and the loss of the foundation of her life, her faith.

Why It Scratches Where I Itch

At its heart Angels and Men is about the Christian faith, what it is and what it means. The traditionalists, the fanatics, the modernists, the disillusioned, the agnonstics and the atheists are all present. The problems of faith in the modern world are laid bare. The conflicting views mirror my own journey as it has lurched from absolutist to agnostic but never quite to atheist.

An ever-present invisible realm

Mara is a talented artist, forever sketching people, places and her thoughts. She sees the world with an artist's eye. Catherine Fox uses this to bring alive the invisible world of soul and spirit. The novel begins:

The City is a galleon sailing on the river. Listen to the wind thrumming in the trees and singing round the chimney-pots. High on the crow’s nest of the cathedral hear the ping-ping-ping of rope against flagpole. This is where the angels pass by. These are the angel paths, the windy walkways. They are clothed with polished air and their faces are the faces of statues, bright as sunlight off water. No one sees them. ....

Aunt Jessie could see angels; but then, she was mad. Ran mad in the Welsh revival in 1904. She lies now in a quiet graveyard. Her tombstone says: Nearer my God to thee.

And later:

We are so obsessed with people and things. For a moment she had glimpsed another world where it was the space between things which was real. The realm of angels. Objects were gaps, pools of mere nothingness. She saw the angels passing to and fro across the breadth of the universe, transparent, incorporeal, going about their business. 

As Mara looked at the sunlight on the bare branches, the same feeling she had known as a child came over her again. This world was no more than a thin membrane stretched out over eternity. At any moment it might peel back and the glory come blazing through. On days like this it seemed so near, the fabric pulled so fine that it was lit up from behind, beyond, and every shifting play of light, each moving leaf, might be the shadow of the just passing to and fro behind the veil among the angels.

I am science trained and no artist but for me the biological, physical, material world is not enough to describe our human nature. This novel evokes the invisible and invites the reader to see the unseen. In the words of my favourite hymn:

"Immortal, invisible, God only wise

In light inaccessible hid from our eyes"

.......

All Laud we would render, O help us to see

Tis only the splendour of light hideth Thee

What Do You Want?

Despite reading for an English degree and researching theology, at heart Mara is an artist, a talent she tries to keep hidden. Who is she is meant to be? 

Another character, Johnny, a young northern builder, is an ordinand training for the priesthood but he's like a fish out of water - a working class man in a middle class profession. Should he give up the idea of being a vicar? 

In the novel both Mara and Johnny have visions of angels.

A group of friends are socialising and one asks Johnny to tell his conversion story. He told them how, one night in the pool room of a pub a vicar had told him the story of the prodigal son and how the son was welcomed home by his father. Johnny does't believe any father would do that.

 ‘But the vicar says, yes, that is what he does, because that’s what God’s like. No matter where you’ve been, no matter what you’ve done, he’s waiting for you to come home.’ ..... I said, “Listen, I don’t need God, or you or anyone else telling me what to do. I can run my own life.” Well, the vicar gave up and went home and I had a few more pints before closing time. On the way home I saw a vision.’ ..... I turned the corner and there was this bloody great angel blocking the path.’ .....

They sat watching him uncertainly to see if he was serious. .... 

'Well, go on. What did it say?’ asked Maddy. ‘ “Hail, thou that art highly favoured”?’....... 

‘No. He said, “Don’t mess with me, you arrogant little sod.” ’ 

‘You liar,’ said Maddy. ‘Angels don’t speak like that.’...

But it had rung true for Mara. It seemed to her that this was exactly how an angel might speak. Terrifying warriors, not effete pre-Raphaelite musicians.

Mara in her room one night can't sleep:

The moon must be full, she thought. It was shining into her room through the open curtains, casting shadows across the floor. As she watched, the light seemed to intensify. Perhaps she was imagining it? She waited, and yes, sure enough, it was growing brighter all the time. ... she got up out of bed and went over to the window. The whole sky was white. Strange and beautiful. It must be some kind of atmospheric phenomenon. ....... Then, as she watched, the light began to gather itself. Slowly before her horrified eyes it drew itself in, forming itself, burning, burning. Her hands clawed the curtains shut and she stumbled back to bed, blocking her eyes, her ears with the covers. But she knew it was still there, fluttering at the glass.

Mara's grief over her sister's death leads to a breakdown. She recovers at a monastic retreat. When she leaves she goes to thank Tom, the prior.

She saw Tom’s right hand move to the cross he wore round his neck. The fingers closed around it, and she knew that this was a mute prayer. ..

‘Mara, what do you want?’ 

‘Nothing!’ The word shot frightened out of her. 

‘What do you want, Mara?’ 

Freedom. To be free of all this guilt and fear and shame. To be absolved. 

The ticking of the clock grew louder and louder in her ears. She watched as slowly his fingers uncurled from the cross. He raised his hand and pronounced the absolution. The familiar words slid over one another like pebbles worn smooth by centuries of tides. She felt her lips whisper ‘Amen’ and her hand moving to cross herself before she could stop it. A great sigh left her, as though her soul had been dislocated for years and had at last been slipped back into joint. 

For a moment she sat still in wonder, then a sense of outrage seized her. How dare he do that without asking? He had tricked a response out of her, meaningless as a knee-jerk in a doctor’s surgery. She stood up angrily and turned to leave; but she had only taken two steps when she leapt back with a cry. Tom was beside her in an instant. The room seemed dim and she groped for his arm.

‘Did you see that?’ She could feel her brain gibbering. 

‘See what?’ 

Her mind was still squeaking with terror when to her amazement she heard herself laugh. It seemed to come bubbling up from a forgotten spring. 

‘What did you see?’ asked Tom. The laughter died back down again. Tick, tick, said the clock. 

‘An angel.’ They stood looking at one another. 

‘Do you want to tell me about it?’ She shook her head, and he continued to watch her. Was he afraid she was mad? 

‘I’ve seen it before,’ she heard herself gabble, as though this would reassure him. For a moment the memory of it made her quiver. The terrible countenance, eyes burning with wrath and fierce joy. Very cautiously she turned her head round, but there was nothing there, just a shaft of sunlight coming through the narrow window.

Some days later:

Then a voice drifted into her mind. It was a moment before she could place it. Tom. At the friary: ‘What do you want, Mara?’ Actually, she thought, I want to paint. And for one light-headed moment she felt her spirit rise up and go whirling over the river.

Who are we meant to be? Over the years we live out our brief lives until the moment we die. An obituary would record our qualities, our successes and failures, but to what end? 

Is there another me, not of flesh and blood but of soul and spirit? Another life to live; another road set before us.

A Strange God

The novel presents two forms of Christianity that are in stark contrast: the fundamentalist, fanatics who are sure the end of the world is not far off and the staid, traditionlists of the Church of England. Mara has rejected both, yet she cannnot escape a nagging feeling that there is another way of believing. At Christmas, one evening, she is outside her parent's house as the snow falls, waving godbye to a friend.

In the porch the candle flame guttered in some unseen draught. Mara began to walk back towards the house. The flame steadied itself and burnt on in the uncomprehending dark.

A clear reference to the well-known Christmas reading from John's gospel: 

"In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." Jn 1:4-5

The darkness in Mara's life is the profound loss of her twin sister. Light is still shining yet she is unable to comprehend it.

Andrew, a fellow graduate plays an important part in the novel. He too has given up his faith and understands Mara's struggles. In this passage she is talking with Andrew and boils over in rage against, God. 

‘Don’t try to placate me! She was my only friend and they took her away from me! That’s the kind of god I’m supposed to believe in? I’d rather burn in hell.’ 

‘Well, what if there’s another kind?’ he asked. “Merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love”? ’

Later Andrew says to her:

‘You believe in a very strange god, Mara.’ 

‘I don’t.’ She felt insulted. The god she so faithfully didn’t believe in wasn’t at all strange. 

‘You don’t think irrational sadism is an odd quality for the Divine Being to possess?’ 

She looked blank. 

‘Listen. God creates a woman and gives her the ability to draw like an angel. He fixes it so that there is nothing in the world she would rather do than draw, then he damns her in perpetuity if she picks up a pencil.’ 

Mara stared at him. He’s right. That is what I believe. 

She turned away and faced the window in amazement. She saw the beautiful morning, heard the birds singing on the riverbank, the bells chime. Someone somewhere was laughing at her. She put her hand over her mouth to stop herself joining in. It was a theological gaffe of stupendous proportions. 

So that was the angel’s message. For an instant she saw it again in her memory, like sunlight flashing off a distant window, the fierce eyes, the wrathful joy. Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, you fatheaded finite fool. How can you even have thought it? She remembered Andrew’s earlier words: What if there’s another kind of God? Gracious, slow to anger. She heard herself laugh.

Unrelenting Grace

Mara projected a personality of cold, indifference as protective armour to keep people at a safe distance. She didn't want anyone too close and certainly not a God who could not save her sister. The novel plots the steady attacks on her defences until they are finally breached. In Christian understanding it is the unrelenting Grace of God that breaks through.

The poet Francis Thompson wrote the poem, The Hound of Heaven on this theme:

I fled Him down the nights and down the days

I fled Him down the arches of the years

I fled Him down the labyrinthine ways

Of my own mind, and in the midst of tears

I hid from him, and under running laughter.

Up vistaed hopes I sped and shot precipitated

Adown titanic glooms of chasm'd fears

From those strong feet that followed, followed after

But with unhurrying chase and unperturbe d pace,

Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,

They beat, and a Voice beat,

More instant than the feet:

All things betray thee who betrayest me.

Both Mara and Johnny reject the God of Christian conformity and go through doubt, darkness, despair and anger before they finally hear a voice speaking to them individually. Then their faltering faith can throw off dead dogma and creeds and become a living thing. 

"Wrong, wrong, wrong wrong,,,," Am I wrong too? Are you?

 * “Don’t call me Naomi,(pleasant)” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter" Ruth 1: 20"

Quotes from: Fox, Catherine. Angels and Men . SPCK. Kindle Edition. 

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The G-question 3: Two Kingdoms

The apostle Paul found himself pulled in two directions:

“The good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.”

There were two opposing forces in his life which we all recognise. Jesus called these forces the Kingdom of the World and the Kingdom of God.

Our physical self is the product of evolution, the survival of the fittest. It is governed by the laws and equations of biology, chemistry and physics. Survival is built into our genes so we are driven to think constantly about ourselves and our own needs - for warmth, food, shelter, rest, self-gratification and so on. This is how I understand the Kingdom of the World. 

"Love", in this me-first world is expressed in the sexual desire that has evolved to procreate the next generation, in family affection and friendship that enable the survival of the tribe, and in our “love” of money, power and possessions which are humanity's survival systems.

Yet me-first, is not all we are; another kingdom is at work within us, an altruistic force that puts the needs of others before our own. This other kingdom was the focus of Jesus teaching. Matthew records the start of Jesus’ ministry in these words:

“Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”.

I prefer to use a less religious phrase - the Kingdom of Sacrificial Love. I believe this is the essence of the good news (gospel) that Jesus preached. He was directing his followers away from a self-centred life to a love-centred life. Bishop John Robinson, in his book Honest to God, titled his chapter on Jesus, "The Man for Others".

The Kingdom of Unselfish Love runs counter to our ego-centric, selfish, evolution-born selves. Where scientific laws and maths equations rule the Kingdom of the World, self-sacrifice, repentance and forgiveness are the laws that rule in the Kingdom of Sacrificial Love.

Jesus was faced with the conflict between these two kingdoms before the start of his ministry. Matthew's account tells of him retreating to a wilderness for 40 days where he was tempted by Satan. There were three challenges. - personal survival, personal status, and personal ambition. He rejected all three.

In the “Blessed” sayings listed in Mat. Ch 5, Jesus spelled out those who are blessed by God: the poor, the pure in heart, the merciful, the peacemakers, those hungry for righteousness and so on, and later in the Sheep & Goats parable he teaches that the division of humanity after death is based on sacrificial love, not on what you believe.

In The Sermon on The Mount (Mt: 5-7) Jesus sets out the values of the Kingdom of Heaven but sets an impossible standard:

“You must be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect”

He finishes with the challenge to build the house of our lives on the rock of the Kingdom of  Sacrificial Love, not simply by hearing his words but by living them out.

Our inevitable failure to live the sacrificial life means we constantly need forgiveness. Jesus taught that forgiveness has a price, not the price of his death on the cross but the price of our forgiveness of others. The prayer he taught his disciples includes, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”. This prayer is entirely about asking for  Kingdom of Sacrificial Love to come ever more completely into our lives as we face the daily choice between the values of the two kingdoms.

We have created a society where the gods of money and power rule – the survival of the richest. We completely ignore Jesus’ warnings about camels and needles, or rich farmers building bigger barns.

Jesus’ way of sacrificial love is a narrow way, few find it and few live it. The writer G K Chesterton said:

“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.”

In Conclusion

Though I am no longer a traditional Christian believer I remain a faltering disciple of Jesus and believe in his Gospel of The Kingdom of Sacrificial Love.

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The G-Question 4 - What is Truth?

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The G-Question 1: Mystery & Certainty

 

Mystery and our need for Certainty.

Mystery and certainty – in face of the former we seek the later. Our curiosity and imagination are stimulated by the unknown. They are the driving forces behind advances in science, maths and technology but despite huge progress many of the mysteries surrounding the human condition remain unexplained. Religion and philosophy step in to fill the voids in our understanding. We seem to need the comfort of words of wisdom, gods and myths in the same way that Linus needs his security blanket in the Peanuts cartoons. 

Take these age-old questions:

• Why is there something rather than nothing?
• Was there really a Big Bang? What banged and what came before it?
• How did life begin and is there life elsewhere in the universe?
• Are human beings just highly complicated physics or is there something else, like an eternal soul?
• Do we have free will?
• Is there a God (or perhaps gods) and if so, what is God like?
• Is death the absolute end of us, or is there an existence beyond death?
• Where do the laws of science come from?
• Are moral laws just a human invention or are they built into the universe?
• Do miracles really happen?
• Etc etc

Science, philosophy and religion grapple with these questions. Some religions claim to have answers, but unlike science where consensus arises over time, there is no philosophy or religious belief that has universal consent.

Why do we believe what we believe, and how do we know if we are right?

The Believing Brain by Michael Shermer addresses this question.

Here is a summary:

Core ideas:

1. Patternicity: Our brains are wired to find patterns in random data. This tendency helps us make sense of the world but can also lead to false beliefs.
2. Agenticity: We often attribute agency to these patterns, believing that intentional agents (like gods, spirits, or conspirators) are behind them.
3. Belief Formation: Beliefs are formed first, often based on emotional or intuitive responses, and then rationalized with logic and evidence.
4. Confirmation Bias: Once a belief is established, we seek out information that confirms it and ignore or dismiss evidence that contradicts it.
5. Cognitive Dissonance: When confronted with conflicting information, we experience discomfort and are motivated to reduce this dissonance, often by reinforcing our existing beliefs.
6. Science as a Tool: Shermer advocates for the scientific method as a way to test and validate beliefs, helping us distinguish between true and false patterns.

These ideas illustrate how our brains can both help and hinder our understanding of reality. 

Whatever our belief system, religious, humanist, philosophical, political, economic and so on there is a desire to be right, and our thinking will be strongly directed by the first five of Shermer’s core ideas. Once our beliefs are firmly established it becomes hard to question or overturn them. But the proper position for Homo rationalis is to treat beliefs with a degree of scepticism, being prepared to modify them in the light of new evidence and our own development, or even abandon them altogether. 

Shermer advocates using science based reasoning as a tool.

1. The Null hypothesis:
   The assumption that something is not true until proven otherwise.
2. Burden of proof: 
   The burden of proof lies with those making a positive claim not with those who do not believe the claim. E.g. UFOs exist.  Then show me an alien, or alien spacecraft. There is a God. Then give me the evidence.
3. Science of convergence: 
   Where lots of lines of evidence from different science disciplines converge on the same conclusion. The Theory of Evolution rest on data from many fields - geology, palaeontology, botany, zoology, biogeography, comparative anatomy and physiology, genetics, etc.
   If someone wishes to challenge the evidence, they must overturn every piece from every field by giving alternative explanations for each one.
4. The Comparative Method: 
   This is a way of looking at history and asking why did this happen and not that? E.g why was America colonised by Europeans and not the other way round? Why is North Korea much poorer than South Korea? Explanations for these must rest on many lines of hard evidence not just simple ideas such as race superiority or ideology.
5. Positive Evidence: 
   The principle of positive evidence states you must have positive evidence in favour of your theory and not just negative evidence against rival theories. Creationists cannot assert the lack of a scientific theory for how life began means the theory of evolution is wrong and that God is the only explanation.

The Fundamentalist's & Certainy

Religions claim to have answers to the mystery of humanity's existence, but how does a non-religious person seeking spiritual truth decide which religion to embrace? For fundamentalist believers  there is only one choice, their way or no way, and that choice determines a person's eternal destiny. If this really is at stake it must be the most important decision of one’s life, yet there is no rational way to make it. Suppose you make the wrong choice, what then?

Fundamentalism is all about certainty - the certainty of being right and the certainty everyone else is wrong. It not only pits one religion against another but inevitably leads to conflict as one certainty seeks to impose itself over another. In England, Catholics and Protestants vied for supremacy with bloody consequences.  Islamic states demand conformity to the Koran and Sharia Law and crack down harshly on dissent. Under Modi in India, Hindu-based nationalism is growing and causing conflict with other faiths and secularists. In the USA, Christian Nationalists, who are mainly white evangelical fundamentalists, are aiming to impose their Christian values on the whole population because they are certain they are doing the will of God.

Certainty is a Creed of Death

 This short poem attacks the certainties of belief sytems:

The Place Where We Are Right 

by Yehuda Amichai (Israeli poet)

From the place where we are right

flowers will never grow in the spring.

The place where we are right

is hard and trampled like a yard.

But doubts and loves

dig up the world

like a mole, a plough.

And a whisper will be heard in the place

where the ruined house once stood.

The opposite of faith is not doubt but certainty - Ann Lamott

Death and taxes are reckoned to be life's great certainties. Taxes we put up with, but death as the end point of human existence is harder to accept. An indifferent and meaningless universe seems to be an afront to our sense of right and wrong and our desire for justice. If physical laws govern the physical universe are there built in moral laws too? 

We are biological creatures but are we also spiritual beings? Where does reality lie?

The G-Questiion 2: Model Dependent Realism

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