There is a wide range of views concerning Jesus. If you watch TV documentaries about Jesus for very long, you'll hear all sorts of ideas: that he was a Jewish apocalyptic prophet, that he studied in India and returned to Palestine as a wise sage, that he ran off to France with Mary Magdalene. The list goes on and on. In all of my reading and classes on the subject, though, I have always heard, "Every serious scholar acknowledges that Jesus was indeed an historical figure. Barely anyone denies this claim." I have always thought that scholars who deny Jesus' historical existence were like Honus Wagner T206 baseball cards--you know there's a few out there, but chances are, you won't come across one.
Until today.
For one of my classes, I am reading The Historical Jesus: Five Views. This book consists of essays about historical Jesus studies from five notable scholars in the field. These five scholars write from the full spectrum of views, from a very liberal stance to a conservative one. Today I read the first essay, which is entitled "Jesus at the Vanishing Point" and is written by Robert M. Price. Price is one of those scholars that you always hear about in whispers but rarely bump into. The main thesis of his essay is that there never was an historical Jesus.
My purpose in this post is not to critique the material of Price's essay. The book includes responses by the other four contributors, and they each do a much better job that I could. Needless to say, I disagree with pretty much everything Price writes. But what I find most interesting about this essay, and perhaps the most troubling, is when Price writes that he is "now a happy Episcopalian. I rejoice to take the Eucharist every week and to sing the great hymns of the faith. For me the Christ of faith has all the more importance since I think it most probable that there was never any other" (56).
That absolutely blows my mind.
Price completely denies that Jesus ever lived. Everything contained in the gospels is thrown out the window. No incarnation. No sinless life. No crucifixion. No resurrection. And yet, even though he rejects all of this, Price still places himself in the Christian camp. He goes to church. He sings the songs and takes the Lord's Supper. And I simply wonder: Why?
I remember having a similar reaction when I read The Meaning of Jesus by Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright. Borg is a member of the Jesus Seminar, and though he may not be quite as extreme as Price, his views concerning Jesus certainly don't follow orthodox Christianity. Most notably to me, Borg rejects the bodily resurrection of Jesus. He writes, "I see the empty tomb and whatever happened to the corpse of Jesus to be ultimately irrelevant to the truth of Easter" (130). He goes on to explain his belief that after Jesus' death, his followers "continued to experience Jesus as a living reality," even though his body was not brought back to life (135). In spite of his beliefs, Borg, like Price, says that he is "committed to the vigorous practice of the Christian faith" and is involved in church life (vii).
What if Borg and Price were right? What if Jesus never did rise from the dead? What if he never existed at all?
Would I still be a Christian?
Nope.
No matter how I slice things up, I can't see any reason to be a Christian without Jesus. Unlike some other religions, Christianity is one that is founded in history. It's grounded in a person--the incarnate Son of God who gave his life on a Roman cross and walked out of his tomb three days later. If the New Testament is wrong about the central doctrines of who Jesus is and what he did, then the Christian faith is a sham. It's irrelevant. Even the apostle Paul wrote that if Jesus were not raised from the dead, our faith would be futile and we would be pitied more than all men. We would be wasting our time. Christianity stands or falls on Jesus. Christianity is not about the Lord's Supper or singing hymns or being baptized. These practices only have meaning as they are grounded in the historical reality of Jesus. Without him, there's nothing.
Thankfully, though, Jesus is real. He really did live two thousand years ago. He really did die for our sins and then conquer death through the resurrection. He really does promise us eternal life with him. The things the New Testament tells us about him are true. Jesus' feet made footprints in the Palestinian sand. His blood left stains on the wood of his cross. His burial clothes were left behind in the tomb. He really did live, and he continues to live.
And that's why I'm a Christian.
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