Archive for April, 2010

The Comeback Plan

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 by JEL

Christianity has been having a tough time of late. Child sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church (deemed “petty gossip” by a Vatican spokesman), Hutaree militias plotting to kill police officers, the list goes on. The Guardian’s Hadley Freeman has devised a decidedly tongue-in-cheek strategy to restore Christianity’s image:

  1. Ally itself with Apple.
  2. Check into a sex-addiction clinic.
  3. Embark on a tour of the national media to tell everyone that Christianity is now going into hiding.
  4. Hold press conferences at major group events to prove one’s humility, thereby ensuring that all attention is taken away from the other, competing religions.
  5. Marry Jennifer Aniston or Cheryl Cole.

Please note the “Irreverant” categorization of this post. We all need a little satire once in a while. Read the whole thing here.

Christianity and Not Christianity

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010 by JEL

We created What He Said for many reasons. One, because the Bible is a hard book to read. We thought that designing the words of Christ in a new, easy-on-the-eye layout would help people get to the essential Christian lessons of love and peace and tolerance much easier than all the Bibles in their homes that never get pulled off the shelf and really read. And two, because we saw (and see) so many examples of self-proclaimed Christians acting in ways completely contrary to their professed faith. Maybe if they had an easy guide to the teachings of Christ they might reconsider some of their beliefs. And put the guns aside.

This article/editorial discusses “false witnesses” in the ever-growing movement of hate groups:

“It always seemed to me that there was a whole lot more to being a Christian than just believing in Jesus, that too many call themselves that without really knowing what it means and, in far too many cases, to justify behavior that is the antitheses of true Christianity.”

In discussing the arrest of the Michigan couple planning to kill law-enforcement officers, Dan Thomasson continues:

“The problem is that these people aren’t alone. Disaffected, ignorant followers of the philosophy of violence are popping up everywhere. They’re being helped by the Internet and the easy access to weapons. The high rate of unemployment has left otherwise normal citizens disaffected and vulnerable to the likes of those who hide behind religious masks and crazy schemes. Be careful. They aren’t Christians.”

Good Friday

Friday, April 2nd, 2010 by JEL

Happy Good Friday, everyone. I hope you will enjoy the beautiful spring weather (after so much cold and rain) and take a moment to witness all the re-birth and renewal that is happening around you.

For an account of what happened on Good Friday, you could certainly grab your copy of What He Said and read the narrative of the Four Gospels. Or, you could rely on trusty Wikipedia. Interesting to see that the Crucifixion of Jesus was “most probably on a Monday” in the year 33 AD.

Life In Year One

Thursday, April 1st, 2010 by PJM

Religion scholar Scott Korb has written a history book detailing everyday life 2,000 years ago. It is entitled ‘Life In Year One’: The World As Jesus Found It and he is careful to point out that, while the book describes people in Jesus’ time, it is not a book about Jesus. Korb was interviewed yesterday on NPR’s Talk of the Nation. You can find out more, listen to the interview and read an excerpt here.

I thought his response to a question about the accuracy of the written record was interesting:

…where we find discrepancies from one Gospel to another, that doesn’t really tell us anything about Jesus. It tells us about the people who were writing about Jesus.