Seven world-class religion scholars are convening in New Orleans this weekend at the 6th annual Greer Heard Point Counterpoint forum. The topic? “The Message of Jesus: What Did He Really Teach?” The headline event has the following heavyweights going toe-to-toe on their beliefs:

• John Dominic Crossan, a theologian and co-founder of the Jesus Seminar, who doesn’t believe Jesus actually spoke most of those quotes in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. To this former Catholic priest, Jesus was a “philosopher, teacher and subversive who undermined the social order with a new ethic.”
• Ben Witherington III, evangelical theologian, will take on the traditional Christian viewpoint.