The Jesus Women Book

I was raised going to church each Sunday and enduring Sunday School to the point of being confirmed in the Methodist Church when in my early teens. As with most young people, parents determine the direction one takes in early life. My father, an ordained minister who did not preach but worked for the church in administration and was a biblical scholar with two PhD's in theology, insisted on church attendance, but beyond that made absolutely no attempt to instruct me in religion, though impressing me greatly with the way he lived his life.

You would expect that like most I would follow in the path laid down for me. I did consider myself a Christian into my twenties but had no interest in church or religion. Little by little what faith I had was worn away through reading and simply living a life that seemed to have no need of nor connection to mythology. Eventually, though feeling a bit anxious at merely thinking there is no god, I realized I had no faith at all and could make no sense of the church, the church which over time has come to seem quite bizarre not to mention the practices of professed Christians that could not be more contrary to what Jesus said. Yet I retained respect for what I knew of Jesus' teachings.

I wish I had read The Life of Jesus long ago because it is a powerful and persuasive book that presents Jesus as only a man, but a very unusual one suited for the time in which he lived. He was not alone in having a particular outlook that attracted followers. There were many rabbis going about Palestine seeking to influence people. There was plenty of talk about a messiah that would be heralded by the appearance of two ancient prophets. There was emotional unrest with thoughts of end times. Judaism was restless under Roman rule. Some talked of revolt. Expectations were high for something to happen though the specifics could not be told.

Yet Jesus had something to say that made him stand out. He spoke of behavior being driven by the heart, not any religious laws. He looked for sincerity in belief, not for religion worn on the sleeve by going through the motions prescribed by religious law. His fought hypocrisy and pride placing the man or woman who could put aside self interest for others as most worthy. He claimed to be the messiah who had come to call humanity to salvation before the generally accepted idea that a day of judgement was coming soon. Turning the other cheek, offering more than was asked, fraternizing with the outcast, being open to all. It all came down to the thought expressed by Gandhi so many centuries later, "the only salvation for a man is if he puts himself last."

This is so contrary to human behavior that we naturally wonder how anyone could make it sound attractive. Because virtually nothing was written about Jesus until over a century after he died the question of what kind of person he was has always intrigued people. Renan builds the case that Jesus was adorable (a much overused word today). He impressed by practicing what he preached. It can be done, I do it, now do likewise is far more powerful than preaching. And he was always open to questions, sometimes baffling a questioner but stimulating thought at the same time. Where had this simple carpenter come to hold such consistent and powerful views?

A century is far longer than any lifetime so we have to look to the writers of the Gospels as the only source for what Jesus said. Renan takes us into what the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John say, always keeping in mind that science comes first and we cannot use mythology to prove anything. No miracles happened, though it was a time when people were credulous and looked for miracles, setting the stage for the easy spread of stories of raising the dead or providing loaves and fishes.

Renan paints a picture of the region, the Galilee on Lake Tiberius, where fishing was the occupation and lives were rural and simple in comparison to that lived in Jerusalem. Jesus had a far easier time with Galileans than with the worldly residents of the big city. This book shines in that all within it is believable. Renan was not there at the time of course, but he never presents anything that is not plausible.

The reader also gets introduced in detail to all the people of the time who interacted with Jesus. We learn about Pontius Pilate, even the derivation of his name, of Herod Antipas, of John the Baptist. We get the entire sequence of events with explanations for why Jesus went here or there.

Was Jesus deluded? Yes. His own immediate family thought he was mad. Did he experience doubts, anguish, fear like anyone else might? Yes, but he was convinced of his vision and presented a consistent and logical view that has impressed people ever since. Renan is avowedly a follower of Jesus and repeatedly expresses his admiration for the long surviving philosophy that presents no dogma but goes straight to the heart in making a case for human behavior so out of the ordinary that it still impresses us today.

To me, the question that stands above all others regarding Christianity is the reliance on an afterlife as a reward for good behavior in this world. Pascal wagered that one should believe because if there is an afterlife and if you have not believed, you are doomed. What do you have to lose by believing? I suspect that at the pearly gates Pascal would be sent below because his wager is really a move based on his own self interest. And that is the problem with what Jesus taught. If he had neglected the promise of eternal life would he have drawn followers? If the first shall be last and the last shall be first, then being humble is just a way to end up first, and for eternity!

Kant wrote that all of the mythology in Christianity is not to be dismissed because it wins over the masses who would not otherwise behave in the way that Christ asks us to behave. Renan presents The Life of Jesus with this thought framing it though he never states it.

I close with a question for you. Would Jesus' teachings hold power, would they have resulted in the spread of Christianity, would man behave better toward his fellow man, if that behavior was expected without anything offered beyond it being a good thing to do...the golden rule by itself?

The Bible is a maze of writings by many people that is so confusing that experts (like my father was) are challenged to make sense of it. At the other extreme are those who simply take it all literally, a cardinal sin for this skeptic. When it comes to the story of Jesus, let Ernest Renan make things clear for you in this book from 1863.