Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 19, 1993 TAG: 9312190046
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
When they arrived at church last Sunday morning, many Western Virginia pastors found their congregations abuzz.
This time it wasn't a debate over sex or some new scandal that had people talking. It was the words of Jesus.
Actually, it was a newspaper story that morning that reported on the work of the Jesus Seminar - a group of biblical scholars who say they've figured out that Jesus said only about 20 percent of the things attributed to him in the Bible.
That contention inspired a lot of talk, some anger and compelled numerous pastors to confront the issue.
The Rev. Rick Via, pastor of Rainbow Forest Baptist Church in Blue Ridge, heard church members discussing the story Sunday and decided to preach on the subject at the Wednesday evening service.
The newspaper report read "as if this was a new discovery, when it's been around forever," Via said. "That lie is as old as the Garden of Eden," where Satan is recorded as having tempted Eve by asking her if God really said not to eat the forbidden fruit.
Via, who teaches that the Bible is to be taken literally, told his congregation, "Don't be alarmed or overwhelmed. . . . Jesus said, `Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.' "
Via and other pastors and scholars contacted last week point out that the Jesus Seminar's methods seem to be an application of what is known in theological circles as "form criticism."
Expounded during the first half of the 20th century, its proponents were interested in studying small segments of Scripture and trying to define their historical and functional origins.
Such critics often treated the New Testament skeptically, according to James Barr, Vanderbilt University professor of the Hebrew Bible. They suggested that many of the stories and words of Jesus were made up to serve the purposes of later authors.
David Lanier, associate professor of New Testament at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., contends that the Jesus Seminar's "form critics" found a "social revolutionary" Jesus who didn't say many of the things ascribed to him because that's what they were looking for.
"They are trying to turn Jesus into someone . . . just like themselves," Lanier said.
These critics generally reject biblical quotations attributed to Jesus if they feel the sayings are inconsistent with their understanding of the context of the times or if similar sayings are found in other sources.
Lanier and other opponents of the seminar's approach argue that the conclusions are being presented as facts instead of theories. They also contend the validity of the method depends exclusively on the truth of the presuppositions of those conducting the study.
If he were allowed to make up similar rules of study, Lanier said, he could challenge the validity of modern works in the same way.
"Take the Gettysburg Address: If I start with the supposition that since the Civil War was not over and was not going well, I can further presuppose Lincoln would not say anything positive about it. I would assume anything positive in the speech would have had to be written after the war by some [later] `deutero-Lincoln.' If I followed that rule, I probably would attribute only 60 percent of the original to Lincoln."
The method fails with the Gettysburg Address - and the New Testament, he believes - because its presuppositions are invalid.
Instead of starting from the proposition that the quotations of Jesus must be considered invalid until they can be demonstrated to be true, "Our presupposition is that the Bible is not humanly generated, but divinely inspired," Lanier said.
Despite differences of interpretation and emphasis, that notion of divine inspiration continues to be the bedrock principle underlying most Christian denominations' view of Scripture - including the quotations attributed to Jesus.
"Scripture is the inspired word of God, therefore it is from God," said the Rev. Nicholas Bacalis, priest at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Roanoke.
Though many denominations that reject the conclusions of "form criticism" teach courses about it in their seminaries, that's not true for the Greek Orthodox Church, Bacalis said. Debating the subject would be a "fruitless academic exercise. . . . We accept the message of the Bible. These are messages of faith, not messages of literature."
"We are not so literal as to say those are the exact words of Jesus, but all those teachings go back to Christ," Bacalis said. The teachings also are endorsed by the centuries-old traditions of the church, which were applied when the New Testament was put in final form in the fourth century.
The process of affirming the validity and application of Scripture continues in some denominations, such as the Church of the Brethren.
Individuals should study Scripture for themselves, said the Rev. Karen Carter, a Church of the Brethren minister in Botetourt County. They then test conclusions "against the community of faith. . . . Ministers are encouraged to tell people what we believe, but still need to allow people to come up with conclusions for themselves."
Though there is wide agreement inside the church that Scripture is "divinely inspired," Carter said, there is some disagreement over what that means - particularly about how literally some passages must be taken.
Lay people are sophisticated enough today to be able to handle those questions and others that will be raised by the Jesus Seminar report, said William Lee, pastor of Loudon Avenue Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Roanoke.
In a way, Lee said, he was glad the story came out. Pastors will be compelled to help congregations confront the seminar's conclusions and "allow people to come to grips with what they really believe."
The Rev. Deborah Hentz Hunley, rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Roanoke, agreed. The news story was "useful in getting people to talk about the issue. It raised an opportunity for discussion, and we're not afraid of discussion in the Episcopal tradition."
Hunley said she was surprised by the publicity the seminar attracted, given the fact that its conclusions aren't particularly original.
The seminar's determination that Jesus probably didn't have his disciples memorize the Lord's Prayer in the form it is now commonly recited is unremarkable, Hunley said. "It's an oral tradition. We all know that. Jesus gave them a guideline to pray, and that continues to be helpful to us."
While she approves of scholarly investigation of Jesus' life, Hunley resists "concentrating so totally on the historical figure of Jesus.
"I can't know all about the historical Jesus. I can know the eternal Christ - who was present at the creation and continues to exist - as a matter of faith."
She comes to that understanding through living a spiritual life as well as through study of the "deeply convincing" Gospels.
"There is not a doubt in my mind that Jesus taught the themes" chronicled in the Gospel accounts of his life, said the Rev. Joseph Metzger, assistant pastor of St. Andrews Catholic Church in Roanoke.
"The reason I think it's accurate is that it has everything to do with pastoral care. It's not an administrative document. He was dealing with suffering people."
As in most other Christian traditions, the Bible is considered to have been inspired by God, to be faithful to that revelation and "without error" in the Roman Catholic Church.
"I don't read the Bible literally," Metzger said. But as a reflection of what Jesus taught, "it comes from God." More than that, he said, he cannot believe someone could have made up those stories.
Lee, pastor of Loudon Avenue Christian Church, summed up the reaction of many Christians when he challenged the assertion of one of the Jesus Seminar co-chairmen that people's faith needs additional "tests of historical fact."
"We have enough facts" to sustain a 2,000-year-old faith, Lee said. "We have the fact of the incarnation, the fact of the crucifixion, the fact of the empty tomb."
by CNB