Friday, April 14, 2006

the hunt for the 'historical Jesus'


Sometimes the latest theories about "who Jesus was" or "what he did" sound more like Enquirer stories than anything remotely resembling history. In my mind they appear much like the following:


  (Note: neither of these are actual Enquirer covers - I modified them to make a point)

my Jesus

so this is what we wanted to prove Jesus through our intellect to show that He met up to our standards of historical science we tried to have God on our own terms then we realized that history is not a science and neither is science because we are not scientific and neither is God

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but by then it was too late we already had the Jesus seminar and the historical Jesus movement which were essentially glorified predecesors to the Da Vinci Code historical fictions without the history as if such a history would satisfy our souls were it even possible

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we wanted a personal Jesus no, I wanted a personal Jesus not you, not we, because there is no 'we' we, i mean i, cannot prove a 'we' and yet i write to you who isn't because i don't know you scientifically, that is

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and so i want a personal relationship with Christ my Jesus, my way my documents, my pictures, my videos or at mcdonalds my fries, my drink, my shake my forbidden fruit my Jesus, my homeboy

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maybe if He's really mine maybe if he's really mine i don't need him to be Other after all, i can't prove the Other scientifically

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so he is a god, is he? but he's my god because i have a personal relationship with him just me and i can prove him scientifically i mean historically it doesn't really matter my intellect, my way he was a man like me i showed you that or at least i showed me that historically scientifically

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our stars, our gods they're not so shiny they're not so holy they fall, like you and me they die, like you and me he died, like you and me he fell, like you and me

or like me i think because i don't know you or he just me scientifically, that is

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we're really all the same if there were a we because all of you all of he is really me we all fall i fell

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maybe we're all gods maybe i'm a god, i mean maybe i'm the God 50 cent is my god because he makes me feel like God at least he admits he's fallen the rest i have to drag down oh, they'll fall eventually, obviously they'll die but not fast enough for me

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the deader they are, the more alive i feel the faster they fall, the more god-like i feel

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i am what i am sounds familiar isn't that from the bible somewhere? it must've been talking about me after all, it's only a book i could write a book i practically wrote it myself that's what my history says

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so i can't get away from you whoever you is my fear is that you are an indication of a He but maybe if i pretend that you are not an indication but He, but he then i can pretend that i, too am He, am he

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then we can rejoice in our humanity

and sing hosannas to ourselves until we fall, until we die until i fall, until i die

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my reoccuring nightmare, though my only dream is that when i fall, when i die, there will be a He a He that died for my fall but a He that rose again historically scientifically for me but...