July 2000

ABC TV Attacks Jesus Christ

""Peter Jennings Reporting: The Search for the Historic Jesus,"" on ABC (aired June 26, 2000), should serve as a wake up call for Christians interested in the integrity of the scriptures and some of the ""new scholarship"" concerning who Jesus was and what He truly did. Many things stood out in the program, which purported to tell ""what we really know about Jesus."" First, it was entirely slanted toward the ""scholarship"" of what is known as ""The Jesus Seminar."" These are scholars who have banded together for the purpose of determining what, if anything, is true in the gospel accounts of the life of Jesus. Their methodology and means for determining this is questionable at best. In addition, much of the program was devoted to the ""political"" nature of Jesus, with one scholar finally comparing Him to Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr. more...

The "New" New Testament Scholarship

ABC's recent program about Jesus relied heavily upon a certain kind of scholarship: liberal scholarship. While these scholars regularly play fast and loose with truth and history they are absolutely dedicated to bringing their ideas out of academia and into the mainstream, to reach the average Bible reader and impact the lives of those who believe the Bible. Tragically, it seems to be working. America seems to have an almost unsuspecting naivete of anyone with Ph.D. after their name. Whatever Dr. Liberal says must be so - after all, he was on TV, right? Of course, the media is a willing partner in promoting such liberal and modernistic thought. Time magazine writes, ""There are, after all, four Gospels, whose actual writing, most scholars have come to acknowledge, was done not by the Apostles but by their anonymous followers (or their followers' followers). Each presented a somewhat different picture of Jesus' life. The earliest appeared to have been written some 40 years after his Crucifixion.""1 Is that true? It is past time for an examination of the so-called quest for the historical Jesus and the scholarship behind it. We will conduct that examination by looking carefully at The Jesus Seminar, the leading modernistic group today that ABC and other media sources call upon continually to supply them with material designed to reshape America's view of Jesus. more...

Was Jesus' Body Eaten By Dogs?

Imagine this scenario: It is the first Sunday following the crucifixion of Jesus. Several of the women who have followed Him have gathered at the tomb where He was placed. They are carrying oils and spices to anoint His body and, after finding someone to remove the stone before the tomb, they do so. They go away in great sadness. 100 years pass. The tomb is now grown over. 1000 years pass. The tomb has been covered and built upon. No one even knows where it is anymore, but the body of Jesus has long since decayed and withered away. more...

Is John's Gospel Historically Accurate

Among the Gospels no work has been so abused, misused and denied authority like John. We wonder if this state of affairs is due to the book's stated purpose: proving that Jesus is the Christ. "". . . these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name."" (John 20:30-31). As this conflicts with the agenda of those who attack the scriptures John has been one of their primary targets in their work to discredit scripture. more...

Who Do You Say That I Am?

Matthew tells of Jesus asking His disciples ""Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"" (Matthew 16:13). They replied that some thought He was John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or a prophet. The Lord was not deterred. Again He asked, ""But who do you say that I am?"" (verse 15). Jesus' point is clear: each must come to a decision about His identity. It is not enough to discuss what others have said about Jesus. You must personally decide who Jesus is. You have now read a great deal of what others are saying about Jesus. Now it is time to decide whom you say He is. more...

The Preacher's Pen

In some ways it is easy to dismiss liberal and modernistic scholars like ABC relied upon in their lame program about Jesus. We look at all of that, shake our heads, chuckle a bit and go on our way. Yet I wonder sometimes if we fully realize the impact that modernistic scholarship can make in our lives. more...