Re: Book review: Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium (Bart D.Ehrman)

On 2007-01-27, David Wynne-Griffiths <davidwg@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The message <slrnerh49e.qod.ac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
from Anthony Campbell <ac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> contains these words:

In outline, we are invited to see Jesus as an apocalypticist.
That is, he was sure that the world was about to come to an end
almost immediately; God would intervene to overthrow the forces
of evil, destroying huge masses of people in the process, after
which the Kingdom of God would be instituted to usher in a new
order of peace and harmony. All this was supposed to happen
within the lifetime of Jesus himself, or at least the lifetimes
of his disciples.

As the years went by after Jesus's death it became obvious that
his expectations were not going to be literally fulfilled, at
least in the immediate future. Many Christians therefore
interpreted his words in a figurative sense; perhaps they
referred to a judgement that people faced at the time of death,
or the Kingdom might be the community of the faithful living in
peace and harmony with one another. And Jesus himself was
transformed from a Jewish teacher and miracle-worker into a
divine incarnation.

If Jesus was really the son of a god how could he have been so utterly
mistaken? or is the truth that he was just an apocalypticist whose
limited message was then manipulated and massaged into a religion?


In outline this, I understand, is approximately Ehrman's position.

AC

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Anthony Campbell - ac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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