Jesus, continued:
"Saint Paul has almost nothing to tell us about the earthly life of Jesus. We simply don't know if he did in fact work as a carpenter, if he was married, if he had children, how he paid his bills. We know nothing at all about what he looked like. The conventional European artistic ideal shows him six foot tall and long-haired, like a member of a heavy metal band.
But in all probability he was more Yasser Arafat than Jon Bon Jovi. Even after he begins his famous mission, his life continues to be shrouded in secrecy. Certain miracles appear in some gospels, inexplicably not in others. Scholars can't agree on exactly where he was at most points in his life. We can't even say for sure that he had 12 disciples (Only three names occur in all the gospels: Peter, Andrew and Judas Iscariot). Like a saga from folklore or ancient legend, the story changes radically depending on who is telling it.
On even the most central event of the Jesus story, the resurrection itself, you wouldn't know exactly what you are being invited to believe. The accounts contained in the four gospels completely contradict each other at almost every turn: specifically, on who went to the tomb, on what happened when they got there, on what happened when they left.
This man who claims the allegiance of millions is little more than a shadow in history." |
