The Jesus Seminar (1985- ) is made up of New Testament scholars and others who meet to determine what Jesus Christ truly said and did. They vote on the degree of truth of passages of the Bible. Then, in a take-off of those Bibles that print the words of Jesus in red, they print colour-coded gospels:
- red – Jesus almost certainly said or did this
- pink – Jesus probably said or did this
- grey (or blue) – Jesus probably did not say or do this
- black – Jesus almost certainly did not say or do this
Pictured above is the Lord’s Prayer as coloured by the Jesus Seminar.
The Jesus Seminar was founded by Robert Funk and had well-known scholars like Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan and Burton L. Mack.
Four notable books they put out:
- “The Complete Gospels” (1991) – 20 known gospels put in everyday American English
- “The Five Gospels” (1993) – what Jesus said
- “The Acts of Jesus” (1998) – what Jesus did
- “Gospel of Jesus” (1999) – just the red and pink parts made into one gospel
Lost gospels: In most Bibles you see just four gospels, those of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but in the first 200 years after Christ there were way more. We have copies, in whole or in part, of at least 22 of them, like those of Mary, Peter and Thomas. We have even been able to reconstruct two lost gospels: Q and Signs.
Based on all known gospels, the Jesus Seminar has examined and voted on everything Jesus was reported to have said or done and have come up with their “Gospel of Jesus”.
Two things seriously wrong with the Jesus Seminar that even I as a layman could see:
- It does not represent the general opinion of New Testament scholars but rather its liberal wing. For example, most scholars believe that Jesus talked about the end of the world, but most in the Seminar do not.
- It moves from conclusions to facts, not the other way round. For example, most in the Seminar do not believe in the supernatural, so statements that report a supernatural event get voted down. Likewise those where Jesus talks about the end of the world or about who he is get voted down – because they do not believe Jesus talked like that.
It turned out to be worse than I thought: A fourth of those in the Seminar were not even published New Testament scholars! One was a Hollywood director, Paul Vorhoeven, he of “RoboCop” (1987) and “Showgirls” (1995).
Robert Funk controlled who was in the Seminar. It produced a Jesus not far from his own ideas.
The Jesus of the Jesus Seminar is a travelling Jewish wise man and faith healer and little more. No walking on water, no Virgin Birth, no Resurrection, no Second Coming, no Judgement Day, no hell, no claims of being the Messiah or the Son of God, no dying for our sins, none of that stuff.
It is an old idea: Thomas Jefferson said much the same 200 years ago. He too wrote his own gospel.
– Abagond, 2012.
See also:
- external links:
- Jesus Seminar – their website
- Unmasking the Jesus Seminar – a readable, online critique of the Seminar from Mark D. Roberts, a conservative New Testament scholar
- Reading Burton L Mack
- Jesus Christ
- Thought for the day – Augustine on the Jesus Seminar
- Jefferson
Really, rejecting magic is “moving from conclusions to facts”? Unlike you of course, who did the responsible and rational thing, namely carefully moving from established facts to wider conclusions: 1) A handful of anonymous people in the olden days said that some guy performed some magic tricks; so 2) he must have really done them.
These “scholars” need to keep an open mind like you, otherwise they’ll be prone to believe stuff that’s not true.
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Debating what a fictional character said or didn’t say? Humans, what are you doing?
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Well said. The Jesus Seminar represented a small fraction of New Testament scholars at best, and the fringe element at that. Then, their determinations were made according to consensus, not real exegetical or literary criticism. The Jesus Seminar was a flash in the pan, and their conclusions are irrelevant to serious biblical scholarship, and certainly has made no lasting contribution to or impact upon Christianity. The real question is why the media consistently uplifts and puts a spotlight upon the fringe element of scholars whose positions on biblical literature and history are the least substantial and the most discrediting to historic Christian faith.
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PS Anyone who says that Jesus is a “fictional character” is totally ignorant, or completely propagandized. No one with any real education or historical sensibility would say that Jesus did not exist.
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Happy Birthday Jesus!
*biting sarcasm*
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Nice to see that you are a man of religion.
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@ Louis DeCaro Jr.
“…Anyone who says that Jesus is a “fictional character” is totally ignorant, or completely propagandized. No one with any real education or historical sensibility would say that Jesus did not exist…”
Unfortunately this would apply to anyone who believes in this fictional portrayal concocted around a real mortal character. Because this is the conclusion you reach when you actually do the historical and self-educating research. But you don’t have to take my word for it.
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@Kwamla,
No i’m not taking your word for it..i’m going to go ask the Sky Daddy about this one.
*leaves comments section*
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Abagond
I have a couple of questions regarding this *think tank.*
Do these New Testament scholars offer any “scholarship” on Jesus’ actual appearance? Do they mention whether he looked like a blue eyed Scandinavian Anglo – as images/depictions of him found in western culture seem to imply?
Do the majority of those in this group believe in a literal Creator/Higher Power/God-Designer?
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Are religious scholars necessary if you are apart of a religion?
The idea of listening to someone else tell me what I believe disturbs me…
Some Christians look to scholars to teach/guide them rather than converse and share ideas with them on an equal level of understanding of the bible.
If a scholarly understanding of the bible is necessary for a faith, does that mean the laypeople are doomed to hell?
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The scholars will say the laypeople should follow the scholars. It is the stranglehold academic “experts” hold on any field.
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Nice to see, that despite our differences, there are still things we can agree on.
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Well usually what is forgotten completely is that Yeshu was a jewish guy. Also what is usually nicely forgotten and/or left out are the historical realities during his life time. That is because there are the religious people on the other side and those who think Yeshu did not even exist.
This is one subject which is very hard to look at rationally and calmly but there is one major major fact that is very conviniently forgotten by both parties: the bone chest of Yeshu has been already found along side with almost his whole family around Jerusalem.
These finds have been documented, confrimed and shown to be real, they have been studied and written off, but still they are nicely forgotten because “experts” on both sides have declared them as “nothing un usual”. In fact, the possibility for such findings (the names in the same grave, from the same time, in the same area) are simply beyond the whole population of the first century Palestine UNLESS they belong to that family bible is talking about.
Several other historical persons are accepted by much lesser argeological evidence than this Yeshu from the first century, whose bones were studied even in Toronto, but, you guessed, are some how now missing in action. 😀
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People will continue to view Jesus Christ as fictional and or real is every way the gospels say.
The question as to how credible the Jesus Seminar are? I don’t think they are very credible for the same reasons Abagond presented. I would have asked them, if given the opportunity, Why Jesus almost certainly did not say the words in black?
However, I am certain what the answer will be.
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@ sam it was already stated that the names in that tomb was so common jewish names during Jesus time. That tomb could’ve belong to anyone, just because the name on the tomb is Yeshi doesn’t mean it belongs to the one in the Christian Bible. Joshua, Jesus, Mary, John and I can’t remember the other names or the Hebrew Names of Mary and Joshua were common names. Also Why would Jesus’ mother and brothers be buried in his tomb and not Joseph tomb. Mary should have been burried with Joseph ( her Husband not her son’s) tomb. If Jesuse didn’t die on the Cross like that guy wants everyone to believe.
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This Jesus seminar sounds like a “fringe group”
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