CHRISTIANS BELIEVE JESUS WAS THE SON OF GOD, BORN TO THE 

VIRGIN MARY AND HER CARPENTER HUSBAND, JOSEPH. WITH HIS 

CRUCIFIXION, HE REDEEMED OR RESCUED MANKIND. WITH HIS 

RESURRECTION, HE GAVE THE PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE BUT

A GROUP NORTH AMERICAN THEOLOGIANS AND HISTORIANS ARE

RAISING QUESTIONS ABOUT JEUSUS -- AND THE ACCURACY OF

NEW TESTAMENT.

ABOUT 50 SCHOLARS MAKE UP THE SO-CALLED "JESUS SEMINAR." THEY SAY THEY'RE WORKING TO UNEARTH NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE LIFE OF CHRIST -- FROM WHAT THEY SAY ARE CENTURIES OF CHURCH DOGMA AND MYTH. THEY SAY THEIR APPROACH IS TO ANALYZE BIBLICAL TEXTS -- USING THE LATEST KNOWLEDGE OF THE CULTURE, HISTORY, POLITICS, AND LANGUAGE OF ANCIENT PALESTINE. IN THE PROCESS, THEY DOWN-PLAY THE DIVINE NATURE OF JESUS -- IN FAVOR OF HIS HUMAN SIDE.

MARCUS BORG IS AN OXFORD-EDUCATIONED PROFESSOR OF RELIGION AND CULTURE AT OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY IN CORVALLIS.

FOR MANY MAINLINE CHRISTIANS IN NORTH AMERICA, AN OLDER WAY OF UNDERSTANDING JESUS HAS CEASED TO WORK FOR THEM -- ONE THAT WAS EXCLUSIVE: CHRISTIANITY IS THE ONLY WAY OF SALVATION, THAT STRESSED THE VIRGIN BIRTH, AND (JESUS) DYING FOR OUR SINS. IN RELIGIOUSLY PLURALISTIC TIMES, THAT OLDER WAY IS NOT PERSUASIVE. MANY OF THESE PEOPLE HAVE REMAINED PART OF CHURCH, BUT IN A HALF-HEARTED WAY -- THEY [TELL ME], " I ALWAYS FELT I HAD TO CROSS MY FINGERS WHEN [WE HEARD] "JESUS WAS BORN OF A VIRGIN...." OF "JESUS ASCENDED BODILY INTO HEAVEN."

PROFESSOR BORG SAYS THE SEMINAR STRESSES THE LESSONS -- BUT NOT THE LITERAL LANGUAGE -- OF THE NEW TESTAMENT GOSPELS. THUS, THE VIRGIN BIRTH IS NOT TAKEN AT FACE VALUE -- BUT AS AN INTERPRETABLE STORY. MANY IN THE SEMINAR SAY ANCIENT CULTURES OFTEN USED LITERARY EMBELLISHMENTS -- LIKE BEING BORN FROM THE GODS -- TO EXPLAIN THE SPECIAL QUALITIES OF HISTORICAL FIGURES. ALSO, THEY SAY ANCIENT STORYTELLING DID NOT ALWAYS ADHERE STRICTLY TO FACTS -- WHICH THEY SAY ARE A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE SCIENTIFIC MODEL USED TODAY.

LIKEWISE, THE GOSPEL OF LUKE TELLS THE STORY OF JESUS' EXPECTANT MOTHER MARY VISITING HER PREGNANT COUSIN ELIZABETH AND HER HUSBAND ZECHARIAH. AN ANGEL HAS ANNOUNCED TO ZECHARIAH THAT DESPITE THEIR ADVANCED AGE, GOD WILL BLESS HE AND HIS WIFE WITH A CHILD. THE BABY, IN FACT, TURNS OUT TO BE ANOTHER PIVOTAL NEW TESTAMENT FIGURE, JOHN THE BAPTIST.

RAY HOOVER IS AN ORDAINED CLERGYMAN WITH THE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST -- AND A PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE AND OF RELIGION AT WHITMAN COLLEGE IN WALLA WALLA, WASHINGTON:

IN LUKE'S STORY, AN OLD AND BARREN WOMAN, ELIZABETH, AND A YOUNG AND INEXPERIENCED ONE, MARY, FIND THEIR LIVES GRACED BY THE SPECIAL MEANING IN CONCEIVING AND BEARING A CHILD. IT IS NOT BE OVERLOOKED -- THAT A SIGNIFICANT NEW LIFE COME INTO BEING AMONG ORDINARY PEOPLE. LUKE SAYS LIFE CAN BE GRACED EVEN IN MODEST CIRCUMSTANCES. THE POWER TO CHANGE HISTORY CAN COME INTO BEING AMONG ORDINARY [PEOPLE], NOT JUST THE HIGH AND MIGHTY. WE EXPECT CREATIVITY TO COME AMONG THE YOUNG. LUKE SUGGESTS GRACE CAN COME INTO OUR LIVES AT ANY AGE. SOMETHING NEW CAN TRANSFORM ONE'S LIFE'S MEANING IN ONE'S MIDDLE OR OLD AGE.

THE APPROACH OF THE JESUS SEMINAR SCHOLARS TO JESUS IS DISPUTED BY ORTHODOX SCHOLARS OF THE BIBLE, WHO SAY:

THIS GROUP (JESUS SEMINAR) IS A SELF-SELECTED SUBSET OF BIBLICAL SCHOLARS WITH A SPECIFIC AGENDA TO DISPROVE THE SUNDAY SCHOOL JESUS.

BEN WITHERINGTON IS A PROFESSOR OF NEW TESTAMENT INTERPRETATION AT ASBURY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY.

WHEN I GO TO EUROPE AND GERMANY, MOST SCHOLARS SAY THIS COULD ONLY HAPPEN IN AMERICA. [THE JESUS SEMINAR] IS NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF [MAINSTREAM] SCHOLARSHIP. WHAT THE JESUS SEMINAR HAS BEEN GOOD AT IS GETTING PUBLICITY BY MAKING RADICAL STATEMENTS. IT IS AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF POLITICS. THEY ARE VERY ASTUTE MANIPULATORS OF THE MEDIA.

CRITICS SAY THE METHODS USED BY THE SEMINAR ARE FLAWED. FOR EXAMPLE, JESUS SEMINAR SCHOLARS SAY THEY USE MULTIPLE SOURCING TO DETERMINE THE HISTORICAL ACCURACY OF BIBLICAL PASSAGES. BUT CRITICS SAY THE SEMINAR REJECTS WRITINGS THAT DO NOT SUIT ITS VIEWS. FOR EXAMPLE, BEN WITHERINGTON SAYS THE NEW TESTAMENT GOSPELS OF MATTHEW AND LUKE MENTION THE VIRGIN BIRTH -- WHICH SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO SATISFY SEMINAR CONCERNS ABOUT HISTORICAL ACCURACY. BUT SEMINAR MEMBERS SAY IF SUCH AN AMAZING EVENT WERE TRUE, OTHER GOSPELS WOULD HAVE MENTIONED IT AS WELL. MORE CONSERVATIVE SCHOLARS COMPLAIN THE SEMINAR REFUSES TO CONSIDER SUPERNATURAL PHENOMENA -- WHETHER IT BE ANGELS, MIRACLES, OR JESUS AS AN INCARNATION OF GOD:

THE ORTHODOX SCHOLAR WOULD NOT PRE-SUPPOSE WHEN HE COMES TO THE TEXT -- THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR MIRACLES TO HAPPEN, AND [THAT] WE MUST TREAT IT AS MYTH OR LEGEND. THE HISTORIAN WHO IS OPEN TO THE SUPERNATURAL WOULD SUSPEND JUDGEMENT AND LOOK AT THE INDIVIDUAL EVIDENCE ON A CASE BY CASE BASIS..

CRITICS ALSO CRITICIZE THE SEMINAR FOR RELYING ON WHAT THEY SEE AS QUESTIONABLE DOCUMENTS -- LIKE THE SO-CALLED "GNOSTIC GOSPEL" OF THOMAS. IT EMPHASIZES JESUS' SAYINGS -- CASTING HIM AS A WISE MAN, BUT NOT THE SON OF GOD.

THE CRITICS ALSO DISAPPROVE OF THE SEMINAR'S QUESTIONING OF THE AUTHENTICITY OF JESUS' SAYINGS. THE SEMINAR SAYS ORAL TRADITION IS NOT ALWAYS ACCURATE, AND THAT FUTURE GENERATIONS OF CHRISTIANS LIKELY ATTRIBUTED THEIR OWN BELIEFS TO JESUS.

THE JESUS TRADITION WAS HANDED ON BY EARLY JEWS WHO KNEW HOW TO PASS ON TRADITION WITH GREAT CARE AND FAITHFULNESS. IT IS UNREALISTIC TO ASSUME FIRST CENTURY JEWS, WITH A HIGH VIEW OF SACRED TRADITIONS, WOULD NOT HAVE HANDLED THIS MATERIAL FAITHFULLY AND PRAYERFULLY.

THE QUESTIONING OF THOSE TRADITIONS BY THE SEMINAR ALSO RAISES THEOLOGICAL ISSUES:

THE QUESTION TO [ASK] THE SEMINAR IS: IF WHAT THE SAY IS TRUE -- WHY IS THERE CHRISTIANITY AT ALL? WHY DIDN'T JESUS END UP IN THE DUSTBIN OF HISTORY? THE ISSUE FOR THE LAYMAN IS IF THE JESUS SEMINAR IS RIGHT, WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR FIGURE, JESUS, AT ALL?

JESUS SEMINAR MEMBERS SAY THEIR FIRST TASK IS TO UNCOVER EVIDENCE THAT IS HISTORICALLY AND SCIENTIFICALLY ACCURATE; THEOLOGICAL QUESTIONS WILL HAVE TO BE ANSWERED LATER. THEY RECOGNIZE THEIR FINDINGS COULD CHALLENGE TRADITIONAL VIEWS AND ASSUMPTIONS OF CHRISTIANITY. BUT THEY SAY THAT IS NOT IN ITSELF A BAD THING -- THEY THINK THEIR WORK WILL STRENGTHEN IT.

20-Dec-96