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Dethroning Jesus: Exposing Popular Culture's Quest to Unseat the Biblical Christ
New York Times bestselling author Dr. Darrell Bock teams up with Dr. Daniel Wallace to help you separate fact from fiction among constant attacks on Christianity from popular culture and bogus scholars.
There is a quest going on to reduce Jesus to a mythic legend or to nothing more than a mere man. Scholars such as Elaine Pagels and James Tabor are using recent discoveries like the Gospel of Judas and the Gospel of Thomas to argue that the Christ of Christianity is a contrived figure and that a different Christ—one human and not divine—is the "true" Christ.
Both research professors, Bock and Wallace set out a vigorous defense of Christianity against a popular trend that they dub "Jesusanity", where Christ was simply a human teacher. In their trademark, easy-to-understand style, the authors take on attempts to redefine Jesus in a convincing way that will help you understand that the orthodox understanding of Christ and his divinity is as trustworthy and sure as it ever was. This
Refutes the six main claims that represent a large part of skepticism about Jesus todayProvides credible answers to attacks on the traditional textsDefends against the interpretations of bogus scholars and the arguments of biased scholarsConstructs a positive case for the Jesus of faithIf you’re exhausted by the constant attempts to dethrone Jesus, renew the security of your knowledge of who Jesus really the Son of God.
There is a quest going on to reduce Jesus to a mythic legend or to nothing more than a mere man. Scholars such as Elaine Pagels and James Tabor are using recent discoveries like the Gospel of Judas and the Gospel of Thomas to argue that the Christ of Christianity is a contrived figure and that a different Christ—one human and not divine—is the "true" Christ.
Both research professors, Bock and Wallace set out a vigorous defense of Christianity against a popular trend that they dub "Jesusanity", where Christ was simply a human teacher. In their trademark, easy-to-understand style, the authors take on attempts to redefine Jesus in a convincing way that will help you understand that the orthodox understanding of Christ and his divinity is as trustworthy and sure as it ever was. This
Refutes the six main claims that represent a large part of skepticism about Jesus todayProvides credible answers to attacks on the traditional textsDefends against the interpretations of bogus scholars and the arguments of biased scholarsConstructs a positive case for the Jesus of faithIf you’re exhausted by the constant attempts to dethrone Jesus, renew the security of your knowledge of who Jesus really the Son of God.
248 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2007
93 people are currently reading
438 people want to read
About the author
Darrell L. Bock
112 books71 followersDarrell L. Bock is a New Testament scholar and research professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas, United States. Bock received his PhD from Scotland's University of Aberdeen.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
August 14, 2009
A bit dry, but an excellent expose of the nonsense that is "critical Christianity", or liberal theology. Debunks most of the myths of the Jesus Seminar and similar bizarre attempts to "de-religion" Christianity.
February 4, 2008
NT Scholars Bock and Wallace show that, despite many contemporary, popular challenges to Christianity, Jesus' rightful place is that of enthroned Messiah, not mere sage or political pundit.
They begin with an introduction that lays the conceptual framework the book is framed in---a discussion of Jesusanity vs. Christianity. The former gives a truncated view of Jesus. A Jesus who is sage or teacher. Who simply tries to show the way to god, and it is a way almost all religions can accept. The latter, conversely, affords Jesus the highest of honors. In Christianity, Jesus is the way. Jesusanity focuses on teachings of Jesus, regardless of whether he resurrected or was the Messiah. The focus here is vague and generic. The teachings have kernels of truth, but are robbed of their true theological force as conceived by the Bible, and orthodox Christianity. Christianity, while acknowledging Jesus' teachings, does not divorce the person or work of Jesus from his teachings. The authors then discuss various causes for this popular (though not new, the Jesusanity ideas have been around for some time, mostly in the ivory towers, though) approach to the Jesus of Christians. They then undertake to show that the quest for the historical Jesus cannot be made if divorced from what Jesusanity calls "the Jesus of faith." As C.S. Lewis once claimed, you cannot divorce the theology of Jesus from the history. If one goes, so must the other. In Jesus, the myth because fact.
Bock and Wallace discuss 6 popular quests to unseat the biblical Christ. They are (1) the reliability of the New Testament, (2) the Gnostic Gospel of Judas as indicating an early alternative form of Christianity, (3) the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas as altering our understanding of the real Jesus, (4) that Jesus' message was fundamentally political and social, (5) that Paul distorted the original Jesus movement as represented by Peter and James, and (6) that Jesus' tomb was found and thus he never resurrected or ascended in a historical, physical way.
Bock and Wallace to a great job debunking all of these claims and exposing the shoddy, and rather speculative conclusions of those who espouse them. Almost any Christian can benefit from this book. The small exception would be that ch.4 represents some of the authors theological commitments that some Christians may not agree with (this doesn't represent any essential debate between us, though). But, their claims are vague and general enough that they are fairly ecumenical. Nevertheless, if you have been questioned by co-workers about why you believe the putative claims of your religion0, or sought to have answers to the "specials" on Christianity we find on the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, or even ABC news(!), then this book will be a welcome addition to your library. Bock and Wallace are respected scholars and they will steer you through the contemporary discussion and provide you with solid, objective, and respected answers to these popular challenges. Indeed, the Christian side as the more rational, non-speculative, and persuasive side of the story.
They begin with an introduction that lays the conceptual framework the book is framed in---a discussion of Jesusanity vs. Christianity. The former gives a truncated view of Jesus. A Jesus who is sage or teacher. Who simply tries to show the way to god, and it is a way almost all religions can accept. The latter, conversely, affords Jesus the highest of honors. In Christianity, Jesus is the way. Jesusanity focuses on teachings of Jesus, regardless of whether he resurrected or was the Messiah. The focus here is vague and generic. The teachings have kernels of truth, but are robbed of their true theological force as conceived by the Bible, and orthodox Christianity. Christianity, while acknowledging Jesus' teachings, does not divorce the person or work of Jesus from his teachings. The authors then discuss various causes for this popular (though not new, the Jesusanity ideas have been around for some time, mostly in the ivory towers, though) approach to the Jesus of Christians. They then undertake to show that the quest for the historical Jesus cannot be made if divorced from what Jesusanity calls "the Jesus of faith." As C.S. Lewis once claimed, you cannot divorce the theology of Jesus from the history. If one goes, so must the other. In Jesus, the myth because fact.
Bock and Wallace discuss 6 popular quests to unseat the biblical Christ. They are (1) the reliability of the New Testament, (2) the Gnostic Gospel of Judas as indicating an early alternative form of Christianity, (3) the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas as altering our understanding of the real Jesus, (4) that Jesus' message was fundamentally political and social, (5) that Paul distorted the original Jesus movement as represented by Peter and James, and (6) that Jesus' tomb was found and thus he never resurrected or ascended in a historical, physical way.
Bock and Wallace to a great job debunking all of these claims and exposing the shoddy, and rather speculative conclusions of those who espouse them. Almost any Christian can benefit from this book. The small exception would be that ch.4 represents some of the authors theological commitments that some Christians may not agree with (this doesn't represent any essential debate between us, though). But, their claims are vague and general enough that they are fairly ecumenical. Nevertheless, if you have been questioned by co-workers about why you believe the putative claims of your religion0, or sought to have answers to the "specials" on Christianity we find on the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, or even ABC news(!), then this book will be a welcome addition to your library. Bock and Wallace are respected scholars and they will steer you through the contemporary discussion and provide you with solid, objective, and respected answers to these popular challenges. Indeed, the Christian side as the more rational, non-speculative, and persuasive side of the story.
January 18, 2011
Awalnya tertarik karena buku ini menyinggung dan membahas isi buku ‘Misquoting Jesus’ (Ehrman) yang sempat membooming di buku terlaris New York Times di tahun 2005 yang mencoba mengguncang iman Kristen (khususnya kaum awam). Ketertarikan berlanjut ketika buku ini juga menyinggung sekaligus membahas tentang ketidaksesuaian isi injil Yudas yang ditemukan tahun 1978 di Al Minya sebuah propinsi di Mesir Tengah sekitar 120 mil di Selatan Kairo.
Akhirnya aku memutuskan mencoba menelan bacaan yang berat dikarenakan menurutku ini sudah seperti sebuah studi dan aku hanya memiliki injil sebagai bahan pembanding isi yang dijelaskan dalam buku ini.
Sejauh yang dapat dan mampu aku pahami adalah bahwa buku ini menjelaskan adanya perbedaan antara Kristianitas dan Yesusanitas yang perlu dikritisi dengan lebih cermat lagi, membahas berbagai klaim dan tantangan Yesusanitas yang mengancam pemahaman dan iman Gereja tentunya dengan bukti – bukti yang jelas dan layak dipercaya.
Kristianitas berpusat pada iman bahwa Yesus adalah Dia yang Diurapi yang diutus dari Surga. Yesusanitas adalah istilah untuk cerita lain tentang Yesus cerita ini masih berpusat pada Yesus, tetapi Yesus sebagai nabi atau guru agama. Yesus tidak ditahtakan di sisi Allah hanya ada kuasa ajaran dan teladanNya. Tidak mengakui posisi mulia Yesus. Keduanya memberikan penghormatan yang sangat tinggi kepada Yesus tetapi berbeda dalam hal peran Yesus.
Benarkah Perjanjian Baru asli telah sangat dirusak oleh para penyalin sehingga tak terpulihkan?
Bagaimana dengan Injil-injil Rahasia Gnostik seperti Injil Yudas membuktikan eksistensi Kristianitas Alternatif Purba?
Benarkah injil Thomas sangat mengubah pemahan kita tentang Yesus sejati?
Benarkah ajaran Yesus pada dasarnya bersifat politik dan sosial, berfokus pada keadilan, menentang sistem dominasi seperti pemerintahan Romawi atau kekuasaan global saat ini?
Apakah Paulus mengubah misi semula Yesus dan Yakobus dari Reformasi Bangsa Yahudi menjadi gerakan yang meninggikan Yesus sebagai Raja dan merangkul bangsa – bangsa bukan Yahudi?
Benarkah makam Yesus telah ditemukan, kenaikan dan kebangkitanNya tidak terjadi secara fisik?
Cukup menarik bukan? Bagi yang berminat silahkan membaca lebih jauh isi buku ini karena aku juga memiliki keterbatasan dalam hal penyampaian (tidak menginginkan timbulnya pemahaman yang berbeda akibat penjelasan ulang atau pun review tentang buku ini). Silahkan di pahami sendiri atau mungkin bertanya kepada yang lebih memahami yang pasti buku ini dan isinya tentunya menurutku sangat recommended. Selamat membaca.
Akhirnya aku memutuskan mencoba menelan bacaan yang berat dikarenakan menurutku ini sudah seperti sebuah studi dan aku hanya memiliki injil sebagai bahan pembanding isi yang dijelaskan dalam buku ini.
Sejauh yang dapat dan mampu aku pahami adalah bahwa buku ini menjelaskan adanya perbedaan antara Kristianitas dan Yesusanitas yang perlu dikritisi dengan lebih cermat lagi, membahas berbagai klaim dan tantangan Yesusanitas yang mengancam pemahaman dan iman Gereja tentunya dengan bukti – bukti yang jelas dan layak dipercaya.
Kristianitas berpusat pada iman bahwa Yesus adalah Dia yang Diurapi yang diutus dari Surga. Yesusanitas adalah istilah untuk cerita lain tentang Yesus cerita ini masih berpusat pada Yesus, tetapi Yesus sebagai nabi atau guru agama. Yesus tidak ditahtakan di sisi Allah hanya ada kuasa ajaran dan teladanNya. Tidak mengakui posisi mulia Yesus. Keduanya memberikan penghormatan yang sangat tinggi kepada Yesus tetapi berbeda dalam hal peran Yesus.
Benarkah Perjanjian Baru asli telah sangat dirusak oleh para penyalin sehingga tak terpulihkan?
Bagaimana dengan Injil-injil Rahasia Gnostik seperti Injil Yudas membuktikan eksistensi Kristianitas Alternatif Purba?
Benarkah injil Thomas sangat mengubah pemahan kita tentang Yesus sejati?
Benarkah ajaran Yesus pada dasarnya bersifat politik dan sosial, berfokus pada keadilan, menentang sistem dominasi seperti pemerintahan Romawi atau kekuasaan global saat ini?
Apakah Paulus mengubah misi semula Yesus dan Yakobus dari Reformasi Bangsa Yahudi menjadi gerakan yang meninggikan Yesus sebagai Raja dan merangkul bangsa – bangsa bukan Yahudi?
Benarkah makam Yesus telah ditemukan, kenaikan dan kebangkitanNya tidak terjadi secara fisik?
Cukup menarik bukan? Bagi yang berminat silahkan membaca lebih jauh isi buku ini karena aku juga memiliki keterbatasan dalam hal penyampaian (tidak menginginkan timbulnya pemahaman yang berbeda akibat penjelasan ulang atau pun review tentang buku ini). Silahkan di pahami sendiri atau mungkin bertanya kepada yang lebih memahami yang pasti buku ini dan isinya tentunya menurutku sangat recommended. Selamat membaca.
August 6, 2011
In the last few decades, and especially in the last few years, books about Jesus aimed at popular audiences have become quite common. The arguments presented vary, but there is a general picture that emerges. Whereas classical Christianity tells of a Jesus who as a divine Redeemer heals a broken relationship between God and man, who as Prophet, Priest, and King is properly an object of worship, what the authors call "Jesusanity" is the modern portrait that has a high regard for Jesus as a teacher who points the way to God, or more properly speaking, a way to God. He would belong in a religious hall of fame but he is not unique when compared to other religious leaders. The authors engage six specific claims which appear in the various books on Jesusanity. Any of these claims, if true, would radically alter our understanding of not only Jesus, but also of God and mankind, of Creator and creation, of sin and forgiveness. I am going to focus on the first of the six claims, because if it turns out to be true, it is open season on traditional Christianity and there is no effective way to counter any of the other assertions brought forward in the spirit of Jesusanity.
The first claim is not really a new one, that the text of the New Testament as we have it now has so many mistakes and deliberate changes in it that we have no way of recovering what the original text said. What is new is that it is coming from the pen of a bona fide textual scholar, Bart Ehrman, who has written a huge bestseller, "Misquoting Jesus" in which this is his main thesis. And yet the point is made less by direct argument than by inference and misleading statements. Indeed, according to the authors, apart from these statements much of the book is an "extremely helpful introduction to the field of New Testament textual criticism."
He tells us that there are actually about 400,000 textual variants in the New Testament, and since there are around 138,000 words, this makes for three variants for every single word in the New Testament. But he is being very misleading in his use of numbers. To start with, 99% of all variants do not impact the meaning of the text: variations in spelling and word order make up the vast bulk of the variations. So now we're talking about 4,000 meaningful variants, which translates to one every three pages.
Although this looks a lot better, the meaningfulness of the numbers still need to be clarified. It is important to realize that the more manuscripts we have, the more textual variants there are. So if we had only one manuscript, there would be zero textual variants, but we would also have no confidence that it would reflect what was originally written. There are 5700+ catalogued Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, the average of which is 200 pages long. That means there are approximately 1.2 million pages of handwritten text. 4,000 meaningful variants in 1.2 million pages of text - now you start to get the meaning of the real sense of the numbers. This actually reflects an amazingly accurate history of transmission.
Ehrman says "we don't even have copies of the copies of the originals, or copies of the copies of the copies of the originals." This makes it sound like the text was transmitted in a manner similar to the "telephone game", a party game in which a message is whispered from person to person in a line, in order to see how garbled it gets at the end. But that is not how the New Testament was transmitted. Not only are written documents much less liable to corruption that things whispered in the ear, but more than a single line of transmission was involved. New Testament books were transmitted in multiple streams because they were sent to multiple locations. Mistakes in one stream can often be detected and corrected by comparison to other streams.
Ehrman appears to be more forthcoming in some places and less in others about the true state of textual variants. The authors observe that "one almost gets the sense that it is the honest scholar in Ehrman who admits that the meaningful textual problems are neither as meaningful nor as plentiful as he would want us to think, and the theological liberal in Ehrman who keeps such admissions to a minimum" (p. 60). The bottom line is that less than one percent of the variants are really significant, but even then never to the degree that a doctrine hangs in the balance. Whatever caused Ehrman to lose his faith, then, it was not the discipline of New Testament textual criticism. An interesting observation is that the man he considers his mentor, indeed, the man to whom he dedicated the book Misquoting Jesus, Bruce Metzger, has come to the opposite conclusion, seeing his faith strengthened by a lifetime of study in this area.
Bart Ehrman was twice a guest on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I'm pretty sure that Darrell Bock and Daniel Wallace, the two authors of this book, never will be. Modern portrayals of Jesus are much more attractive to the non-Christian world than what has traditionally been the message for two thousand years. For it allows mankind to reshape God and Jesus into whatever image is pleasing to him. Gone is any accountability of creature to Creator, and also any ability of the Creator to communicate to his creatures what he expects of them. Man becomes autonomous and sin, judgement, and the need for repentance and the Cross are done away with. Jesusanity is popular because it is easier, but if it is allowed to go unchallenged, it is absolutely fatal to biblical Christianity. Bock and Wallace have done a thorough job of meeting these claims head on and showing that they do not stand up under scrutiny.
The first claim is not really a new one, that the text of the New Testament as we have it now has so many mistakes and deliberate changes in it that we have no way of recovering what the original text said. What is new is that it is coming from the pen of a bona fide textual scholar, Bart Ehrman, who has written a huge bestseller, "Misquoting Jesus" in which this is his main thesis. And yet the point is made less by direct argument than by inference and misleading statements. Indeed, according to the authors, apart from these statements much of the book is an "extremely helpful introduction to the field of New Testament textual criticism."
He tells us that there are actually about 400,000 textual variants in the New Testament, and since there are around 138,000 words, this makes for three variants for every single word in the New Testament. But he is being very misleading in his use of numbers. To start with, 99% of all variants do not impact the meaning of the text: variations in spelling and word order make up the vast bulk of the variations. So now we're talking about 4,000 meaningful variants, which translates to one every three pages.
Although this looks a lot better, the meaningfulness of the numbers still need to be clarified. It is important to realize that the more manuscripts we have, the more textual variants there are. So if we had only one manuscript, there would be zero textual variants, but we would also have no confidence that it would reflect what was originally written. There are 5700+ catalogued Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, the average of which is 200 pages long. That means there are approximately 1.2 million pages of handwritten text. 4,000 meaningful variants in 1.2 million pages of text - now you start to get the meaning of the real sense of the numbers. This actually reflects an amazingly accurate history of transmission.
Ehrman says "we don't even have copies of the copies of the originals, or copies of the copies of the copies of the originals." This makes it sound like the text was transmitted in a manner similar to the "telephone game", a party game in which a message is whispered from person to person in a line, in order to see how garbled it gets at the end. But that is not how the New Testament was transmitted. Not only are written documents much less liable to corruption that things whispered in the ear, but more than a single line of transmission was involved. New Testament books were transmitted in multiple streams because they were sent to multiple locations. Mistakes in one stream can often be detected and corrected by comparison to other streams.
Ehrman appears to be more forthcoming in some places and less in others about the true state of textual variants. The authors observe that "one almost gets the sense that it is the honest scholar in Ehrman who admits that the meaningful textual problems are neither as meaningful nor as plentiful as he would want us to think, and the theological liberal in Ehrman who keeps such admissions to a minimum" (p. 60). The bottom line is that less than one percent of the variants are really significant, but even then never to the degree that a doctrine hangs in the balance. Whatever caused Ehrman to lose his faith, then, it was not the discipline of New Testament textual criticism. An interesting observation is that the man he considers his mentor, indeed, the man to whom he dedicated the book Misquoting Jesus, Bruce Metzger, has come to the opposite conclusion, seeing his faith strengthened by a lifetime of study in this area.
Bart Ehrman was twice a guest on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I'm pretty sure that Darrell Bock and Daniel Wallace, the two authors of this book, never will be. Modern portrayals of Jesus are much more attractive to the non-Christian world than what has traditionally been the message for two thousand years. For it allows mankind to reshape God and Jesus into whatever image is pleasing to him. Gone is any accountability of creature to Creator, and also any ability of the Creator to communicate to his creatures what he expects of them. Man becomes autonomous and sin, judgement, and the need for repentance and the Cross are done away with. Jesusanity is popular because it is easier, but if it is allowed to go unchallenged, it is absolutely fatal to biblical Christianity. Bock and Wallace have done a thorough job of meeting these claims head on and showing that they do not stand up under scrutiny.
October 26, 2022
The authors engage six claims made in the public square (there are of course more viewpoints but they are rarely new and seem to be twists and turns of one of the claims covered in this book). They begin so by introducing a conceptual framework in which we find two stories of Christianity, that of traditional Christianity where Jesus is the exalted one who through his person and work provides the only way for us to be reconciled to God and that of "Jesusanity" where the emphasis is on the teaching of Jesus and that he is but a teacher who shows the way but is not the way.
The six claims are (1) The reliability of the NT, (2) Gospel of Judas an alternative form of Christianity, (3) Gospel of Thomas as providing a better picture of historical Jesus, (4) Jesus' message was fundamentally political and social, (5) Paul distorted the original Jesus movement as represented by Peter and James, (6) Jesus' tomb was found and the physical resurrection is not history.
Throughout the analysis, the authors show that the proponents of these ideas end up compromising their own positions by ending up with even more questions than when they had started and the speculative conclusions that they arrive at. They are also very often guilty of pick and choosing the material to support their view. They provide half-truths which are very much correct but the other half is important as well and can make all the difference. Jesus is a religious teacher, yes, but he was more than that. After gleaning through the claims of the popular culture, one is left with the impression that the scholars of the day would have anything but the Jesus of Christianity, the Jesus that the NT (eyewitness accounts and our earliest historical record on Jesus) proclaims as Lord and Savior.
The six claims are (1) The reliability of the NT, (2) Gospel of Judas an alternative form of Christianity, (3) Gospel of Thomas as providing a better picture of historical Jesus, (4) Jesus' message was fundamentally political and social, (5) Paul distorted the original Jesus movement as represented by Peter and James, (6) Jesus' tomb was found and the physical resurrection is not history.
Throughout the analysis, the authors show that the proponents of these ideas end up compromising their own positions by ending up with even more questions than when they had started and the speculative conclusions that they arrive at. They are also very often guilty of pick and choosing the material to support their view. They provide half-truths which are very much correct but the other half is important as well and can make all the difference. Jesus is a religious teacher, yes, but he was more than that. After gleaning through the claims of the popular culture, one is left with the impression that the scholars of the day would have anything but the Jesus of Christianity, the Jesus that the NT (eyewitness accounts and our earliest historical record on Jesus) proclaims as Lord and Savior.
May 22, 2023
This is an old book.
Written in 2007 some of the debates are like a blast from the past and I don’t think many of the key debates the book engages with many people speak about any more in the context I am
In, that is apart from 1.
Bart Ernhams misquoting Jesus is still talked about till this day and many Muslims use the bases of his argument to suggest the NT was corrupted by Christians over history.
I think this book does a good job of engaging in Bart’s arguments and is very far in how it treats Bart’s work and his arguments and answers them accordingly.
This is a good book but you should only read it for the first two chapters if you are interested in seeing and weighing up the orthodox argument against Bart Ernhams work
Written in 2007 some of the debates are like a blast from the past and I don’t think many of the key debates the book engages with many people speak about any more in the context I am
In, that is apart from 1.
Bart Ernhams misquoting Jesus is still talked about till this day and many Muslims use the bases of his argument to suggest the NT was corrupted by Christians over history.
I think this book does a good job of engaging in Bart’s arguments and is very far in how it treats Bart’s work and his arguments and answers them accordingly.
This is a good book but you should only read it for the first two chapters if you are interested in seeing and weighing up the orthodox argument against Bart Ernhams work
May 19, 2017
If you want a thorough debunking of writers like Ehrman, Crossan/Borg, Tabor, and the documentary produced by Cameron on the Jesus Ossuary, this is your book. Honestly, it gave me a headache reading it, I didn't find it particularly enjoyable. It was an argumentative book. However, it was thorough, and probably would be a handy resource if you are talking to people who are attempting to make a case for Jesus having never physically come back to life, or never intended to be made out to be more than a political/religious commentator.
July 29, 2022
This book is a little dated given that I just finished it and it was originally published in 2007. Still, there are many important things in it that are useful for engaging the world that wants to dethrone Jesus. The only thing I wish is thay they would just come out and call the teachings they critique for what they are: heresies. I'm not sure there's any other way to look at a denial of certain biblical truths as the Virgin conception/birth and the resurrection.
December 28, 2021
Read this book, but cannot remember it. might tell you something
June 22, 2024
Jesus as He Really Is
Society would have us to believe Jesus isn't who He is. This book dispels the myths about Jesus and presents a portrait of the true gospel and the true Jesus.
Society would have us to believe Jesus isn't who He is. This book dispels the myths about Jesus and presents a portrait of the true gospel and the true Jesus.
October 10, 2024
Much too dry for me. I am not saying it wouldn't be interesting for others. It's just not my reading style
September 26, 2015
Mengupas klaim-2 yang mengakui Yesus Kristus hanya sekedar manusia, nabi, ataupun guru*) yang IMO sudah dinubuatkan di Alkitab sebagai Antikris, yaitu paham yang menolak Yesus sebagai Kristus.
Dan perbedaannya dengan kepercayaan pengikut Yesus Kristus, yang disebut Kristen, yaitu bahwa Yesus Kristus adalah 100% Tuhan dan 100% manusia**)
Ini soal Tuhan sendiri, yang 'nekat' lahir sebagai manusia dan merasakan penderitaan dan penghinaan besar, untuk menyatakan bahwa niat-Nya menciptakan manusia itu bukan sekedar iseng-iseng doang, tapi Dia serius mencintai makhluk ciptaan-Nya dan mau berempati bersama mereka.
Singkatnya : buku ini membandingkan antara *) dan **)
Jadi ini murni soal kepercayaan, yang notabene adalah hak bebas setiap manusia (^.^)/
(^▽^)/Pendapatku pribadi :
Buku ini keren banget!! (^∀^)/
Penjelasannya terperinci dan dengan bahasa yang mudah dimengerti.
Wajar bagi setiap orang untuk punya keyakinan masing-2 dan aku oke dengan itu ^,^
Soalnya, Tuhan Yesus Kristus sendiri rela mati demi semua orang, apapun dosa dan kesalahannya (termasuk diriku ini >_<) jadi aku merasa oke-oke aja dengan apapun kepercayaan orang lain, asalkan gak merugikan / melukai sesamanya (^,^)/
Dan perbedaannya dengan kepercayaan pengikut Yesus Kristus, yang disebut Kristen, yaitu bahwa Yesus Kristus adalah 100% Tuhan dan 100% manusia**)
Ini soal Tuhan sendiri, yang 'nekat' lahir sebagai manusia dan merasakan penderitaan dan penghinaan besar, untuk menyatakan bahwa niat-Nya menciptakan manusia itu bukan sekedar iseng-iseng doang, tapi Dia serius mencintai makhluk ciptaan-Nya dan mau berempati bersama mereka.
Singkatnya : buku ini membandingkan antara *) dan **)
Jadi ini murni soal kepercayaan, yang notabene adalah hak bebas setiap manusia (^.^)/
(^▽^)/Pendapatku pribadi :
Buku ini keren banget!! (^∀^)/
Penjelasannya terperinci dan dengan bahasa yang mudah dimengerti.
Wajar bagi setiap orang untuk punya keyakinan masing-2 dan aku oke dengan itu ^,^
Soalnya, Tuhan Yesus Kristus sendiri rela mati demi semua orang, apapun dosa dan kesalahannya (termasuk diriku ini >_<) jadi aku merasa oke-oke aja dengan apapun kepercayaan orang lain, asalkan gak merugikan / melukai sesamanya (^,^)/
July 7, 2009
Anda pernah mendengar tentang, misalnya: "Alkitab sudah tidak bisa dipercayai lagi karena salinan-salinan yang kita miliki penuh kesalahan, telah ditambah-tambahi,dsb"? Pandangan ini biasanya didiskusikan dalam area Kritik Teks. Dan menarik bahwa Bock dan Wallace mendiskusikan isu tersebut dari sudut pandang kekristenan Injili.
Dalam buku ini, Bock dan Wallace juga menggunakan label yang berbeda untuk mereka yang mengakui Kristologi Ortodoks dan yang tidak mengakuinya. Mereka yang mengakui doktrin tersebut disebut dengan label "Christianity", sedangkan yang tidak mengakuinya disebut dengan label "Jesusanity".
Singkatnya, Bock dan Wallace berusaha menunjukkan bahwa keyakinan tradisional mengenai Kristus dapat dipercaya dan salah satu alasannya adalah karena memiliki dasar tekstual yang juga dapat dipercaya. Apakah Bock dan Wallace berhasil membuktikan presuposisi injili mereka? Anda harus membaca buku ini untuk menjawab pertanyaan tersebut.
Dalam buku ini, Bock dan Wallace juga menggunakan label yang berbeda untuk mereka yang mengakui Kristologi Ortodoks dan yang tidak mengakuinya. Mereka yang mengakui doktrin tersebut disebut dengan label "Christianity", sedangkan yang tidak mengakuinya disebut dengan label "Jesusanity".
Singkatnya, Bock dan Wallace berusaha menunjukkan bahwa keyakinan tradisional mengenai Kristus dapat dipercaya dan salah satu alasannya adalah karena memiliki dasar tekstual yang juga dapat dipercaya. Apakah Bock dan Wallace berhasil membuktikan presuposisi injili mereka? Anda harus membaca buku ini untuk menjawab pertanyaan tersebut.
July 11, 2012
Definately a book for the lay Christian to read as the attacks grow daily on the historical, cultural and theological truthfulness of the Bible grows by its opponents and those who are seeking to 'dumb-down' Jesus Christ and the truthfulness of His identity.
It has creeped into our churches as the 'new-age, postmodernist' become seminary-trained pastors and seek to unhinge their connection to the centuries of truth-telling for the sake of 'tolerance' and 'non-convictional love.'
Wallace and Bock are on the leading edge of this fight, quietly exposing the truth without argument and giving voice to the wisdom that has simply one's desire to find to grow like a wildfire. There is no defense the opposition can give to the simple honesty that they write.
A must read for those who seek to deepen the understanding and solidity of their faith in the true Jesus Christ.
It has creeped into our churches as the 'new-age, postmodernist' become seminary-trained pastors and seek to unhinge their connection to the centuries of truth-telling for the sake of 'tolerance' and 'non-convictional love.'
Wallace and Bock are on the leading edge of this fight, quietly exposing the truth without argument and giving voice to the wisdom that has simply one's desire to find to grow like a wildfire. There is no defense the opposition can give to the simple honesty that they write.
A must read for those who seek to deepen the understanding and solidity of their faith in the true Jesus Christ.
October 3, 2012
This book is not for the faint of heart. Please understand, it is an excellent treatment of the subject of Jesusanity (the idea that Jesus was a good man Whose message - one of living a good life and rebelling against the machine - was corrupted by his disciples and the passage of time), but it is a tough read. A little technical. That said, if you can persevere, you will gain an understanding of the intellectual problems behind subscribing to the above view. To sum up, the book is a refutation of a false theology, with a short section at the end making a case for what the author believes.
March 4, 2014
Buku ini mungkin akan mengacak-acak iman Anda sebagai seorang Kristen. Bahasan utamanya adalah perbedaan utama antara Yesusanitas dan Kristianitas. Walaupun dua-duanya sama menempatkan Yesus sebagai tokoh utama namun ada perbedaan yang sangat mendasar di antaranya. Kristianitas yang mendasari iman Kristen mengakui bahwa Yesus adalah Tuhan. Mesias Sang Juru Selamat. Sedangkan Yesusanitas, yang berkembang belakangan, hanya menempatkan Yesus sebagai tokoh biasa. Bukan juru selamat apalagi Tuhan itu sendiri.
January 1, 2016
The information contained in this book is very good. However, in my opinion, the book isn't very accessible to the audience for whom it was written - the average layperson. The writers are scholars and though I sense they tried to write outside of their very scholastic norm, the book's language and style just don't flow well for me. The content is good, I just feel the delivery of the content could invoke more enthusiasm and excitement. A better book is "Reinventing Jesus" which essentially covers the same content in a much more accessible, easily ingestible form.
Read
July 27, 2011A very well written and well needed book. It is obvious that the jesusanity, as they call it, receives the most attention and the public of course enjoy the novelty feel of it. However, this books shows that the tradition Christianity with relieance on the four Gospel as much to state for its case. People like Ehrman and others clearly make hasty assumptions and this books highlights them well without simply breaking straw men!
August 18, 2010
Drs. Bock and Wallace puts the historical Jesus on the public forum for all to read. The misunderstandings about Jesus are stripped down neatly, and the real Jesus is exposed. Simply an excellent resource!
November 19, 2012
A well-written (if dense) examination of the scholarly divide between orthodox Christianity and what the authors call "Jesusanity". While it's designed for a lay audience, it can be pretty intense reading at times.
February 16, 2009
This is a book for those who may be confused by what is currently being preached in some main-line churches.
January 12, 2011
A fairly quick read but I must admit that I wasn't aware that Jesusanity was becoming a big movement.... much of the info I've heard elsewhere but I'm glad I read it nonetheless.
March 30, 2011
Sangat menguatkan, di tengah banyaknya klaim yang mempertanyakan ketuhanan Yesus.
September 18, 2010
Verbose, bur comtains some good information. Worth reading the conclusion at the very least.
February 13, 2016
Not bad. Helpful in many ways.
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