garyzilla
New Member
by Tom Neven
Peter Jennings' latest religious special is filled with the anti-Christian touches that have become his trademark.
This three-hour TV special is pretty much what we should expect from Peter Jennings. Some of the usual suspects John Dominic Crossan, John Spong, Elaine Pagels, Paula Fredriksen (she was one of the chief critics of Mel Gibson) and Robert Funk (founder of the Jesus Seminar) get prominent roles. There's only one obviously conservative commentator, Ben Witherington of Asbury Theological Seminary, although a few others seem to hold to an orthodox view of Scripture in places, at least.
The underlying worldview of the special is unbelief. Nowhere is Jesus' divinity mentioned, and nowhere do they discuss the inspiration of Scripture. In fact, Jennings repeatedly refers to "the Jesus movement," as if it were just another political party or faction. Commentators also pit Paul against Jesus, as if the apostle taught things that contradicted Jesus; and some refer to Paul as "the founder of Christianity."
One device used throughout is "some scholars think . . ." or "scholars debate . . ." In such cases, the conservative, orthodox position, if represented at all, is usually as a throwaway.
Among other sticking points:
The special uses Joan Osborne's song "What If God Was One of Us?," which asks what would happen if God was "a slob like one of us" "riding on a bus, trying to find His way home."
In describing the world that Jesus was born into, one commentator says, "Jesus would have heard about a Messiah." Jennings follows by asking a hypothetical question in Jesus' words: "Hey, maybe I'm the Messiah." Jennings also says, "Scholars debate whether Jesus knew he was the Messiah."
There's a strong element of the social gospel throughout.
One scholar asserts that the High Priest had Jesus arrested solely to avoid Pilate's wrath. He was not arrested for blasphemy, according to Jennings. Talking about Jesus in Gethsemane, Jennings says, "Jesus would have understood that he was in danger," and another says of Jesus, "It would have occurred to him, 'I might die tonight!' "
Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane is cut short, making it seem that all he prayed was, "Take this cup from me," leaving out "but not my will, but your will." Crossan says, "Jesus was worried about self-preservation."
Jennings takes the position that Judas was not a real person, saying, "Many historians don't believe it."
One commentator says of Jesus' death, "He gave His life for the least of these. If we turn Him into the eternal sacrifice for sin, that sets aside so much of what was important to Him." (This follows a discussion of Jesus' willingness to mix with the poor, sinners and tax collectors.)
Jesus is spoken of as a political revolutionary and compared to Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
The apostles "claim" they saw the risen Jesus.
Crossan questions whether Jesus was buried at all, claiming that He would have been left on the cross to rot or be thrown down to be eaten by dogs. He says, "I feel terribly sympathetic to the followers of Jesus, because I hear hope there, not history."
Jennings pretty much denies Paul's Damascus Road experience, asserting that his conversion was a process, not a blinding moment.
The entire second half of the program is fixated on Paul's belief that the world was about to end. While that is generally true, it is used as a prism to view all of his other teachings. Nowhere does salvation by grace or the law's having been fulfilled by Jesus come up. In fact, Paul's assertion that Gentiles did not have to be circumcised is treated strictly as a pragmatic move, something to make adult males more likely to join "the Jesus movement." Commentators also say that he constructed a new theology because it "works."
Paul is accused of embellishing and distorting Jesus' "message." One pastor says, "Paul saw himself as Jesus on earth."
The program spends an unwarranted amount of time on the spurious Gospel of Thomas, nowhere mentioning that it is filled with the Gnostic heresy. (Why are liberals so preoccupied with the Gospel of Thomas, by the way? It treats women much worse than Paul is alleged to do in his epistles.)
One commentator says, "People have taken Paul's letters as if he meant them to be some kind of blueprint. We do not know if Paul intended Christians to live by these rules 2,000 years later."
Accordingly, there's a strongly implied message that the biblical teaching on homosexuality should now be abandoned. Jennings contrasts Fred Phelps (who spreads the message that "God hates fags") with Mother Teresa.
Peter Jennings' latest religious special is filled with the anti-Christian touches that have become his trademark.
This three-hour TV special is pretty much what we should expect from Peter Jennings. Some of the usual suspects John Dominic Crossan, John Spong, Elaine Pagels, Paula Fredriksen (she was one of the chief critics of Mel Gibson) and Robert Funk (founder of the Jesus Seminar) get prominent roles. There's only one obviously conservative commentator, Ben Witherington of Asbury Theological Seminary, although a few others seem to hold to an orthodox view of Scripture in places, at least.
The underlying worldview of the special is unbelief. Nowhere is Jesus' divinity mentioned, and nowhere do they discuss the inspiration of Scripture. In fact, Jennings repeatedly refers to "the Jesus movement," as if it were just another political party or faction. Commentators also pit Paul against Jesus, as if the apostle taught things that contradicted Jesus; and some refer to Paul as "the founder of Christianity."
One device used throughout is "some scholars think . . ." or "scholars debate . . ." In such cases, the conservative, orthodox position, if represented at all, is usually as a throwaway.
Among other sticking points:
The special uses Joan Osborne's song "What If God Was One of Us?," which asks what would happen if God was "a slob like one of us" "riding on a bus, trying to find His way home."
In describing the world that Jesus was born into, one commentator says, "Jesus would have heard about a Messiah." Jennings follows by asking a hypothetical question in Jesus' words: "Hey, maybe I'm the Messiah." Jennings also says, "Scholars debate whether Jesus knew he was the Messiah."
There's a strong element of the social gospel throughout.
One scholar asserts that the High Priest had Jesus arrested solely to avoid Pilate's wrath. He was not arrested for blasphemy, according to Jennings. Talking about Jesus in Gethsemane, Jennings says, "Jesus would have understood that he was in danger," and another says of Jesus, "It would have occurred to him, 'I might die tonight!' "
Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane is cut short, making it seem that all he prayed was, "Take this cup from me," leaving out "but not my will, but your will." Crossan says, "Jesus was worried about self-preservation."
Jennings takes the position that Judas was not a real person, saying, "Many historians don't believe it."
One commentator says of Jesus' death, "He gave His life for the least of these. If we turn Him into the eternal sacrifice for sin, that sets aside so much of what was important to Him." (This follows a discussion of Jesus' willingness to mix with the poor, sinners and tax collectors.)
Jesus is spoken of as a political revolutionary and compared to Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
The apostles "claim" they saw the risen Jesus.
Crossan questions whether Jesus was buried at all, claiming that He would have been left on the cross to rot or be thrown down to be eaten by dogs. He says, "I feel terribly sympathetic to the followers of Jesus, because I hear hope there, not history."
Jennings pretty much denies Paul's Damascus Road experience, asserting that his conversion was a process, not a blinding moment.
The entire second half of the program is fixated on Paul's belief that the world was about to end. While that is generally true, it is used as a prism to view all of his other teachings. Nowhere does salvation by grace or the law's having been fulfilled by Jesus come up. In fact, Paul's assertion that Gentiles did not have to be circumcised is treated strictly as a pragmatic move, something to make adult males more likely to join "the Jesus movement." Commentators also say that he constructed a new theology because it "works."
Paul is accused of embellishing and distorting Jesus' "message." One pastor says, "Paul saw himself as Jesus on earth."
The program spends an unwarranted amount of time on the spurious Gospel of Thomas, nowhere mentioning that it is filled with the Gnostic heresy. (Why are liberals so preoccupied with the Gospel of Thomas, by the way? It treats women much worse than Paul is alleged to do in his epistles.)
One commentator says, "People have taken Paul's letters as if he meant them to be some kind of blueprint. We do not know if Paul intended Christians to live by these rules 2,000 years later."
Accordingly, there's a strongly implied message that the biblical teaching on homosexuality should now be abandoned. Jennings contrasts Fred Phelps (who spreads the message that "God hates fags") with Mother Teresa.
