BPR Mailing List Digest: 06/24/00

Philologos
BPR Mailing List Digest
June 24, 2000

Digest Home | 2000 | June, 2000

To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Berkoff´s Jesus to be dangerous sex-mad socialist firebrand
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Sat, 24 Jun 2000 04:39:58 -0500

Berkoff will depict Christ as a Che Guevara-style
revolutionary with a plan to survive crucifixion

Berkoff´s Jesus to be dangerous sex-mad socialist firebrand

Phil Miller

STEVEN Berkoff, the controversial actor and director, is
to risk the wrath of the Scottish Christian establishment
with a new play depicting Christ as a sex-obsessed
revolutionary whose crucifixion was a publicity stunt that
went wrong.

Berkoff has revealed that his new work, Messiah, one of
the main attractions at this year´s Edinburgh Festival
Fringe, will depict Jesus as a rabble-rousing firebrand
socialist who lusts after women as strongly as he desires
justice and equality.

He told The Scotsman of his desire to depict Jesus as a
dangerous character a world away from the pious, celibate
peace-loving figure represented in traditional Christianity.

Beginning with Jesus dying on the cross, then proceeding
to tell his story in flashback, Messiah, to be premiered at
the Scotsman Assembly, portrays him as an avid, virile
socialist with a plan to survive crucifixion. The play is
the latest, and perhaps most controversial, of Berkoff´s
works, which have led to him becoming one of the most
outspoken figures in British art.

Berkoff, 63, said: "I´ve made him much tougher, a radical,
a revolutionary who is a kind of hard dyed-in-the-wool
socialist who is going to knock out all the moneychangers
and the Romans and the corruption.

"He was a spiritual leader, a revolutionary much more in
the Che Guevara mode. He was political, an avid socialist –
more than half his speeches are about the rich giving to
the poor."

When the director Martin Scorsese rejected the image of
Christ as celibate and ascetic, suggesting in The Last
Temptation of Christ that he was sexually attracted to Mary
Magdelene, he was subjected to wide condemnation and protest.

However, Berkoff, who describes Jesus as "a modern Reform
Jew", said he also believes that sexual power lay at the
heart of Christ´s appeal to the people of Judah.

Berkoff said: "He likes women – after he gives one speech
he asks ‘where are the ladies?´ He´s just like a rock and
roller, he´s lusty and he likes women.

"Even in the Bible, [Magdelene] washed his feet with her
hair … that´s a very sensual thing and it suggests he was a
very sensual man. That is probably the tip of the iceberg –
he probably had women in every town. He had lots of lovers."

Berkoff said that all revolutionaries are energetic
heterosexuals and Jesus, whom he believes was a just an
extraordinary man, not the son of God, was no different.
Only tyrants and despots have unpleasant sexual
peccadilloes, he said. "When you do an analysis of world
leaders, dictators, revolutionaries, radicals, religious
leaders, all have been womanisers, all of them – Che
Guevara, Fidel Castro, Martin Luther King. The ones who
have been dictators, despots, tyrants have either been
celibate or very questionable sexual relationships, like
Hitler or some of these right-wing religious leaders.

"No sniff of women around them, it´s all a little bit
unsavoury."

Another controversial element of the play will be the
suggestion that Christ never intended to die on the Cross.
In Berkoff´s version, Christ deliberately tries to fulfil
the Old Testament prophecies of a Messiah returning to save
Israel, be crucified, but then survive to lead his people.

"He doesn't want to die, he wants to be crucified, he
wants to pull off the act – and then be taken down and
recover," Berkoff said.

"He´s engineering the situation, to fulfil the prophecy –
in my play he´s taken down, but he doesn´t survive, it
doesn´t quite go right."

Christ will be portrayed by the actor Rory Edwards in the
work, which its writer claims will outshine other plays in
current British theatre. "We show Jesus like a rock and
roller, like an agitator, like a young revolutionary, like
a titanic, devoted committed brilliant man."

Messiah plays at the Scotsman Assembly from 8 to 28
August.

http://www.scotsman.com/cgi-bin/t3.cgi/taf/newsweek.taf?function=detai
l&Scotsman_uid1=742&desk=News&cat=newsweek&sec=0

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - 'Rapture' inspires book sales
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Sat, 24 Jun 2000 04:46:09 -0500

C I N C I N N A T I P O S T L I V I N G

'Rapture' inspires book sales
From staff and wire reports

In the world of popular fiction, there's ''rapture,''
involving much ripping of bodices and rippling of muscles,
and there's ''the rapture,'' involving much wringing of
hands and searching of souls.

It's ths second kind of rapture - the split second when
the real Christians, and only the real Christians, are
swept up to heaven - that's making its mark on the best-
seller lists. The Left Behind series, a string of seven
novels of the Christian apocalypse, has flown off store
shelves like the proverbial bats out of you-know-where.

It began four years ago with ''Left Behind,'' a terse and
tense account of the rapture and the chaos that ensues.
Readers - millions of them - met Rayford Steele, a handsome
and resourceful, but alas unbelieving, airline pilot whose
family is caught up in mysterious mass disappearances that
take a while to unravel because, well, all the experts have
gone to heaven.

Eventually Steele realizes what's happened and becomes a
believer himself. He and his band of other belated
believers call themselves the Tribulation Force. Their only
hope lies in a theological loophole: If they are faithful
followers of Jesus Christ and survive the next seven years
surrounding the rise and fall of the Antichrist, they may
get a second chance to get to heaven. Six subsequent novels
chronicle their efforts; another five are planned.

The success of the series, given its religious themes and
controversial biblical interpretations, has astonished even
Christian book sellers. To date, all seven volumes have
sold a total of 15 million copies, said Beverly Rykerd,
publicist for the series, which is published by Tyndale
House.

The newest title, ''The Indwelling,'' debuted three weeks
ago and already has sold 1.9 million copies.

Maxine Gow, an employee at God's Provisions in Silverton,
which sells the ''Left Behind'' books, recommends the
series to Christians and non-Christians alike. The books,
she said, ''make you think: what if the rapture were real.
From a non-Christian perspective, suppose it was real and
this really happened? What would I do if people were
raptured up and the cars were empty and bridges were left
in midair. What if half the police force is gone, half the
Army? We take so much for granted. How would we function?''

The authors are Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins.

LaHaye, the idea man, is a San Diego pastor who's written
and lectured widely on biblical prophecy for almost 50
years. A dozen years ago, watching an airline pilot flirt
with a flight attendant (he wore a wedding ring; she
didn't), LaHaye wondered what would happen to that pilot if
the rapture occurred at that moment.

As he imagined the story unfolding, he wondered whether
he'd find a wider audience for his biblical interpretation
of Revelation if he cloaked his teaching in fiction.

Eventually LaHaye met Jerry B. Jenkins, a former
sportswriter who's written more than a hundred books,
several with Christian themes. The two men have
collaborated on two books a year ever since.

LaHaye provides an outline of biblical prophecy and
theological points he wants to make, along with suggestions
for situations and characters. Jenkins crafts the plot and
dialogue in workaday prose.

The series has its critics. Some biblical scholars
question the second-chance premise, and some pastors worry
about the books inspiring conversions out of fear. Some of
the novels include generous doses of violence and gore.
''The Indwelling,'' for example, describes several brutal
murders and a grisly autopsy on the Antichrist.

But cliffhanger endings, and equal parts of suspense and
inspiration, keep fans of the series hitting the Web site
(www.leftbehind.com) and counting the days until each new
book debuts. The next one, ''The Mark,'' is due out in
November.

Nancy Haught of the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and Post
staff reporter Cindy Starr contributed to this report.

Publication date: 06-22-00

http://www.cincypost.com/living/rapt062200.html

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Civil War General's Skull Stolen
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Sat, 24 Jun 2000 04:54:55 -0500

Civil War General's Skull Stolen

The Associated Press, Fri 23 Jun 2000

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — The skull of a Civil War general
known as an ``evil genius'' was stolen from his grave in a
crime authorities believe may be part of a satanic ritual.

The remains of Gen. Elisha G. Marshall were dug up between
8 p.m. Tuesday and 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at the city's Mt.
Hope Cemetery, police said. Some bones were found near the
grave site along with satanic symbols.

The grave-robbing occurred during the summer solstice —
the day with the longest period of sunshine. Police said
they typically find evidence of satanic activities on that
day.

Full story:
http://www.worldnews.com/
Search for: Civil War General's Skull Stolen

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - "The Unfinished Book"
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Sat, 24 Jun 2000 07:28:20 -0500

In this week's Parasha (weekly Torah reading) there is an
interesting feature that is apparent only when viewing
the Hebrew portion of scripture. In Numbers 10:35-36,
these two verses are surrounded by an inverted nun (the 14th
letter of the Hebrew alphabet; pronounced "noon") on either
side. Normally, a nun looks similar to a right bracket ( ] ),
but being inverted it now looks like a left bracket ( [ ).
This feature is lost in our English translations, but it
would look something like this if it was present:

[ And it came to pass, when the ark set forward,
that Moses said, Rise up, LORD, and let thine enemies be
scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee.
And when it rested, he said, Return, O LORD, unto the many
thousands of Israel. [

In Matthew 5:18 it is written: "For verily I say unto you,
Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in
no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."

In our modern English bibles, we don't even know the nun's
are there in Numbers 10:35-36, but they are there for a
reason. Thus the ancient Jewish sages found significance in
them which the following commentary expounds upon.

Interestingly, there is one other place in the Hebrew scriptures
where inverted nuns are also found, that's in Psalms 107 -- the
first psalm of Book V -- whose opening verses proclaim:

"O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy
endureth for ever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom
he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; And gathered them
out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north,
and from the south."

=============

This article is online at:
http://aish.com/torahportion/moray/showArticle.asp

Aish.com
MI'ORAY HA'AISH

Parshat Behalotcha - Numbers 8:1 - 12:16

"The Unfinished Book"

Rabbi Ari Kahn

* * *

When the Ark traveled, Moses said: 'Arise God! Scatter
your enemies, and let those who hate you flee from in front
of you. And when the Ark rested, he would say 'Return God
the myriad of thousands of Israel!' (Numbers 10:35-36)

This week's Torah portion contains an idiosyncrasy which
is unique in the Bible -- the two verses cited above are
enclosed, as if in brackets, by letters written upside down
on either side. The letters which are written upside down
in every Torah scroll are nuns, and the impression which
they leave is that these verses are written
parenthetically.

The Talmud and Midrash provide an explanation:

This section has signs above and below in order to inform
you that this is not the proper place. (Shabbat 115b-116a)

According to the Talmud these verses are indeed
parenthetical, inasmuch as they were extricated from their
proper context and placed here.

Generally, we find different opinions among the various
Biblical commentators regarding the proper sequence of the
events recorded in the Torah (or the more basic question of
whether there is any sequence at all). Be that as it may,
even according to the opinion that the Torah does not
record events in sequence, it is curious that specifically
in this instance the Torah itself would leave a mark in
order to indicate the "emendation."

The Talmud, however, goes even further when it makes a
suggestion which seems to fly in the face of one of the
most basic teachings of Judaism.

Rabbi Meir said: "It is not from God [these signs for
moving the section from its proper place] rather because it
is considered a book unto itself." Whom does he (Rabbi
Meir) rule like? Like the teaching of Rabbi Shmuel bar
Nachman in the name of Rav Yochanan: "These are the seven
books of the Torah. [Wisdom has built her house] she has
hewn out seven pillars. (Proverbs 9:1)" (Shabbat 116a)

The seven "pillars of wisdom" in the Book of Proverbs
refer to the seven books of the Torah. This reference does
present somewhat of a difficulty to those of us who know of
only the Torah as the Five Books of Moses (hence its name
Chumash, from the word for "five")!

The Midrash asks:

Are there not five [Books of the Torah]? (B'reishit Rabbah
64:8)

And then the Midrash explains that are, indeed, seven
books:

1) Genesis (Beresheet in Hebrew)
2) Exodus (Shmot)
3) Leviticus (Vayikra)
4) Numbers (Bamidbar in Hebrew) up to but not
including these two verses
5) These two verses
6) The rest of Numbers (Bamidbar)
7) Deuteronomy (Devarim)

To say that the Book of Numbers should be divided into two
sections might perhaps be understandable -- even if we were
to lose the familiar "five books" formula in the process.
But how can two isolated verses be considered a "book" by
any stretch of the imagination?

We must point out that the approach which opines that
these two verses form a separate book are neither singular
nor antinomian. The Mishna, while discusses the ritual
sanctity of scripture, teaches that any part of Torah which
is erased but retains a minimum of 85 letters, (exactly the
number in the demarcated section in this week's Torah
portion), has holiness, for a "book" remains (Yadayim 3:5).

The section from the Talmud cited above, which introduced
the notion of seven books, was the continuation of a
question which the Talmud grappled with, namely the type of
scripture that may be saved in the event of a fire breaking
out on Shabbat. In that case, as well as in the discussion
of ritual sanctity of scripture here, the conclusion is
that the minimum required to be considered a "book" is 85
letters.

We see, then, that these two verses are considered for
some legal issues to be a book unto themselves. Our
understanding that there are but Five Books of Moses is
somewhat shaken.

In order to understand this better, we must take a closer
look at the context in which these verses appear.

As we begin reading Parshat Be'halot'cha, we sense that
the Children of Israel are nearing their goal -- the
Promised Land. The Torah has been received, the Tabernacle
has been completed and consecrated, all seems in place for
the glorious, momentous march.

But then something tragic happens. They don't go. This is
what happens instead:

First, Aaron is commanded regarding the lighting of the
Menorah. Aaron, of course, follows the Divine command:

Aaron did that (which he was commanded), lighting the
candles to illuminate the Menorah as God had commanded
Moses. (Numbers 8:3)

Next comes the section of sanctifying the Levites:

And God spoke to Moses saying. Take the Levites from the
midst of the Children of Israel and sanctify them. (Numbers
8:5,6)

What follows next are two sections which revolve around
the celebration of Passover. Moses is commanded to repeat
the rites which were performed in Egypt on the eve of the
Exodus. A whole year had passed, and the practices which
were instituted in Egypt on that night will now be
recalled. For those who were ritually impure and therefore
could not partake of the Pascal offering, there is to be a
second chance to bring the offering. In the following month
-- on the 14th day of the Second Month -- they would have
their Passover.

CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS

At this juncture it is important to understand the
chronology of events thus far:

Year One

· The Jews leave Egypt on the 15th day of Nissan, the
first month.
· Fifty days later, on the 7th day of Sivan,
the third month the Jews receive the Torah at the foot of
Mount Sinai.
· Forty days later on the 17th day of Tammuz,
the fourth month they sin with the Golden Calf.
· Moses prays for the nation and is invited to ascend
Mount Sinai for the second time on the 1st day of Elul, the sixth
month.
· Forty days later, on Yom Kippur, the 10th day of
Tishrei, the seventh month, Moses comes down from Sinai
with the second set of tablets, and with the instructions
to build the Tabernacle; they collect the materials and
start to build.

Year Two

· On the 1st day of Nissan in the second year, the
Tabernacle is complete.
· The Twelve Tribes, represented by their leaders,
bring offerings, which brings us to the 13th
day of Nissan.
· The Jews will now observe Passover. Those
who are unable to partake will have another opportunity on
the 14th of Iyar, the second month.
· The second Passover is observed.

Now what? How would the people know when it was time to
march on?

A SPECIAL SIGN

The Torah reports a Divine sign:

"On the day when the Tabernacle was erected a cloud
enveloped it … and in the evening what appeared to be fire
[enveloped the Tabernacle] until the morning. When the
cloud would lift … the people would travel, and in the
place which the cloud would stop, there the people would
stop as well. (Numbers 9:15-17)

One last law was taught prior to the beginning of the
journey from Sinai - - the trumpets would be used in order
to give commands regarding the march.

All is in place. The march begins:

In the Second year, on the 20th of the second month, the
cloud arose … The children of Israel thus began their
travels from the Sinai desert (until) the cloud rested in
the Paran Desert. This was the first journey; by the word
of God, via Moses. (Numbers 10:11-13)

The march begins, but where are they going? Moses provides
the answer when he invites his father-in-law (or, according
to some, his brother in-law) to join them:

We are traveling to the place of which God has said 'I am
giving to you.' Join us … (Numbers 10:29)

Moses speaks in present tense, "We are traveling,"
because he believes that the Jews are about to enter the
Promised Land! He believes that the promises of God to our
forefathers are about to come to fruition. The future is
now. Let the trumpets blow -- let the conquest begin!

The father-in-law declines, and the Jews continue alone.
The destiny of the Jews and other peoples of the world
would not merge as of yet. They will travel a different
road; their path to Jerusalem will be more circuitous; they
will have to wait for the End of Days.

The Jews are headed directly for Israel. But, as we know,
the Jews do not enter into the Land of Israel immediately.
They travel their own circuitous route for the next forty
years. Moses is apparently mistaken; the time has not
arrived. He himself will never enter the Promised Land. His
mission will end prior to the conquest. He will not see the
beauty of the Temple in Jerusalem.

For Moses, like so many Jews in history, the Promised Land
will remain just that -- a promise.

THE BOOK OF CONQUEST

It is at this point that the two "parenthetical" verses
appear.

What is it about these two verses, these 85 letters, which
cause our Sages to see an entire book? The answer is
obvious: these verses represent the book which was never
written, the book relating the conquest spearheaded by
Moses, fought by God. These verses represent the book which
was to have been, but wasn't.

The key to understanding this teaching comes from a
lecture by Rav Yosef Solovietchik and is based on a number
of short comments by the Sforno on these verses:

When the Ark traveled … [This means] to enter the Land of
Israel. 'Arise God! Scatter you enemies …' Had it not been
for the spies [see Parshat Shlach] they would have entered
Israel without battle, for the inhabitants would have fled.

The Sforno is explaining what Moses would have said upon
entering the land, but Moses never did enter the Land. The
result would have been a peaceful conquest. When we read
the comments of the Sforno on the opening lines of the Book
of Numbers, we see this idea already developed:

Count the heads of the community of the Children of
Israel. To put them in order, so that they can enter the
land immediately. (Sforno 1:2)

The Jews were supposed to enter the Land of Israel at this
juncture. However, due to various intrigues, this
generation never does enter.

But God left a sign, a reminder, of what could of been, or
more precisely, what should have been.

Why, then, are a mere two verses called a "book"?

THE BOOK OF DESTINY

There was supposed to be far more information in this
book. The first verse was to refer to the "beginning of the
redemption" while the second verse was to be the closing
verse of this book. The end of the Redemption would mark
the return of all Jews -- the nation -- to the Land of
Israel, to the Torah, to God.

Indeed, these two verses represent a whole, incomplete
book, the Book of Destiny of the Jewish people. God will
not allow us to forget our mission. Even when we deviate
from our destiny and stray from the proper path as we did
in the desert, we are reminded of our mission.

There is a portion of the Torah, an entire book, dedicated
to telling the unfinished story and encouraging us to
complete it.

Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel taught: "In the future this
section will removed from here and written in its proper
place." (Shabbat 116a)

Moses was correct this was the proper place for the
conquest to begin, unfortunately Moses was proven wrong,
because the people were not ready to enter. Moses' dream
was vanquished. In retrospect, this was not the proper
place for this story of redemption to be told. At least it
is not the proper place to fully tell the story.

Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel assures us that indeed this story
will be completed, when the glorious march takes place and
the myriad of lost Jews return, to link with the missing
letters of the book which awaits its completion.

======================================

Rabbi Ari Kahn serves as Director of Foreign Student
Programs at Bar Ilan University in Israel, and is a
featured lecturer at Aish Jerusalem. You can contact him
directly at: AKahn@aish.com

See the full Parsha Archives:
http://aish.com/torahportion/pArchive_hp.asp

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - ABC Jesus program
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Sat, 24 Jun 2000 09:57:09 -0400

Merritt, seminary profs criticize ABC's 'one-sided' Jesus
documentary

By Michael Foust

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--An upcoming television documentary on the
life of Jesus is largely one-sided and is highly critical of the
historical accuracy of the Gospels, the newly elected president
of the Southern Baptist Convention said.

James Merritt, elected SBC president in Orlando, Fla., June 13,
had mostly critical remarks after screening "Peter Jennings
Reporting: The Search for Jesus." The two-hour program, which
follows Jennings on a journey through the Holy Land, airs June 26
at 9 p.m. (EDT) on ABC. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in
Louisville, Ky., obtained a review copy of the documentary from
ABC and made it available to selected faculty members and to
Merritt on June 21.

"I was encouraged and discouraged," Merritt said in an interview
at Southern Seminary June 22 where he was teaching a doctor of
ministry seminar on preaching. "First of all, the fact that ABC
would tackle a spiritual issue -- that's encouraging always. Of
course, I don't think you can talk about a better subject than to
talk about Jesus. But I have to be very candid and say that I was
very discouraged over the whole tone of the program. ... There
certainly was not a balance there with good solid conservative
evangelical theologians."

Of the seven biblical scholars on the program, only one -- N.T.
Wright, canon theologian of Westminster Abbey -- is a
self-described evangelical. Four of the seven scholars
participated in the highly controversial Jesus Seminar, which was
comprised of more than 200 men and women who met and "voted" to
determine the accuracy of the Gospels. They concluded that only
18 percent of the sayings of Jesus were at least "probably"
accurate, while only 16 percent of the events in the Gospels
"probably" occurred.

The Jesus Seminar participants featured on the ABC broadcast
include the Jesus Seminar founder, Robert W. Funk of Wester
Institute. The others are: Marcus Borg, Oregon State University;
John Dominic Crossan, DePaul University; and Marvin Meyer,
Chapman University.

The remaining two biblical scholars on "The Search for Jesus" --
Father Jerome Murphy O'Connor of Ecole Biblique and Paula
Fredriksen of Boston University -- seem to share the same
critical approach to the Bible.

"Most of the people that were interviewed -- and especially the
Jesus Seminar people -- have by their own admission a complete
anti-supernatural bias about all things theological," said
Merritt, who received his doctorate at Southern Seminary and is
currently pastor of the 12,000-member First Baptist Church in
Snellville, Ga., in the Atlanta area. "They're not going to look
at the evidence and say, 'Where does the evidence take us?'
They're going to go in and say, 'Well, the evidence can't take us
here because of my presupposition.' When you come in with that
presupposition, there's only one thing to do with the evidence --
you have to throw it in the garbage can."

Several Southern Seminary professors agreed with Merritt.

"In the end, we have here the Gospel according to Peter Jennings,
which differs little from that historical imagination of the late
19th century which saw in Jesus the message of universal love and
justice," said New Testament professor Mark Seifrid, who received
his doctorate at Princeton Theological Seminary. "Once the
reliability of the Gospels has been set aside, it is inevitable
that the Jesus we create for ourselves looks much like us, at
least in our own aspirations and wishes."

Preaching professor Hershael York, who received his doctorate in
New Testament studies, was just as critical.

"It was the most slanted, biased and myopic presentation of the
life of Christ imaginable," York said. "It's not that they
discounted our point of view -- the point of view of conservative
scholarship. It's that they did not even acknowledge that it's
there. They did not interview one single conservative scholar.
... I hope there's a sequel to 'The Search for Jesus' because
they didn't find him in the first one."

York, in fact, was invited to participate in the Jesus Seminar
while he was pastor of a church in Lexington, Ky. He declined the
invitation. "I knew what they were doing," he said. "I said, 'If
you're just going to vote on which words of Jesus are authentic,
I can save us a lot of time. I vote with Jesus every time.
There's really no point in me showing up at the meetings for two
days to sit there and raise my hand every time.'"

York and Seifrid agreed that Wright falls short of presenting an
evangelical perspective. Wright defends the resurrection of
Jesus, but only by saying there was no other explanation for the
spreading of Christianity.

"One has to give Jennings credit for including Wright, who is
known as an evangelical scholar, but in this case Wright is
definitely not at his best," Seifrid said. "Rather than leavening
the whole dough, his comments are leavened by the rest."

Merritt pointed out that Jennings does interview another
evangelical -- Louisiana Pentecostal pastor Anthony Mangun.
Mangun, though, is not identified as a scholar, and he is not
shown defending any of the critical comments by the other
participants.

"What [the program] really said was [that] we should accept the
word of a biblical scholar just because he calls himself a
scholar and has a degree from Harvard. ... Let's have a fair
debate here," Merritt said. "Let's have the scholarly side that
says, 'Let me tell you why I believe exactly the way the Bible
says it happened.' And then let the other side say what they want
to say."

Daniel Akin, dean of the school of theology at Southern Seminary,
said the lack of representation was not due to a lack of
evangelical scholars. Akin said he would have recommended Denver
Seminary's Craig Blomberg, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School's
Don Carson, Dallas Theological Seminary's Darrell Bock and
Southern Seminary's Robert Stein.

"These are four of the most respected evangelical New Testament
scholars in the world. ... The failure to include at least one or
two of them was irresponsible journalism," Akin said.

Two Internet sites are providing extensive coverage of the
program: ABCNEWS.com and Beliefnet.com.

----------------------------------------------------------------

ABC 'Jesus' documentary undermines core Christian doctrines,
critics say

By Michael Foust

LOUISVILLE, Ky.(BP)--An ABC documentary on the life of Jesus
amounts to little more than an advertisement for the
controversial Jesus Seminar, says Daniel Akin, the dean of the
school of theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

The two-hour program, "Peter Jennings Reporting: The Search for
Jesus," airs June 26 at 9 p.m. (EDT). It follows Jennings through
the Holy Land and derives much of its content from interviews
with Jesus Seminar participants and likeminded biblical scholars.
Southern Seminary, based in Louisville, Ky., obtained a review
copy of the documentary and made it available to selected faculty
members and to Southern Baptist Convention President James
Merritt on June 21.

"The scholars that were on the show were certainly reflective of
a particular worldview perspective -- the anti-supernatural,"
Akin said after screening the program. "You had extensive
representation from the Jesus Seminar. I thought 'The Search for
Jesus' was a marvelous commercial for the Jesus Seminar's
perspective on who was Jesus and what did he do."

The Jesus Seminar was a gathering of more than 200 men and women
who "voted" on the historical reliability of the Gospels. They
concluded that Jesus "probably" said only 18 percent of what is
attributed to him and that only 16 percent of events in the
Gospels "probably" occurred.

Such thought dominates the ABC program, according to the Southern
Seminary reviewers. Only one scholar was shown defending the
historical reliability of Jesus' resurrection. No scholar was
shown defending the historical reliability of Jesus' miracles or
virgin birth.

The documentary showcases seven biblical scholars. Four were
participants in the Jesus Seminar; two did not participate but
are likeminded, having rejected much of the Gospels' reliability.
Only one scholar is a self-described evangelical.

"They have already ruled out supernaturalism before you even
begin to investigate the evidence," Akin said of two of the Jesus
Seminar scholars on the program, Robert Funk and John Dominic
Crossan. "They are thoroughgoing naturalists, so they are not
going to see a virgin birth. They're not going to see [Jesus]
walking on the water. They're not going to see him feeding 5,000.
They're not going to see him healing the blind or raising the
dead."

Early in the program Jennings admits that his search is limited,
saying that he "cannot tell you whether Jesus is the Son of God.
That is a matter of faith." Jennings then interviews the
different scholars, who question everything from the birthplace
of Jesus (Bethlehem or Nazareth?) to the betrayal of Judas (is it
a fictional insertion intended to blame the Jewish people for
Jesus' death?).

"The Jesus that was presented on ABC would not be worthy of the
adoration and worship and veneration of untold millions of people
in the last 2,000 years," said James Merritt, newly elected
president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Southern Seminary preaching professor Hershael York, who received
his doctorate in New Testament studies, said he was bothered by
Jennings' implications.

"What troubled me the most was the way [Jennings] would say,
'historians say, scholars believe.' -- not 'some scholars
believe' or 'some historians think,'" he said.

During the first few minutes of the program Jennings says,
"Scholars told us early on that they didn't take everything they
read in the New Testament literally, because the New Testament
has four different and sometimes contradictory versions of Jesus'
life."

York pointed out that Jennings and the scholars quote stories
about John the Baptist as if they are fact -- while at the same
time questioning the historical accuracy of Jesus.

"It just shows their inconsistency. ... They never questioned any
of the details of John -- what he wore, what he ate, where he
preached, what he said -- but they completely dismantle the Jesus
presented in the Gospels," York said.

Merritt said that the response to some of the historical
criticism is simple.

"A lot of the things they brought up, a fourth-grade Sunday
school kid could have answered," the SBC president said. "Yes, he
was born in Bethlehem, but he grew up in Nazareth. What's so
difficult about it?"

Merritt said the program's low point may come when it turns to
the purpose of Jesus' death.

One of the Jesus Seminar participants, Oregon State University's
Marcus Borg, explains Christ's death by saying, "When we turn the
story of Jesus instead into the eternal sacrifice of sin that
makes our forgiveness possible, then we really set aside that
which mattered so much to him -- mainly the poor, the
untouchables, the suffering of people in the world."

Jennings explains Jesus' death by saying, "Jesus was executed not
for blasphemy, as the Gospels indicate, but as a political
revolutionary -- a threat to the established political and social
order."

Merritt said that such thinking undermines the central doctrine
of biblical Christianity.

"The ones who were interviewed made it very plain that it was
strictly a political death," he said. "They made it almost to be
a martyrdom, classified along the same lines of the assassination
of Martin Luther King. With all due respect to Martin Luther King
-- and I think Martin Luther King himself would say this -- you
can't put his death in the same category as the death of Jesus
Christ.

"Jesus Christ is the only man in the history of the planet [who]
claimed to be God in the flesh, who claimed to die in our place
as sinners, who died a substitutionary death, who accepted the
full wrath of God as payment for our sins," Merritt said.

The SBC president said he hopes viewers will turn to the Bible
after watching the program.

"I hope that there will be enough discernment out there by the
viewing audience that they will say, 'Wait a minute. What does
the Bible say? And why are there some strong brilliant biblical
scholars -- who have every bit the credentials these other men do
and every bit the intellectual firepower these other men do --
and yet they believe in the resurrection, they believe in the
substitutionary atonement, they believe in the virgin birth,'" he
said.

Two Internet sites are providing extensive coverage of the
program: ABCNEWS.com and Beliefnet.com.

via:
The Baptist Press email service is a cooperative effort between
Baptist Press and Crosswalk.com. Visit Baptist Press on the web
at http://www.BaptistPress.org/

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - (Fwd) Link Of The Day For 6/24/00
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Sat, 24 Jun 2000 13:36:34 -0400

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Sat, 24 Jun 2000 14:55:52 "GMT"
From: Refdesk Link Of The Day <rbdrudge@refdesk.com>
Subject: Link Of The Day For 6/24/00
To: research-bpr@philologos.org
Send reply to: rbdrudge@refdesk.com

Today's Reference Pick of the Day is: Adherents.com
at: http://www.adherents.com

Site provides more than 44,000 adherent statistics for over 4,000 different
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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Monday, June 26, 2000 events
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Sat, 24 Jun 2000 18:25:27 -0400

Monday, June 26, 2000 looks like it's going to be a busy day for the following
reasons:

1. Fatima secret to be revealed
2. Global signing of United Religions charter (in Pittsburgh, PA).
3. ABC Jesus "documentary"
4. Announcement re: deciphering of the "Book of Life" (see below)

Moza
moza@butterfly.mv.com

-----------------------------

Milestone in human genetics to be announced Monday

                  June 23, 2000
                  Web posted at: 10:15 p.m. EDT (0215
                  GMT)

(CNN) -- In a major step toward a new era of gene-based medicine and
disease treatment, two research centers are expected to announce on
Monday that they separately have sketched a map detailing the secrets of
human genetic structure.

Scientists say their project -- called sequencing the human genome --
eventually will enable them to determine what each gene does.

The Human Genome Project and Celera Genomics Inc. will hold news
conferences in Washington. Announcements are also expected in London at
the Sanger Center, where some of the sequencing work is being conducted.

Some scientists have said this breakthrough -- which comes 10 years after
the project was started -- is as significant as man walking on the moon.
Experts believe the information provided by the genome projects will forever
change the practice of medicine and the health care of human beings, by
paving the way for new drugs and medical therapies.

The Human Genome Project is an international consortium supported mostly
by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Wellcome Trust, a
philanthropic organization based in London. Celera Genomics is a private
company based in Rockville, Maryland.

Those looking 10 and 20 years into the future see more individualized drugs,
fewer adverse drug reactions, the ability to regenerate and grow human body
parts, and the technology to prevent disease and birth defects in babies even
before they are born.

Francis Collins, director of the Human Genome Project at the National
Institutes of Health, said "it's hard to overstate the importance of reading our
own instruction book and that's what the human genome project is all about."

Collins told CNN that the mapping of the human genome will open new doors
in treating and researching an endless list of diseases that are currently
incurable.

"You're going to see a proliferation of discoveries about the genetic
contributions to diabetes and heart disease and high blood pressure and
schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis and on down the list," he said.

"Conditions that we know have genetic contributions but which have been
rather difficult to nail down, this set of power tools that the genome project is
producing will accelerate this discovery process rather dramatically, and
we're going to see the consequences of that in the next three to five years,"
Collins said.

J. Craig Venter, who heads Celera, said the next step in the project is the
"interpretation phase."

"That is really the fun part of the whole project because then we finally have
the complete order of all the layers of genetic code and we have to discover
what it all means," he said.

Venter said this is the first time in history that scientists will be able to look
at the "biology of the gene, how those genes relate to each other to cause
us to be alive." Venter said the advances should come quickly, adding that
what once took 10 years can now be done in 15 seconds due to advanced
technology and computers.

Although the public and private groups are using different methods in their
human genome projects, they both have as a goal the discovery of the
chemicals of the approximately 80,000 genes that make up the human body.

Each chemical is assigned a letter (A, C, G, T). Now that the sequencing is
complete, scientists will look for the genetic variations in people -- variations
that could be the cause of countless diseases.

http://www.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/06/23/genome/index.html

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

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