Lord or Legend?: Wrestling with the Jesus Dilemma

LORD OR LEGEND? Wrestling with the Jesus Dilemma

Gregory A. Boyd and Paul Rhodes Eddy

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BakerBooks Grand Rapids, Michigan

© 2007 by Gregory A Boyd and Paul Rhodes Eddy Published by Baker Books a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O, Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 495]6-6287 www.bakerbooks.com Printed in the United States of America All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-for example, electronic, photocopy, recording-without the prior written permission of the publisher, The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews. Library of Congress Catalogmg-in-Publication Data Boyd, Gregory A, 1957Lord or legend? , wrestling with the Jesus dilemma I Gregory A Boyd and Paul Rhodes Eddy. p. cm, Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and indexes. ISBN W: 0-8010-6505-4 (pbk.) ISBN 978-0·8010-6505-7 (pbU J. Apologetics. 2. Jesus Christ-Historicity, 3. Bible-Evidences, authority, etc. I. Eddy, Paul R II. Title. BTI103.B69 2007 232,9'0B-dc22 2007018844 Scripture is taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, Used by permission, All rights reserved,

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The Intense Creational Monotheism of First·Century Palestinian Judaism

If this much is true of first-century Jews in general, it is even more characteristic of Palestinian Jews in particular-a point that is most significant inasmuch as this is the specific locale in which Christianity was birthed. The evidence that first-century Palestinian Jews remained strongly monotheistic and Torah-centered in their beliefs is overwhelming. Consider the following lines of evidence: 1. Josephus, who is our main literary source for first-century Judaism, depicts Palestinian Jews at this time as faithful to their traditional monotheistic beliefs and practices. In 2. In all of the archaeological sites in the Palestine area to date, pagan temples are completely absent l17 3. Ceramic wares found in Galilee are carved from a distinctive soft chalk limestone. This type of vessel was held by Jews to meet ritual purity requirements and is found only in Jewish sites. 's 4. A noticeable number of affluent Galilean homes contained a miqwaoth (ritual bathing pool), indicating that Jews continued to honor the practice of ritualistic bathing. 19 5. In contrast to most pagan sites, Galilean excavation sites reveal a consistent lack of pork bones, indicating that the Jews of this locale honored the Levitical prohibition on eating pork. 20 6. The burial sites in first-century Palestine are generally distinctly Jewish, allowing for bones to be collected and placed in a box (an ossuary) some time after the interment. 21 7, Unearthed coins minted in Palestine in the first century tend to be free of visual representations, suggesting the Jews of this time were offended by "graven images"-hence, that they were deeply committed to following the Torah. 22

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Jesus, History, and Legend-Making

It thus seems that, whatever inAuences Hellenism may have had upon the surface veneer of Jewish culture in Palestine, it did not in any noticeable manner affect their core religious convictions. The population as a whole remained 'Torah-true in religious orientation:'21

A Most Unexpected Myth In light of these facts, it seems we cannot easily explain the creation of the Jesus story the way we typically explain the creation of pagan legends of the time. Indeed, far from expressing beliefs and meeting needs in their culture, as legends typically do, the Jesus story runs directly counter to certain fundamental aspects of its Jewish environment. Most importantly, this story involves the claim that a man-a contemporary man no less-is to be worshipped as God. Nothing could have been more antithetical to first-century Judaism than this claim! Yet this claim lies at the center of the Jesus story. If first-century Palestinian Jews were naturally going to produce a legend, it seems clear that it would not have looked anything like this one. But there are other surprising, radically countercultural aspects to the Jesus story as well, For example: 1. Jews were generally expecting a messiah who would be an inspiring human leader and would liberate them from Roman rule. Instead of this militant, political messiah, however, the Jesus story centers on a God-man who allows himself to be crucified by the very enemies he is supposed to overthrow! If it is not rooted in history, what explains this surprising--even oxymoronic by first-century Jewish standards-new story about the messiah? 2. Jews were generally expecting a messiah who would reinforce the religious establishment and keep the Jewish traditions blamelessly. Yet Jesus's main opponents were from among the religious establishment, for he did not meticulously honor Jewish traditions. According to the Gospels, Jesus's entourage consisted of far more sinners, prostitutes, and tax collectors than it did people in good standing with the religious establishment. We might also note the unprecedented honor Jesus showed to women-including women of ill-repute-throughout his ministry. If they are not rooted in his-

A Most Unexpected Legend

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tory, what explains these unusual, countercuhural aspects of the Jesus story? 3. A