Introduction: Of Revolutions and Paradigm Shifts - Part 2

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

We concluded Part 1 of the Introduction with the following:

 

(p.3) " History has proven, through many such examples, that the human mind is

inherently conservative. The obvious is not always easily seen, and the truth is

often firmly resisted in order to hold onto the " assured results " of

authoritative scholarship. It is not, of course, news that humans have an innate

tendency toward conservatism that impels us to quash contrary opinions, no

matter how self-evident. The great Galileo was placed under house arrest by the

church for going public with the evidence his eyes showed him. But it is not

only scientists who have been forced to pay high prices for redefining the way

we understand our world. Such injustices happen in all fields of research,

perhaps none more so than the field of theology. Theologians who dare to

challenge theological dogma are as ostracized by their peers as scientists who

challenge scientific dogma. Just one of many recent examples is the shameful

treatment of the Dead Sea Scrolls scholar Robert Eisenman, whose peers in an

effort to discredit his theories on James and Christian origins went so far as

to publicly accuse him of plagiarism (unjustly, as it turned out). [1] Paradigm

challenges are never suffered lightly by the orthodox establishment in any

field. "

 

The Brother of Jesus (And the Lost Teachings of Christianity) Introduction, Pg.

3.

 

Note:

 

[1] For the disturbing details of this modern academic inquisition, see Neil

Asher Silberman's moving account in 'The Hidden Scrolls: Christianity, Judaism,

and the War for the Dead Sea Scrolls' (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1994).

 

Here now is Part 2.

 

Enjoy,

 

violet

 

 

 

Introduction: Of Revolutions and Paradigm Shifts - Part 2

 

(p.3) In some ways, challenging paradigms is harder today than it ever has been

because the modern academic world is a world of minute specialization. As a

result, today's scientists, philosophers, and theologians often suffer from

severe myopia, their noses so buried in the details of their particular fields

of research that the forest is often missed for the trees. (p.4) The days of the

classic philosopher, whose job it once was to fit the pieces of research from

various fields together into larger theoretical pictures, is gone. The branch of

philosophy known as metaphysics, whose task it originally was to systematically

organize all knowledge into overarching paradigms, is frowned upon today.

Postmodern thinking has declared such efforts bankrupt. This book, however,

dares to synthesize all the evidence we have about James and the early church,

and the result is a view of the man and the church that is radically at odds

with accepted wisdom and scholarship. The theories I present in this book are

not new. They have all been proposed before, but have either been sheepishly

ignored or unfairly discredited. To rectify matters, we will here survey all the

extant evidence that exists on James, along with running commentary by scholars

that shows how this material has been interpreted. You will find that I have let

the scholars speak largely for themselves, and I have worked hard to let all of

the voices - both liberal and conservative - be heard.

 

In part 1 we will examine the nature of Jesus' family. After an overview of the

evidence for James's relationship to Jesus and James's role in the early

Christian community in chapter 1, in chapter 2 we undertake a detailed

examination of the nature of Jesus' family as seen in the four gospels, which

will lay a firm foundation for all that follows. The exact familial relationship

of Jesus to his brothers and sisters has been a matter of controversy between

Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant Christians, and Jesus'

relationship to his family during his ministry has largely been misinterpreted

by almost all Christian scholars, with tangible consequences in the history of

Christianity.

 

In part 2 we investigate the nature of the earliest Christian community -

generally referred to as the Jerusalem church - of which James was the leader.

In chapter 3 we examine the evidence from the New Testament about this

community, particularly the testimony of the early church history written by

Luke (the book of Acts) and the invaluable firsthand testimony of Paul,

particularly his letter to the Galatians. In chapter 4 we undertake an analysis

of two watershed events in the history of earliest Christianity: the Apostolic

Council held in Jerusalem (described in Acts 15), and the incident at Antioch

where Peter and Paul come to loggerheads over the issue of table fellowship

between Jews and Gentiles. Both these events provide us with significant amounts

of information about James's leadership role in the Jerusalem church. (p.5) In

chapter 5 we will discuss the dynamics and friction between Paul and the

Jerusalem Christians that finally sparked when Paul made his final visit to

Jerusalem and which led to his arrest and imprisonment in Rome. We will also

take a look at the fascinating account of James's martyrdom from the respected

Jewish historian Josephus.

 

Part 3 examines the nature of a fascinating phenomenon in early Christianity

that scholars generally refer to as Jewish Christianity, a widespread community

that retained its Jewish roots, beliefs, and practices while adhering to Jesus

as the Messiah of Israel and revering the memory of James. Chapter 6 surveys the

literature on James and Jewish Christianity that exists in the writings of early

church historians and the church fathers, while chapter 7 surveys the writings

on James that come from later Jewish Christian and Gnostic communities whose

beliefs caused them to be branded as heretics by the Catholic Church.

 

In light of the first three parts, part 4 examines the nature of orthodoxy and

heresy. Here we shall be led to some startling conclusions about who were the

orthodox and who were the heretics in early Christianity. We shall see why

Christianity inevitably parted ways with parent Judaism, and why there continues

to be an impassable divide between Christians, Jews, and Muslims - one that has

led to the precarious state of political affairs in the Western world today and

even to which the blame for such tragic events as 9/11 can be attributed.

Finally, in part 5 we shall endeavour to synthesize all of our information into

a new paradigm that can perhaps repair the tragic breach between the children of

Abraham.

 

If I have made any original contribution to the debate about James, it is simply

in performing the philosophical task of bringing others' findings together to

allow a bigger picture to emerge. Many theologians would prefer for this

emerging picture not to be put on public display, for its implications will have

major repercussions not only on the average Christian, but on Jews and Muslims

as well. If and when it is ever fully realized, the emerging paradigm shift

presented here could forever change how the three great Western religions--the

" people of the Book, " as the Qur'an calls the descendents of Abraham--understand

their holy scriptures and their relationship to each other. This paradigm shift

could even help to usher in--at long last--peace in the Middle East.

 

The story of this nascent revolution begins at the epicenter of Western

religion: the city of Jerusalem, where Jews and Christians first parted ways

almost two millennia ago. Our story begins with two first-century Jewish

brothers named Jesus and James.

 

The Brother of Jesus (And the Lost Teachings of Christianity)

Introduction, Pg. 3-5

Jeffrey J. Butz

Inner Traditions - Rochester, Vermont

ISBN 1-59477-043-3