Better late than never… Here are my notes from the “To Whom Shall We Go?” seminar last month. I hope they come in handy for someone. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about trying to decipher them.
Right-click (pc) or Control-click (mac!) to download:
In case there was any confusion with my last post, here is my “official” stance on the Messiahship of Yeshua. I believe (with perfect faith) that Yeshua of Nazereth is the long awaited Mashiach proclaimed by the Torah and the Prophets. The evidence within the Apostolic Scriptures is overwhelmingly convincing when viewed with the proper linguistic and cultural understanding to conclude otherwise. Yeshua is HaMashiach.
In the days ahead we (a group of my colleagues and I) will be making available a large repository of conclusive evidences of the validity of his messiahship from both classic perspectives as well as fresh, scholarly insights. If you have insights you would like to include, please contact me in this regard as we are in the compilation process.
shalom chaverim,
-Darren
ps. Happy Hanukkah! Yeshua is the Light of the World! (And YOU are the light of the world…Matthew 5:14-16… Flip the switch!)
Following on the heels of Boaz’s comments (http://www.diggingwithdarren.com/blog/index.php?p=154#comment-423), I thought we could move the discussion over to this post and keep it focused. If you have sources that you believe to prove the Messiahship of Yeshua, then please post them here.
Jay – I know you will enjoy playing devil’s advocate here. Feel free to post your prooftexts of why you feel that he is not.
Everyone – please keep your comments focused to the topic, and keep personalities out of the way. This is a great exercise for being able to actually back up what we believe, as Peter encourages us to do
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
1 Peter 3:15,16
Lastly, Mr. Benzvi – I appreciate your concern. However, I believe you would do well to heed the words of Peter, also.
I look forward to a healthy discussion on a vital topic.
Shalom,
-Darren
It seems dubious author Michael Baigent has thrust his pen into the side of Yeshua again in his new book The Jesus Papers. A followup to his 1982 hit and miss Holy Blood, Holy Grail in which he has Jesus escape the cross through drug use and elope to France with Mary Magdalene. This was the inspiration behind Dan Brown’s overwhelmingly popular, over-hyped, fraudulent and highly imaginative DaVinci Code. (As a matter of fact, Baigent filed a lawsuit against Brown for “stealing” his material.) It “just so happens” to fall right on the heals of the publication of The Judas Gospel and the DaVinci Code blockbuster hit. But he claims it is only “coincidence.”
Baigent’s premise in The Jesus Papers is the same as Holy Blood, Holy Grail, only this time he takes it a step further. He claims to have found what he calls the “Jesus Papers,” written letters from Yeshua to the Sanhedrin uncovering the “truth” about Yeshua’s feigned death and the ensuing details of his “life after death.” Hershel Shanks has a good time poking fun at this wasted ink called a novel in his recent review of it. Take a peak and have a few laughs, and don’t worry about it shaking anyone’s faith but those who have none.
Yawn…
Yet another Gnostic “gospel” has surfaced and gained immediate praise from the media. I don’t want to spend much time on it, but for the “inquiring mind” I must address this, if ever so briefly.
In brief, the “Gospel of Judas” is a pseudopygraphal, Gnostic account of the life of Jesus in which the tables are turned on the authentic rendition of the teachings of Jesus. The good guys are the bad guys, and the bad guys are…well…you guessed it—good. It was originally composed some time around the end of the second century, and discovered in the early 70′s in the Egyptian desert. After several years of trying to be sold, it finally ended up in the hands of those who would be able to fund its restoration and translation. As of this year, the translation was completed, and the entire text (of what was not damaged beyond recognition) is publicly available from National Geographic.
This particular gospel begins by letting us know that it is giving us a “secret” account of Jesus that has previously never been told. The reader then learns that only Judas, of all of the disciples, really has intimate fellowship with the Master. He is the only one truly on the “inside” of Jesus’s agenda. As a matter of fact, at the onset of the narrative, he is told to remove himself from the others, because he alone is on the path to enlightenment. Several other amusing tales are told, such as Jesus often appearing to them in different form—a little child.
In conclusion, there are sure-fire ways to know whether this “gospel” has any credibility or not. The first of which is if it has the word “Gnostic” or “secret knowledge” tied to it in any shape, form or fashion, then it’s bogus. The Gnostic teachings that spread rampantly in the early second century forward ruthlessly attempt to strip Jesus from his Jewish context. If this were the case, he would definitely not be the Messiah. The second is its lateness in composition. The mere fact that it was composed so late, tells us that this could not be an eyewitness account, nor transmit accurate information from the time of Jesus. While the Gospel of Judas might be great for Hollywood, it’s only bird cage liner for true followers of the Master.
For further study, check out the following resources:
The Gospel of Judas and the Da Vinci Code
An audio teaching by Daniel Lancaster of Beth Immanuel (and FFOZ).
National Geographic
Read all of the details of the discovery, the timeline of the events related to the Gospel of Judas in conjunction to the events of Church history, and even download the text of the Gospel of Judas in PDF format.
