Special Feature:
The Jesus Seminar

  • "Jesus did not ask us to believe that his death was a blood sacrifice, that he was going to die for our sins."
  • "Jesus did not ask us to believe that he was the messiah. He certainly never suggested that he was the second person of the trinity. In fact, he rarely referred to himself at all."
  • "Jesus did not call upon people to repent, or fast, or observe the sabbath. He did not threaten with hell or promise heaven."
  • "Jesus did not ask us to believe that he would be raised from the dead."
  • "Jesus did not ask us to believe that he was born of a virgin."
  • "Jesus did not regard scripture as infallible or even inspired."
    • So says Robert W. Funk, Architect and Founder of the Jesus Seminar, in a Keynote Address to the Jesus Seminar Fellows. (Taken from the article, "The Jesus Seminar," by Jimmy Williams, featured below.)

    The Jesus Seminar
    Jimmy Williams
    The Jesus Seminar is a group of New Testament scholars who have been meeting periodically since 1985. The initial two hundred has now dwindled to about seventy-four active members. They initially focused on the sayings of Jesus within the four Gospels to determine the probability of His actually having said the things attributed to Him...

    The Corrected Jesus
    Richard B. Hays
    A new book called The Five Gospels--the fruit of the labors of the much-publicized "Jesus Seminar"--claims to provide definitive new answers to the question, "What did Jesus really say?" A panel of New Testament scholars, meeting over a period of several years, has given us a new red-letter edition of the four canonical gospels plus the Gospel of Thomas, with the words adjudged by a poll of these scholars actually to have been spoken by Jesus printed in red type.

    The Gospels As Historical Sources For Jesus
    R. T. France
    This article addresses two main points: 1) the indispensability of the four canonical gospels; and 2) the acceptability of the gospels as historical sources. any responsible reconstruction of Christian origins must find its starting-point in the first-century gospel records, not in the hints of an alternative view of Jesus contained in second-century literature from the Gnostic wing of Christianity.

    Historical Jesus
    William Lane Craig
    Dr. Craig has written several articles pertaining to the historicity of Jesus Christ. These can be found at his virtual office. The articles are: From Easter to Valentinus and the Apostles' Creed Once More, The Guard at the Tomb, The Problem of Miracles, The Historicity of the Empty Tomb of Jesus, and Contemporary Scholarship and the Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

    The Christian Canon
    Don Closson
    This essay the development of the doctrine of the Scriptures in the Church Age. Just how did the church decide on the books for inclusion in the New Testament? This discussion includes both how the Canon was established and the various ways theologians have viewed the Bible since the Canon was established.

    Why Care About Theology?
    Jerry Solomon
    Sound theology is very important in the life of a Christian. History shows us this has always been true. From heresies in the very early church, through the upheaval of the Reformation, to the "Jesus Seminar" of more recent times, Christians have been challenged to give serious attention to matters of theology.