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Floyd Hale
AUTHOR’S PREFACE
From my seminary days (over a half century ago) I learned to study the Bible critically—applying the modern tools of Literary Analysis. I found that learning the truth in the B...view moreAUTHOR’S PREFACE
From my seminary days (over a half century ago) I learned to study the Bible critically—applying the modern tools of Literary Analysis. I found that learning the truth in the Bible depends on knowing the truth about the Bible. When I learned there was no Garden of Eden, a serpent didn’t strike out and bite me. He just grinned and slowly walked away—before God cut his legs off. Learning the truth about the Bible is not hard; it’s living with those facts—especially for a preacher—that can put a kink in one’s life-style.
For over thirty years I wrote a weekly column (The Bible Says . . .) in newspapers across Southern Illinois, answering questions on the Bible, and that put a kink in my reputation as a pastor.
I affiliated myself with the Society of Biblical Literature and followed closely the work of the Jesus Seminar group (Westar Institute) then in California. Not teaching, nor planning to write, I studied strictly for my own learning. I kept few notes and no bibliography. (Sorry ’bout that.) I trust the truth to stand on its own. If anything I say herein is not the truth, forget it. I’m going to tell it like it is—whether it is or not. The problem is getting it published, for I’m not an accredited scholar—nor the son of a scholar.
To make my thesis clear and convincing I must go into great detail most of the time. I’ll quote a lot of scripture, for only theirin lies Jesus. This makes for heavy reading (especially in the first section), but all of this must go into print—I have found this material nowhere (except in bits and pieces in commentaries). I will use several footnotes (I don’t like “notes” in a ‘separate book’—in the back.) I don’t even like footnotes, but I feel I should add them regularly for explanation’s sake. I’ll also give scripture references (I don’t like these in the text.) I realize many more scriptures can be quoted which contradict mine. More background information is provided in the Epilogue.
I am vain enough to believe I’ve learned something about Jesus that has so far been missed. I’d hate to take it into the grave with me (I’m now 89). This might jump-start the Quest for the Historical Jesus into one more—“last”—session. This would not be the expected “happy ending,” but it might reveal who Jesus really was—the way he saw his contribution to the human good. It pains me to see Jesus’ name used by millions who just want to escape from reality. In spite of his rejection and suffering, Jesus enjoyed life—“with sinners” (anyone then not actively religious. That was this vast herd of “sheep without a shepherd.”)
It was not his life he wanted to share with “believers” in some “spiritual” way. He wanted to free up the dominated economy which required the poor to bid with the rich for bread. He tried to change the economy—“this world”—into the economy of the kingdom of God—“as it is in heaven” (to put it in ideal terms). He was not a Socialist, just a Humanist who wanted a level playing field on which his “Heavenly Father’s children” could enjoy "abundant life." In my detailed explanation of Jesus’ ministry I am not selling his religion—for I think he had none. And I am not telling folks to go to church and get it, for it’s not there. I just want Jesus understood—for historical purposes.view less