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Jesus Christ: The Product of Jewish Mores? Jon Brodin Liberty University PHIL 240: Christian Evidences

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Jesus Christ: The Product of Jewish Mores? In the Christmas 2006 edition of Newsweek, Miller sets the scene in ancient Nazareth describing a virgin who must inform her fianc that she is carrying a child that is not his but the Son of God. She asserts that such a explanation must have sounded implausible, desperate, even insane (Miller, 2006) in such a tone as to convey her own beliefs matched those that she attributed to Joseph. After quickly summarizing Josephs visit from the angel of the Lord, Miller tells of Josephs heart change in accepting his task to raise Jesus as his own child. In her next sentence, Miller again demonstrates her bias for Christianity in describing Christ as a figure they believe to be the Son of God (2006). While its conceivable that one may not share faith that Jesus in God, but its hardly believable that given the amount of evidence for His existence that any would deny that Jesus was a man who walked the earth from approximately 4 BC until His crucifixion in approximately 33 AD. Even skeptics such as Josephus testify to his life, ministry, and death by crucifixion (1988). Moving beyond the nativity, the author then gets into the main point of her article in describing Jesus upbringing in an era steeped in moral standards designed to offer stability in an uncertain world and asserting that His earthly parents would have transmitted those standards to their son as he grew up. Scripture reveals a completely different picture in that the world was fallen and in need of a Savior in Christ Jesus. John the Baptist had been sent in advance of Jesus with the task to make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight (Matt 3:3, NASB). Following Millers argument, Johns ministry was then completely unnecessary as Israel was a nation already of high moral standards.

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As evidence of the high moral standard of the land, she described the value placed on a womans virginity as probably a matter of pragmatism more than theology; it assured men who living in a culture that prized family above all that their children were their own. This evidence actually seems to contradict her argument for high moral standard in that she describes the intent behind protecting virtue is not for the sake of protecting that virtue but rather for the selfish interest of ensuring paternity. The purpose of the seventh commandment, according to Calvin, in contrast to Millers supposition is that as God loves chastity and purity, we ought to guard against all uncleanness. The substance of the commandment therefore is, that we must not defile ourselves with any impurity or libidinous excess (2009, p. 256). Neither then is just the womans virtue a matter of concern but also the mans and this is so not because Jewish cultural norms for pragmatic reasons but because of Gods moral laws as presented to the people of Israel through His messenger, Moses (Deut 5:18) and upheld and clarified to its fullest meaning by His Son, Jesus (Matt 5:27-28). Miller then introduces Jesus departure from Mary and Joseph on the road from Jerusalem to Galilee following the Passover and describes His behavior in the Luke 2:48 49 exchange as Jesus is as rude as a 12 year old can be. This, of course, is not supported by Scripture which clearly describes all as amazed at His understanding and His answers (Luke 2:47) but also asserts that He broke the 5th commandment in dishonoring Mary and Joseph. Had He done any such thing, committed any sin at all, He would be an unworthy sacrificial atonement. Inexplicably, Miller then cites Amy Levine to provide evidence extolling Jesus extraordinary family values. Again, the evidence contradicts the argument Miller had built in the preceding paragraph.

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In her most brazen attack, Miller stated [t]hen came the Passion, but still noting happened. Jesus had died and risen again--even appeared to his disciples on numerous occasions shortly after the first Easter--yet the world continued just as it had the day before, without trumpets or angels or fiery battles. Evidently, Miller is either not a student of ancient history or simply overlooked the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD which brought, at least partial, fulfillment of the prophecy in the Olivet Discourse (Bray, 1996). In describing the scene, Josephus stated no pity was shown to age or rank, old men or children, the laity or priests all were massacred. As the flames roared up, and since the temple stood on a hill, it seemed as if the whole city were ablaze. The noise was deafening, with war cries of the legions, howls of the rebels surrounded by fire and sword, and the shrieks of the people (1994, p. 372). As a parting shot, Miller cited Elaine Pagels of Princeton University and author of Adam, Eve and the Serpent to discredit the gospel of Matthew in stating he recalibrated some of Jesus more radical sayings to accommodate the familial concerns of regular people. Matthew, Pagels points out, provides a loophole for divorce (2006). Im not quite sure that I understand the argument here because twice in Matthews gospel, 6:31-32 and 19:3-9, Jesus deals with the subject of divorce and maintains consistency between both instances (although He adds a little more clarity to explain further when addressing the Pharisees direct question in chapter 19) as well as with Gen 1:27 and 2:24. Miller closes her argument with a description of Jesus words to John from the cross when He tasked his disciple to look after His mother by claiming them to be the penultimate act of a nice Jewish boy (2006). It is hard to imagine how a man the author claims to have been rude to his parents, deceived his followers, and provided inconsistent instructions throughout his ministry to be a nice Jewish boy much less the product of the high moral standard of the land in which he was born and raised. From the opening

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sentence, the authors personal bias interfered with her ability to argue a point rationally or present evidence that supported rather than directly contradicted the argument she was attempting to address. It is clear, or at least far more evidenced, that rather than the product of Jewish moral values, Jesus is their Author.

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References Bray, J. L. (1996). Matthew 24 fulfilled. Powder Springs, GA: American Vision. Calvin, J. (2008). Institutes of the Christian religion (H. Beveridge, trans). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. (Original work published 1536). Calvin, J. (2009). Calvin's commentaries (Vol. XVII). (William Pringle, Trans.). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Pub Group. Josephus, F. (1994). Josephus, the essential works, a condensation of Jewish antiquities and the Jewish war. (P.L. Maier, Ed. & Trans.). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications. Miller, L. (2006, December 17). Holy family values. Newsweek, Retrieved from http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2006/12/17/holy-family-values.html