Part 1

Chapter seven of A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus, is primarily about the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Norm starts out this adventure heading to Gethsemane, the place were Jesus and his disciples went before his arrest (231).  Fisk then compares Jesus to a martyr of this time.  In this chapter Norm also contemplates the questions; “Why did the religious leaders want Jesus dead?” and “Why did the Roman government sentence him to death?” (240). He concludes that Jesus was innocent but not harmless.  Lastly, Norm contemplates the emptiness of the tomb.  It is widely known that Jesus COULD HAVE resurrected but there is also the possibility that he was just moved to a different burial site (262-264).  

Part 2

I grew up with the idea that Jesus died an innocent man.  The reason why he was killed by Pontius Pilot was because Pilot was envious of Jesus’ popularity and wanted his government to remain strong.  Then Norm brings up this idea that maybe Jesus wasn’t so innocent.  We do see throughout the book that it is a possibility Jesus offended the wrong people and spoke out against the government.  It is hard to tell what Jesus was really like because the only real recollection we have of his is what the gospels tell us.  Unfortunately the gospels are all propaganda and make Jesus look better than he actually is.  I have a feeling Norm is right and there is something fishy going on.

Part 1

Norm goes to the Gethsemani ancient olive press, where the disciples could have spent their last night while Jesus was praying.  He then goes on to contemplate how Jesus did not want to die (except in John) but resigns to God’s will anyway. While on a tour bus to Hebron, Norm sees how Herod could be ok with Jesus being put to death. During a walk down Via Dolorosa, Norm comes to sees Jesus’s crucifixion as a noisy, chaotic, and shameful experience. After falling asleep in a tomb, Norm discusses the location of Jesus’s bones with a grave robber. Norm speculates that Jesus’s body could still be out there, but if he is alive he is embodied in different individuals.

 Part 2

At the end of the book Norm speculates that, should Jesus be on this side of the tomb, He can be found in different individuals.  If this is true, could all people embrace the different aspects of Jesus that they have in them? Would it be possible to fashion one’s self to “look” like Jesus? I feel that should people decide to embrace the Jesus in them the world would be a little more peaceful, people would give of themselves more, and people would be less judgmental of appearance and base their judgment on a person’s actions or intentions.  

Part I

    The final chapter of A Hitchhiker's Guide to Jesus revolves around the last few days of Jesus's life.  It brings many touchy subjects to light: Jesus's true mission, the significance of his death, whether or not he truly accepted his death, the real reason behind his execution, and, lastly but most importantly, the validity of his resurrection.  Norm travels to the place where Jesus prayed with his disciples on his last night.  He scrutinizes the differences in the Gospels where Jesus asks God to save him from his death or, in some, accepts it without distress.  He follows Jesus's story to the most important part: his fabled resurrection.  After considering whether Jesus actually rose from the dead or his body was simply moved, Norm comes to his final resolution regarding his attempt to find the historical Jesus.  This conclusion is, simply, that the Gospels are such a complicated mix of truth, exaggeration, and fabrication that one cannot untangle the elements from each other and it is impossible to reveal the true Jesus using the Gospels alone.

Part II

    This chapter I found to be a relief because the last few were pretty boring.  This chapter brings up the ultimate question regarding the Christian faith, which is Jesus's death and resurrection.  Firstly, it seems that Jesus was put to death not for being the Messiah but for being subversive and dangerous to the Roman Empire's control.  Jesus seems to question the necessity of his death and appears very human by asking God to relieve him of that duty.  Also, Jesus's story eerily parallels that of several individuals in the Old Testament, leading one to believe the Gospel authors wanted to paint a picture of a character rather than be truthful about the person.  Lastly, Jesus's body may have been moved rather than rose up from the dead which, if true, would deal a terrible blow to those of Christian faith.

 Part I

        In the seventh chapter in A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus, Norm is now discussing the end of Jesus’s life, in Jesus’s last few days and death. Norm visits the Mount of Olives where he questions if he is in the same location the disciples where when they had the last supper (234). When Jesus is on the cross, Mark is very blunt about Jesus’s fears of bearing his cross, even wondering if Jesus cannot handle the burden (236). Later Norm makes parallels between martyrdom of Polycarp and Jesus’ life (237-238). Norm looks into how Jesus is an embarrassment to the writers of the gospels and how maybe Jesus did not disappear from the tomb because he was moved to the family tomb later in the week (244, 259). Lastly, Norm looks at the gospels words during the week after Jesus’s death to looks at the idea of Jesus being out on the loose after his burial (262-265).

Part II

        Jesus is in a very human, venerable position when he is on the cross (236). He cries out to his Heavenly Father in pain, something we would not expect a powerful, miracle-working figure to do. Jesus seems to be demonstrating his imperfections and how his role on earth is not perfect; maybe this is a reference to why we live in a fallen world? This idea may be possible in the context of Jesus being holy and powerful, yet not perfect on earth. When the gospel writers wrote about Jesus’s death the details are limited and not always clear. It seems as though they are again embarrassed by this figure of great importance. In class we talked about how the gospel writers want to write with the intention of intriguing their readers and drawing people into believing and having faith in Jesus’s story (248-257).

_ Part I

The final chapter in A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus focuses on Jesus’s final days and his death.  The chapter starts with Norm in Gethsemane where Jesus was praying prior to his arrest.   Norm then draws parallels from 2 Samuel where David’s escape from Jerusalem is strikingly similar to that of Jesus just prior to his arrest (232-234).  Norm then debates historical Jesus’s motivations and questions whether or not he was as willing to accept death as the Gospels make him out to be (236-237).  The parallels between the Christian martyr Polycarp and Jesus are also explained (238-239).  After spending days researching, Norm determines that the burden of proof would have been on Jesus to prove that he wasn’t dangerous rather than he was truly a religious figure (240-242).  He then follows a tour group through the Old City; following a loosely similar path to the one Jesus took from tribunal to where he was crucified.  He again makes parallels to Old Testament ties (Ezekiel and Amos) when he discusses an earthquake and unnatural darkness around the time of Jesus’s death (248-257).

Part II

One familiar conclusion that Norm draws is that no matter how we choose to study Jesus, historically or faithfully, we are always looking through glass; that our perceptions are always influenced by our own previous knowledge and exposure, no matter what our intentions are.  We come to our conclusions based on “crossing fields of probability and by placing cautious trust in testimony and tradition” (257).  I do appreciate, however, how Fisk concludes the story.  Throughout the journey, he looks for historical confirmation while still maintaining, or at least harkening back to, his Christian beliefs.  The last paragraph sums up a good portion of what I took from this book:  Perhaps for people of faith the historical Jesus is not particularly significant.  Religion is based incredibly strongly on faith and belief and with that in mind, Jesus, the human being, is perhaps not even significant.  People take what they want from religious texts and stories and for some, Jesus the person is irrelevant to what Jesus Christ represents.

Part I

Chapter 7 of A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus is about the short time leading up to Jesus’s death and his death and resurrection. The chapter begins with Norm evaluating what it looks like to be a martyr and who could be considered comparable to Jesus. (239) Norm then is faced with 2 questions; Why did religious leaders want Jesus dead and why did Roman government sentence him to death. Norm finds him self following the path that Jesus took in his final hours. After this he is overwhelmed with the idea of Jesus not actually resurrecting and instead being moved to another tomb, and that the disciples had mistaken this for his resurrection.(249-257) Norm is unable to come to a conclusion at the end of his trip, but has learned much along the way.

Part II

Something I found very interesting was that the men trying to sentence Jesus to death used a Bible verse as evidence against him. They accused Jesus as being a false prophet and explained that this is they reason that they should kill him, to protect their faith and everyone from this “false prophet”. This idea is very ironic and almost humorous. Another idea I found interesting was questioning whether or not Jesus really rose from the dead. Believing in this idea disproves and discredits everything that Christianity is and everything that Christians believe in. I had never even considered that to be an option. I like that the book was inconclusive. It allows the reader to either believe in their faith despite everything that has been covered throughout the book, or look into questioning these ideas more. 

Part 1

In Chapter 7, Norm visits Gethsemane where he finds that multiple attestation in the four Gospels and Hebrews along with the criterion of embarrassment that the moment in the garden is true.  Norm said that it would be hard to invent a scene in which the disciples fall asleep in Jesus’ darkest hour and have a Jesus who is weak and fearful (231).  Norm asserts that Jesus’ weeping on the hillside is very close to the passage in 2 Samuel 15:25-26 of David.  Norm suggests that the Gospel writers were painting Jesus as a second David (234).  Jesus’ martyrdom parallels to Polycarp and early Christians as well (237-239).  Norm takes a journey through Scripture and the Holy Land to shed light on two questions: “Why did the religious leaders want Jesus dead?  Why did the Roman government sentence him to death? (240)  Norm determines that Jesus was convicted for his outburst at the temple and surging popularity that rivaled the high priests (240-243).  Norm decides Jesus was innocent, subversive, and a revolutionary similar to Pilate’s conclusion.  Similar to the citizens of Hebron, Norm connects the priests of Jesus’ day and Roman officials to the reason for Jesus’ arrest to silencing dissent (244-248).  Norm studies the account of the place of Jesus’ death, Golgotha, where supernatural earthquakes and darkening of the skies echoes to the Old Testament writers of Ezekiel and Amos (250-256). Norm visits the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre only to find disappointment in a quest for Jesus’ burial place.  He sees tradition but no history.  He brings to wonder if Bultmann was right or maybe not. The Gospels are not history books but narratives that “weave together testimony, artistry, and commentary” that Bultmann could not untangle Norm believes (264-265).

Part 2

Norm wraps up his quest with a phone call from his mom to return because she again has cancer (265).  He takes the last few pages to gather his results from his quest for the historical Jesus.  He reviews that Jesus is difficult to track because no story points in only one direction.  The Gospels shape Jesus and his identity differently so almost no information is straightforward or self-interpreting (266).  Norm is getting at the complexity of the historical search for Jesus because of the peeling back of so many layers of author agenda and so on.  He concludes that perhaps faith can fill the gap of what is missing from the vagueness of Jesus of history (267).

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Part I
        In the final chapter of Norm’s journey, he studies the death and resurrection of Jesus. He begins at Gethsemane where it is almost certain that Jesus came to pray the night before his arrest (231). The Gospels all paint a different picture of this night: in Mark, Matthew, and Luke, Jesus appears to makes a simple plea for rescue; while John shows that Jesus made no attempt to avoid the cross (234-236). However they all seem to agree that Jesus was indeed a martyr (239). Norm suggests that the religious leaders wanted Jesus dead because he: 1) spoke against the temple, or 2) had surging popularity which posed a threat (240-241). Finally, Norm speculates about the truth behind Jesus’ resurrection. He presents claims that Jesus’ body was actually relocated. However, disputes this since of its unexpectedness and due to the early, widespread, and consistent belief in Jesus’ resurrection (263-264).

Part II                                                     
        As Norm follows in Jesus’ footsteps during his final hours, he notices that many popular pilgrimage sites have little or no historical basis. As he walks the Via Dolorosa, Norm notices that four-five of the stations don’t even have Biblical ties. Along the whole route are venders, shopkeepers, and children trying to make some money. Although this may seem as a distraction for the more serious theologians, Norm speculates that “in the features of all these faces, and more, Christ was at play” (251). Then, when Norm enters Jesus’ burial chamber, he notices that even in Christendom’s holiest space, nothing around him dates back to the time when such a great event took place there (264). While this makes it appear that the real historical Jesus may be completely hidden, Norm argues that the line between history and tradition can’t be easily drawn because tradition is so deeply rooted in historical memory (264-265). I really like Norm’s statement that “even the most assured events of the past come to us only through later interpretation” (265). Just because the Gospels are interpretations, that doesn’t mean we should completely dismiss them as having no historical basis whatsoever. 

1)      In this final chapter, Norm examines the final few days of Jesus’ life as well as the final chapters of the Jesus story.  Beginning with Gethsemane Norm examines Jesus’ possible request to god to not be killed (230-240).  This examination leads the reason why Jesus must die.  The political climate of the time might have forced Pilate’s hand more than the influence of the Jewish leaders (240-248).  After seeing where Pilate might have tried Jesus, Norm walks the traditional path of Jesus and mediates of the Gospel’s main points as well as the traditional implications that might have been important to the people but not the writers (248-257).  In the end Norm looks into the death and possible taking of the body.  Norm’s conclusion is that this is possible, and even has biblical evidence as the women ask if the body has been moved (257-267). 

2)      Norm is finishing his time in the Holy Land and as such is more open minded to ideas such as the political climate of the time as well as the concept of Jesus being persecuted with the text.  This allows him to have greater discussion about matters such as resurrections and Pilate’s involvement.