I would never have read this book on my own, and I wasn't too excited to read it for class.  However, after reading it I am very thankful for being made to read it.  It approached topics I've never even considered interesting before but now find fascinating.  The most interesting topic in this book for me has to be the relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.  It makes me want to know how exactly Jesus's status as Messiah came about and if he originally was a disciple of John.  I think the fact that the supposed Son of Jesus would ever have to study under someone else before venturing out on his own is absolutely fascinating.  Also, in a strange way, reading the chapter about the relationship between the two made me want to be friends with them.  I think the conversations between them would probably be some of the most thought-provoking exchanges I could ever imagine.  Plus, I am really wondering what their personalities were like and how different they were.

    Besides bringing up some topics that make me think, the biggest thing this book did for me was make me question my outlook.  Unlike most people in the class, I have never been a religious person.  Frankly, I think the Bible is just a book.  I don't think of it as something to be taken as fact or truth or even something that could make me believe in any kind of God.  However, learning that some of the happenings in the Bible were true makes me wonder if I have been too close-minded.  It makes me consider opening my mind to becoming a faithful person, and that for me is a big step.  It's o

This book was quite an interesting read for me and really made me think about Jesus in a different way.  The information in the book put up a lot of challenge for those who are quite religious and especially for those who have not really thought about the historical Jesus.  I myself had never thought into the history of Jesus, at least not in the depth that Norm looks at it.  Everyone sees Jesus in a different light and with that, everyone approached this book with a different opinion and initial thoughts.  I think that C.S. Lewis did an incredible job laying out the facts and leaving it open for interpretation for the reader.  I enjoyed also seeing Norm’s spiritual and intellectual maturation throughout his journey.  I enjoyed seeing the different reactions Norm had to the different situations he was put in.  His faith was something that he almost had to put aside while he was on his journey.  The book was very matter of fact, told the story how it is currently known and pointed out the flaws and gaps in some of the scriptures.  It also justified and backed up other scriptures from the bible.  This book definitely challenged some things that people do believe to just be true.  Things like the miracle stories and the resurrection.  Honestly these stories seem just that to me, stories.  I liked that the book pointed out the three views of scholars in terms of the history of the gospels.  Overall I was very glad to have read this book, it opened my eyes and also shed some new light on my spiritual views.  

a. In Fisk’s book, each chapter represents a section of Jesus from words and deeds to his death. Jesus’s role in society mimics roles of other passages in the Hebrew Bible; there are many parallels that can be drawn between the Jesus and historical biblical figures and prophecies. There is a parallel between Elijah and Jesus both men go forty days without food, being raised as miracle children, preforming miracles with food, among other resemblances (65-67­).  Jesus and Moses have very similar birth situations, with the rulers of their time period ordering to kill them (94). Jesus also parallels with Israel and the large events that happened with both; some of these similarities are having either twelve sons/tribes/disciples and meeting God on a mountain (97). Jesus fulfills the prophecy of the kingdom riding on a donkey, with the rider mounted on its back in Zechariah, Matthew, and John (195). In 1 Kings Solomon has a similar story to that of the later story of Jesus riding on a donkey as Solomon ride on a donkey to be crowned king (199-200). Jesus also mentions the falling of the temple and the building of a new temple which is important topic to God in the Hebrew Bible (206-207; 212-213). Each of these represents an important section of Jesus’ life and is spread throughout A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus.

b. These parallels also bring out the marketing side of the Bible. As the writers wrote the gospels, the content shows the words of Jesus and stories of Jesus parallel or change; which implies that the story was changed to allow Jesus to be placed in better light. Something to remember is in the study of this book, Norm is a character set up as a Christian who is curious. Anne Lamott’s quote says “faith also means reaching deeply within” (27) this could also mean that studying the historical Bible can be looked at from an academic point of view and a faith point of view. As Dr. Reis noted, “there is nothing wrong with curiosity, questioning, and doubt” (27,132, 208). This book is both for an academic study and a faith perspective which Norm travels (7). Fisk writes focusing mainly on the historical stand point of Jesus’s culture. A Christian can look at both faith and historical context and be able to compare with the Biblical stories and the real happenings of Jesus in his day.

A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus would not have been my first choice of books as a leisurely read, but it held a lot of interesting concepts about the Gospels that I had never heard of before. I knew that the Gospels were written by someone for a certain type of reader, but I had never considered that they shaped their stories to convey a certain message or that they had such little historical weight. I had also never heard about the intertexuality of the Old Testament and how writers used this impression to shape how people thought of Jesus. Although the book brought up lots of eye-opening information, it also left me with a lot of loose ends. For instance, are there any other sources that we can compare to the Gospels that would provide insight to whether he knew what he was saying/doing had political advantages? I also didn’t see much depth in information about the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist, since I have always thought of this to be a decent portion of Christian history; I was hoping Norm would provide more insight into it. My background with religion hasn’t opened many doors for thinking of Jesus as a normal person rather than the Christian icon that people of faith see him as. However, some ideas the Norm offers about Jesus as a person can be seen as threatening to the Christian faith, but if these ideas are “supported” by scholars, than how come they aren’t more openly discussed? I also feel that although Norm desperately wants to find the historical Jesus in some cases his strong religious views can partially mask him from believing certain aspects, such as the stone that is said to be what remains of the stone that blocked the tomb’s entrance (264). Norm cannot seem to admit the possibility that maybe it’s just a piece of old rock that someone dubbed religious. I can also see Norm doing this purposefully as an example for the reader to notice that your beliefs can alter how you analyze historical information. The way the book followed the timeline of Jesus and the aspect that Norm retraced his footsteps was an interesting and helpful way of navigating through the book. Fisk could have written a boring book laying out how to look for historic information by comparing stories, but instead he offers a creative and insightful way of relaying the same education. Overall, I found this book actually educational and offered me new ways of thinking.

_ A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus was an excellent introduction to historical Jesus studies and, in my opinion, did a great job at introducing historical Jesus studies to someone who has/had followed Christianity throughout his or her life.  Growing up with very Christian parents, it was not a common occurrence to speak of Jesus outside of his role as a Christian figure.  While the thought that Jesus was just an over-glorified public speaker was not grounds for punishment, it was most definitely not a pleasant dinner time conversation in my household.  With my upbringing, I can see how Christians can take the study of historical Jesus to be offensive and anger inducing.  As mentioned in the assignment, C.S. Lewis’s passage in The Screwtape Letters about how the study of historical Jesus should be encouraged to convince Christians to question and even renounce their faith is somewhat understandable.  The way Fisk managed to write the book in a way to introduce the topic of historical Jesus studies while still maintaining the faith aspect of a religious historian was very well executed.  Fisk managed to study Jesus as a person while still being able to believe in him as Jesus Christ and not renounce his faith altogether.

It was really interesting to me to read about how the Gospel writers portrayed Jesus differently, even though they were written within a relatively small time frame.  For example, comparing stories from Mark to those in Luke and noticing the differences and the changes Luke made to Mark’s story in order to cover up or improve the status of Jesus was fascinating.  This also makes trying to figure out who Jesus really was an extremely difficult, if not impossible task.  The variations provide some insight into who he was and what it was that he did, but historians can only use this insight to determine probabilities rather than cold hard facts. 

One of the most significant points I took from this book is the fact that everyone looks at Jesus in a different light.  A person’s background, culture, ideologies, and so much more will influence what he or she sees in Jesus.  No matter how much one may try to negate these perceptions, they will always factor in to how one looks at Jesus.  As I said in an earlier entry, people will take what they want to understand from religious texts and use them as they choose.  Whether it is historically accurate or not may not even come to mind when they are reading the Gospels.  However, when one does read the Gospels and recognizes some of the history behind them, it makes the stories that much more intriguing and thought-provoking.

            After finishing A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus, I realized that I now look at the Bible in a completely different way.  Being a Christian and learning the stories of the Bible, I always assumed that everything written was fact, but after reading this book, I realized otherwise.  I learned a lot from Norm when he discussed intertextuality, because I always thought that the similarities between all of the Gospels were apparent because the stories really were true.  Now I’m thinking differently, and wondering which parts were actually true, and which details were simply fillers to make the stories fit together better.  I still have my own beliefs in the Gospels, but this book however did challenge me at moments.  I really did enjoy the way Fisk had this book set up, because I felt as if I was by Norm’s side throughout his entire journey.  I have realized that there are two different sides to Jesus, the historical side and then the side that Christian’s have developed throughout the years.  I think it is very important to study both to try and understand Jesus more deeply. 

            Although as a whole, I really did enjoy this book, there were times when I found it hard to complete the reading assignments.  Some topics were very challenging to read and to my faith, like Mary’s virginity.  Believing one thing for so long and then hearing that it may be completely false was really difficult throughout the assignments.  I did learn, however, to concentrate on keeping an open mind throughout the readings and realize that most stories in the Bible are interpreted in many different ways.  The Gospels were written so that readers would believe that Jesus was the Son of God, but there will always be questions concerning Jesus historically.

A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus by Bruce Fisk takes the historical search for Jesus to a level where there are no perfect answers but understanding of the profession and task presented to historical Jesus scholars.  C.S. Lewis’ quote on page 40-41 emphasizes the theme of this book very nicely.  Lewis points out that the historical study is constructed not by faith but by one’s ideology.  This construction of Jesus is dangerous, which could result in Christians rejecting the faith.  Norm continues to find himself reading the Gospels writers and Roman scribes constructing Jesus in their own image from fulfiller of the Old Testament prophets to political alternative to Roman authority.  Both Norm and C.S. Lewis understand that people see Jesus with their own worldview.  This affects the study of the historical Jesus because it makes it complex to find definite character traits of Jesus or chronological list of events of his life.  Norm concludes in several chapters that there is no one direction that leads to historical Jesus.  The Gospel writers paint Jesus each differently and read more like narratives than history.  With that said the search for historical Jesus is a lot of peeling back layers of subjectivity and variation to find some core of objectivity.  This process is present in every chapter when Norm presents all of the theories and Gospel passages in comparative charts to weave a complete story from many different viewpoints.  After reading this book, I realize it is a tough task historical Jesus scholars face.

I really enjoyed how the book was formatted in a conversational manner.  It felt like I was on the quest with Norm wondering the same questions about the historical Jesus and characters like John the Baptists.  The book does a great job using Roman sources, academic religious scholars, and Gospel writers to present a multifaceted approach to this quest.  There was no sure answer to Norm’s questions only possibilities which lead me to both appreciate the Gospel more and the task Norm had to achieve.  I also enjoyed the introduction to Jesus as a political leader.  In church, I was only presented with the spiritual element of Jesus.  I believe he was a nice and moral guy, but I never thought to classify Jesus as a political alternative to Roman rule.  This book helped me see how interconnected the New Testament is with the Old Testament.  I liked how Norm charted this dialogue between the two from constructing Jesus as Moses, David, or prophets of old.  I was able to appreciate Jewish history along with recognize every writer has a worldview and the Gospel writers are no different.  They also construct Jesus to meet their agendas.  I was able to see those worldviews summarized and highlighted by Norm in this book.  

                The Lewis quote from pages 40-41 of Fisk’s book does bring an important concept to life; all images of the “historical-Jesus” will be framed by an ideology.  Having exposure to some biblical criticism before the concepts and research work done for this book are not new concepts to me but my ideology of Jesus has been pretty much unchallenged.  In reading this book many interesting ideas of Jesus the man came into the light.  First, that he and John the Baptist might have been competing parties, as well as, Jesus as a political figure. 

                In the Gospels as well as the churches I grew up in, John the Baptist is seen as a harbinger for Jesus.  This relation may not be true.  John was most likely a man from a special Jewish group that lived at Qumran.  This group would have had political motives and special rituals including bathing.  This bathing may have explained John’s habit of baptism.  Regardless, John was most likely looking for the messiah but Jesus was not the one John wanted (52-65).  In Mark we see that Jesus actually took disciples from John, and Jesus is even thought to be John at one point.  John’s actions were also very much like Elijah’s (65-67); a wild man, possible a Nazarite (Funck), speaking apocalyptically and raising political problems.  This might have lead to his death at Herod’s hand.  John might have condemned Herod’s actions in marriage and thus John was sentenced to death (70-72).

                The biggest thing for me in this book was the idea of a political Jesus, one that knew his actions were politically charged.  Jesus has always been viewed as a political man to some level.  Typically just as a man who was upsetting the order and treated by his followers as the next king, but Jesus never mad that claim.   That might be completely wrong.  Jesus would have known the Old Testament scriptures, which in turn would let him know the rituals and political aspects of the old kings.  This concept is best exemplified in the episode of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey.  This humble act is the same act Solomon made when he was anointed to the kingship.  Was Jesus making a move to emulate Solomon?  Also, the way he rode in would have been exactly opposite from Pilate’s entry point.  Was Jesus saying that there is a new king coming to town (198-201)?

                Both this ideas are new to me and as such change my ideology of the story of Jesus as a man.

Overall this was interesting book for me. It is totally different from what I have ever read before, but I think it was a good experience for me. For one, it introduced to me to this whole idea of the historical Jesus that I had never thought of. I have always viewed Jesus in a spiritual sense and have always assumed the things I read in the gospels to be true as opposed to breaking down the facts and the man he really was. Most importantly, this book introduced to me a lot of new ideas, perceptions controversies, questions, and arguments about Jesus.

I agree with Dr. Reis in the sense that researching the historical Jesus can be a challenging task.  When I first began reading the book, I took it as challenging my faith, but after going through it, I realized that some aspects of the historical Jesus search can affirm one’s faith. However, at the same time I believe some of the historical Jesus research refuses some of the things Jesus did. Take for example the miracle stories of Jesus. Since one is looking for facts in this research, they find it hard to believe that Jesus actually healed the blind, fed five thousand, raised people from the dead etc. I think historical Jesus researchers read too much into this and try to find other alternative explanations for these stories. This is not the purpose of the gospels though. They state what happened and expect you to believe that it happened, not try to explain the unexplainable.

In this sense I agree with C.S. Lewis’ view to a degree. Not always, but I feel like searching for the historical Jesus can be degrading to one’s faith. To find the historical Jesus, we use the gospels. Sometimes people use what it is found in the gospels to create a new account of Jesus and create things that are not found in the Bible. These things are not necessarily fact, rather what someone has created based on the image of Jesus in the gospels. Sometimes there simply is no evidence for things Jesus did, and this bothers some people. I think it is up to reader whether to believe what the gospels say or look into them further to make their own Jesus. Overall though, this book gave me a great introduction to the idea, problems, and relevance of the historical Jesus.  

     In concluding our reading of Bruce N. Fisk, A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus, questions are raised about Christians renouncing their faith because of historical Jesus research, a point which Norm notes as he reads through C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters.  In some ways it is true that historical Jesus research could cause some people to lose faith because it looks for ideas that make Jesus look more natural and less supernatural and part of Christian faith is about believing that Jesus did perform supernatural feats and that he was truly a miraculous being. 
   A lot of the work that Norm did in the book had him searching through the Gospels and examining very specific parts of Christian faith, an example being Norm’s examination of the virgin birth (77-102).   There are no definitive answers in historical Jesus research and Norm never makes any claims that he knows the truth, but he merely stated his own hypothesis and observations about what could have happened.  Fisk even made a point of recognizing the biases that Norm has near the beginning of the book just to make sure that the readers can understand where he is coming from.  He states that he went to Sunday school (15), he is a religion student (16), who was raised by a devoutly Christian mother (15).  By having Norm disclose a part of his background, he is making sure that the readers know that Norm is coming from a certain perspective.  This means, that the way that Norm interprets some of his research is different to how someone else would approach it.
     This is evidenced by the way that Norm approaches his Gospel research, lining them up to see what features they have in common and what between them is different, an example being Norm’s examination of the birth of Jesus, in which he examines the differences and similarities  between the two (77-79).  This is a recurring theme throughout the book.  Through this Fisk shows us that each Gospel has their own agenda for why they structure things in a certain way. Historical Jesus research introduces us to a whole different side to Jesus.  One that is political, spiritual, and symbolic of the Jewish tradition.  In some ways, this approach leads me to believe that the “historical” Jesus was not meant to be fully understood.  Reaffirming religion in this case would come from questioning our beliefs instead of just accepting them.