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.
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.
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