Part I
Chapter two of A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus describes Norm’s arrival to Jerusalem. Norm originally wanted to begin his journey here by visiting Bethlehem, but because of crisis around the area, his trip was delayed. Instead, he decides to start his search on finding out information on John the Baptist. Norm is very interested in how John the Baptist is viewed through the Gospels and through Josephus. The Gospels have been questioned to state things in a way that Christians can view them however they wish to, rather than give an actual description of the historical Jesus. Norm receives an email from his professor Randall Guilder, and Guilder gives him four different views of John’s relationship to Jesus (47). After traveling to John’s father’s (Zachariah) tombstone, Norm meets a group of doomsday apocalyptics. He is very surprised to find that he has very much in common with them, even though he initially labeled them as bazaar and wondered about their sanity level. After continuing on his journey around John the Baptist, Norm finds himself at the Jordan River, where it is said that John did his baptizing. At this point, he is traveling with another individual that gives him many explanations as to why John chose that area to baptize. Norm then ends his journey at Machaerus, where John the Baptist was said to have been beheaded.
Part II
Chapter two was very interesting and gave a lot of insightful facts about John the Baptist. Something that really caught my attention was the question “Did I believe in Jesus because of the Gospels, or in the Gospels because of Jesus?” (41). This question had me stop for a few minutes and wonder what my response would be. I thought it was such a simple question that could only be responded to with the most complex answer. A question like this makes me have the same desire as Norm to find out more about the historical Jesus. I’m beginning to realize that even with the faith that I am comfortable with that I don’t feel like I actually know anything about Jesus, and who he was a human. This type of question is the reason why Norm compares the Gospels to the writings of Josephus.
Norm also sees Jesus to be similar to a second-coming of Elijah, but in the Gospels both Jesus and John are cast as Elijah Figures (65).
Chapter two of A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus describes Norm’s arrival to Jerusalem. Norm originally wanted to begin his journey here by visiting Bethlehem, but because of crisis around the area, his trip was delayed. Instead, he decides to start his search on finding out information on John the Baptist. Norm is very interested in how John the Baptist is viewed through the Gospels and through Josephus. The Gospels have been questioned to state things in a way that Christians can view them however they wish to, rather than give an actual description of the historical Jesus. Norm receives an email from his professor Randall Guilder, and Guilder gives him four different views of John’s relationship to Jesus (47). After traveling to John’s father’s (Zachariah) tombstone, Norm meets a group of doomsday apocalyptics. He is very surprised to find that he has very much in common with them, even though he initially labeled them as bazaar and wondered about their sanity level. After continuing on his journey around John the Baptist, Norm finds himself at the Jordan River, where it is said that John did his baptizing. At this point, he is traveling with another individual that gives him many explanations as to why John chose that area to baptize. Norm then ends his journey at Machaerus, where John the Baptist was said to have been beheaded.
Part II
Chapter two was very interesting and gave a lot of insightful facts about John the Baptist. Something that really caught my attention was the question “Did I believe in Jesus because of the Gospels, or in the Gospels because of Jesus?” (41). This question had me stop for a few minutes and wonder what my response would be. I thought it was such a simple question that could only be responded to with the most complex answer. A question like this makes me have the same desire as Norm to find out more about the historical Jesus. I’m beginning to realize that even with the faith that I am comfortable with that I don’t feel like I actually know anything about Jesus, and who he was a human. This type of question is the reason why Norm compares the Gospels to the writings of Josephus.
Norm also sees Jesus to be similar to a second-coming of Elijah, but in the Gospels both Jesus and John are cast as Elijah Figures (65).
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