Cassie Huntsberry- Fisk Final Thoughts

            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.