Part I
The final chapter in A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus is about finding the history within the death and resurrection of Jesus. The first place Norm stops on this journey is in Gethsemane; which is where, through multiple attestations and the criterion of embarrassment; it is believed that Jesus and his disciples came to pray prior to Jesus’ arrest. Norm then evaluates the Gethsemane event within the gospels and compares his findings to the definition of martyrdom. Norm delves into the history of Jesus’hearing before Pilate, and questions what the allegations against Jesus actually where and why Pilate’s final verdict was crucifixion. Next Norm finds himself following the Via Dolorosa, which Jesus followed on his sorrowful journey from Pilate’s tribunal to the cross to the grave. At the end of the chapter Norm finds himself questioning whether disciples mistook the emptiness of the tomb for resurrection.
Part II
I found two questions that Norm poses very interesting: 1) why did the religious leaders want Jesus dead? 2) Why did the Roman government sentence him to death (240)? Norm also brings up a repeated theme found throughout this book; that every historical account is someone’s and that every story has a teller, neither of which announce when they switch between history and embellishment (249-250). Another aspect in this chapter that I found fascinating was one that Norm brought up about how there are no descriptions or details about Jesus’ crucifixion, you would think that the readers would take something this important to Christianity and explain it symbolically (251-255). One of the final points that Norm experiences is how being a historical scholar versus a Christian follower can skew your views about artifacts and their possibilities (261-267).
The final chapter in A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus is about finding the history within the death and resurrection of Jesus. The first place Norm stops on this journey is in Gethsemane; which is where, through multiple attestations and the criterion of embarrassment; it is believed that Jesus and his disciples came to pray prior to Jesus’ arrest. Norm then evaluates the Gethsemane event within the gospels and compares his findings to the definition of martyrdom. Norm delves into the history of Jesus’hearing before Pilate, and questions what the allegations against Jesus actually where and why Pilate’s final verdict was crucifixion. Next Norm finds himself following the Via Dolorosa, which Jesus followed on his sorrowful journey from Pilate’s tribunal to the cross to the grave. At the end of the chapter Norm finds himself questioning whether disciples mistook the emptiness of the tomb for resurrection.
Part II
I found two questions that Norm poses very interesting: 1) why did the religious leaders want Jesus dead? 2) Why did the Roman government sentence him to death (240)? Norm also brings up a repeated theme found throughout this book; that every historical account is someone’s and that every story has a teller, neither of which announce when they switch between history and embellishment (249-250). Another aspect in this chapter that I found fascinating was one that Norm brought up about how there are no descriptions or details about Jesus’ crucifixion, you would think that the readers would take something this important to Christianity and explain it symbolically (251-255). One of the final points that Norm experiences is how being a historical scholar versus a Christian follower can skew your views about artifacts and their possibilities (261-267).
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