Part I
The final chapter in A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus focuses on Jesus’s final days and his death. The chapter starts with Norm in Gethsemane where Jesus was praying prior to his arrest. Norm then draws parallels from 2 Samuel where David’s escape from Jerusalem is strikingly similar to that of Jesus just prior to his arrest (232-234). Norm then debates historical Jesus’s motivations and questions whether or not he was as willing to accept death as the Gospels make him out to be (236-237). The parallels between the Christian martyr Polycarp and Jesus are also explained (238-239). After spending days researching, Norm determines that the burden of proof would have been on Jesus to prove that he wasn’t dangerous rather than he was truly a religious figure (240-242). He then follows a tour group through the Old City; following a loosely similar path to the one Jesus took from tribunal to where he was crucified. He again makes parallels to Old Testament ties (Ezekiel and Amos) when he discusses an earthquake and unnatural darkness around the time of Jesus’s death (248-257).
Part II
One familiar conclusion that Norm draws is that no matter how we choose to study Jesus, historically or faithfully, we are always looking through glass; that our perceptions are always influenced by our own previous knowledge and exposure, no matter what our intentions are. We come to our conclusions based on “crossing fields of probability and by placing cautious trust in testimony and tradition” (257). I do appreciate, however, how Fisk concludes the story. Throughout the journey, he looks for historical confirmation while still maintaining, or at least harkening back to, his Christian beliefs. The last paragraph sums up a good portion of what I took from this book: Perhaps for people of faith the historical Jesus is not particularly significant. Religion is based incredibly strongly on faith and belief and with that in mind, Jesus, the human being, is perhaps not even significant. People take what they want from religious texts and stories and for some, Jesus the person is irrelevant to what Jesus Christ represents.
The final chapter in A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus focuses on Jesus’s final days and his death. The chapter starts with Norm in Gethsemane where Jesus was praying prior to his arrest. Norm then draws parallels from 2 Samuel where David’s escape from Jerusalem is strikingly similar to that of Jesus just prior to his arrest (232-234). Norm then debates historical Jesus’s motivations and questions whether or not he was as willing to accept death as the Gospels make him out to be (236-237). The parallels between the Christian martyr Polycarp and Jesus are also explained (238-239). After spending days researching, Norm determines that the burden of proof would have been on Jesus to prove that he wasn’t dangerous rather than he was truly a religious figure (240-242). He then follows a tour group through the Old City; following a loosely similar path to the one Jesus took from tribunal to where he was crucified. He again makes parallels to Old Testament ties (Ezekiel and Amos) when he discusses an earthquake and unnatural darkness around the time of Jesus’s death (248-257).
Part II
One familiar conclusion that Norm draws is that no matter how we choose to study Jesus, historically or faithfully, we are always looking through glass; that our perceptions are always influenced by our own previous knowledge and exposure, no matter what our intentions are. We come to our conclusions based on “crossing fields of probability and by placing cautious trust in testimony and tradition” (257). I do appreciate, however, how Fisk concludes the story. Throughout the journey, he looks for historical confirmation while still maintaining, or at least harkening back to, his Christian beliefs. The last paragraph sums up a good portion of what I took from this book: Perhaps for people of faith the historical Jesus is not particularly significant. Religion is based incredibly strongly on faith and belief and with that in mind, Jesus, the human being, is perhaps not even significant. People take what they want from religious texts and stories and for some, Jesus the person is irrelevant to what Jesus Christ represents.
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