Did Jesus Really Exist?
CRISIS Magazine e-Letter
January 27, 2006
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Dear Friend,
First, I apologize for my long silence. The office was closed for
our Christmas/New Year's break, and I was out for an additional week
with food poisoning, courtesy of a popular fast-food restaurant. I'll
not mention the name of the establishment, but I will say that
there's a certain hamburger clown who's in for a beating if I ever
run into him.
Anyway, I'm back in the saddle and have a number of items I need to
bring to your attention.
First and foremost, as you know, Pope Benedict XVI released his
first encyclical Wednesday. Titled "Deus Caritas Est," it explores
the way God's love flows into and out of the human person. Happily,
most of the press coverage I've seen has been quite positive.
The document itself is remarkable... Benedict is a very clear writer
and thinker. This is a letter that can be read and understood by just
about anyone. And that's as it should be. Every Catholic should pick
up a copy.
If you'd like to read it right away, you can find the full English
text here: http://tinyurl.com/dq3uj
Some have questioned why Benedict chose this topic for his first
encyclical. After all, in the face of growing challenges to the Faith
from political and scientific corners, why focus on the relatively
uncontroversial matter of love?
The answer is a simple one: Love is the foundation of Christianity.
In writing about it, Benedict is calling our attention back to the
source of our belief and action. If we lose sight of love, then all
our political and moral advocacy is little more than social activism.
Love is the gas in the engine of the Christian. And sometimes, we
need to refill our tanks.
Read it.
* * * *
You may have heard about Luigi Cascioli, a particularly mouthy
Italian atheist. In September of 2002, he filed a lawsuit against
fellow Italian, Father Enrico Righi. The priest's offense? Well, in
Cascioli's words, Father claimed in his parish bulletin "that the
historic figure of Jesus was the son of Joseph and Mary (two totally
imaginary characters and therefore historically non existing); of
having the same Jesus being born in the village of Bethlehem and of
having grown up in Nazareth." (Quote taken from his Web site.)
Cascioli argued, on the contrary, that Christianity is an
elaborately constructed lie, and that Jesus of Nazareth never even
existed. For this reason, the Catholic Church -- in the person of
Father Righi -- is guilty of massive and ongoing fraud.
Not surprisingly, the lawsuit was originally thrown out by the
judge. But Cascioli appealed and a higher court overturned the
decision.
And so today, Father Righi had to go to court to prove Jesus'
historical existence.
While it's ridiculous that he has to go through all of this, Father
Righi couldn't have had a difficult time making his case (the
proceedings were closed to the public). The theory of a mythological
Christ has been around for hundreds of years -- roughly, since the
Englightenment -- and serious historians have rejected it out of
hand. If you've read anything by those who deny the historicity of
Jesus, you know why. The skeptical arguments are a lively mix of
false assumptions, logical fallacies, and plain historical blunders.
Let's take just one example from Cascioli's Web site. In trying to
argue that the Gospel of John was written around AD 180-190 (about
100 years off), he makes this entertaining claim:
"The Church itself acknowledges that the first edition of the fourth
gospel, i.e. the gospel of John, was written at the end of the second
century: 'The oldest manuscript pertaining to this Gospel is from
around the year 150, at the most 200.'"
Apparently, Cascioli doesn't understand the difference between the
date of composition and the date of a manuscript copy. The quote he
uses (which comes from an introduction to an Italian edition of the
Bible) merely gives the age of the oldest surviving manuscript
copy... not the year John wrote his Gospel. Over the centuries,
scribes copied and recopied the books of the New Testament. That was
the only way to preserve and disseminate them in a pre-technological
age. Unfortunately, the parchment or vellum that the scribes used for
their copies tended to disintegrate over time... and so most of the
earliest manuscripts (including, no doubt, the originals) have been
lost.
Think of it this way: Imagine 500 years from now, after a
devastating nuclear war, an alien lands on earth to research its past
inhabitants. He finds a 1997 edition of Shakespeare's combined works.
Now, if the alien happened to be a distant relative of Mr. Cascioli,
he would likely conclude that William Shakespeare penned his works in
the final decade of the 20th century.
How foolish. And yet this is the kind of argumentation Cascioli
offers. And he's not the only one. A feature-length documentary
called "The God Who Wasn't There" is arguing the same case in a
theater near you.
Since these silly claims appear to be picking up steam, I'll send
you a special Crisis e-Report next week providing the historical
basis for Jesus' existence.
* * * *
Okay, let's talk about something more positive. A couple of months
ago, I told you about the former rector of the Seminary of the
Immaculate Conception in Huntington, New York. If you recall, he
resigned suddenly, just a couple weeks after the seminary was
inspected during the Apostolic Visitation. (Incidentally, I've heard
from one person "in the know," and he insists that the two events
were not connected.)
Well, Bishop William Murphy has assigned a new rector, and he looks
very promising. According to Newsday, Monsignor James McDonald is
"considered a champion of conservative orthodoxy whose twin passions
have been encouraging priest recruits and working for right-to-life
causes."
This is great news. The Monsignor has a reputation for bringing in
the vocations. Let us send our sincere best wishes and prayers for
success in his new position.
And this is also a good time to stand back and look at the larger
picture. Things are getting better. Slowly but noticeably. Let's pray
that it continue.
In the meantime, go read Benedict's encyclical.
I'll talk to you next week,
Brian
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