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My favourite Christmas story … stop me if you’ve heard it.
According to the late Sydney theologian Dr Barbara Thiering’s academic investigations, Jesus was naturally conceived and did not die on the cross. After being given poison that imitated death, he was taken down and revived with aloes in the tomb. Jesus, she claims in her published works, fathered three children, married twice, and probably died of old age either in Rome, or the South of France – but not before triggering a social, religious, and political revolution that changed the world.
I interviewed Thiering (1930 to 2015) several times before her death. In one of her books, Jesus the Man (Doubleday), Thiering reinterprets the gospels and claims that – studied with the pesher technique – the Dead Sea Scrolls corroborate her detailed reconstruction of the life and death of Jesus.
The virgin birth was lost in translation; the word ‘virgin’ is a translation from the Hebrew for ‘nun’. Mary’s status was like a nun in training.
The Gospels were written, according to her studies, so that two layers of meaning were embedded in the text – an idea suggested by a view of the scriptures held by the original authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The pesher technique enables the informed reader to see through the outer layer.
Using the pesher technique over 30 laborious years of literary jigsaw puzzling, Thiering had effectively re-translated the Gospels.
A keen linguist, she learned Hebrew as a young house-bound mother, ‘to save my sanity when my children were small’, and her interest in the Dead Sea Scrolls led her into her lifelong search for the answer to those puzzling questions about Jesus and the origins of Christianity which haunt many Christians.
Her reading relies on identifying characters mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls with code names – the Teacher of Righteousness, and the Wicked Priest (also identified as The Man of a Lie, according to Thiering). These, she claims, are John the Baptist and Jesus, respectively.
Wicked Priest and Man of a Lie are labels that reflect the fact he was far more moderate, progressive (or inclusive), than the ultra-strict religious sect in which lived, the Essenes.
To some, the Sydney theologian seems nothing less than a demon – an anti-Christ and a mischievous scholar who was determined to destroy the Catholic Church and Christianity. Not true, she proclaimed. Thiering was totally committed to a Christian God. A grown-up one…
To others, she brings great comfort and peace – enabling them to live decent, Christian lives without having to swallow unnecessary illusions of Jesus’ divinity, his miracles, the virgin birth, and a wildly surrealistic resurrection. What a PR opportunity for the new messiah: Jesus survives and disappears from public view, not hard to do at the time. ‘He is risen’ is a better slogan than ‘he walked away’… But some still think the resurrection version is more credible.
Jesus also had a bit of luck being crucified on a Friday. The Romans allowed him to be taken down much sooner than would otherwise be the case to avoid breaking Sabbath rules…
As for palaeography, Thiering discredited that furphy as long ago as 1979 in her academic book, Redating the Teacher of Righteousness (Theological Explorations). ‘The rules of palaeography have been broken in order to arrive at the incorrect result of placing the Teacher of Righteousness in the Hasmonean period,’ she claims.
Put simply, it boils down to this: a fragment vital for dating the Teacher of Righteousness (John the Baptist) was dated in a 1961 book by the Polish priest, Joseph Milik, as being between 75 and 50 BC. Milik himself says (elsewhere) that the writing was in the personal, semi-cursive script; palaeographers agree that such script cannot be dated with any precision, as can the formal script used in other parts of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Thiering placed him beside Jesus, some 75 years later.
And 2021 years later, here we are.
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
Jesus’ Birth: The Mystery And The Majesty
Like the universe, Jesus is more than we can comprehend.
For the last four years astronomers have been studying a massive black hole with a total mass greater than 800 million suns. Scientists estimate the black hole is over 13 billion light years away. Such dimensions of time, space and mass boggle the mind.
These dimensions give us a clue to the majesty of our Christmas celebration. The Apostle Paul tried to capture that majesty with these words: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:15-17).
Our understanding of God is too small, too limited. We think in simple terms of time and space, beginning and end. But, like the universe, Jesus is more than we can comprehend.
That is why, when Moses met God in the desert and asked His name, God answered, “I Am That I Am.”
And that is the reason Jesus spoke of Himself in the same terms. Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I Am.” These words change all our concepts about existence and time. About who we are and who God is. About the meaning of life.
The religious leaders of the first century failed to recognize Jesus because they were conditioned to think in linear terms, past and present, a coming King. Like them we miss Him as well when we think in such terms. He is more than we imagine. He is past, present and future.
John attempted to capture His mystery in more symbolic language: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. … The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory.” (John 1:1-5,14).
Story continues
We have limited our understanding of Jesus Christ to a mere mortal man who was born, lived and died at a particular time in history. While He was born in Bethlehem, lived in Galilee and was crucified outside Jerusalem, He was far more than anyone understood. We must chip away all the religious brick and mortar of 2,000 years, remove all the plaster and paint. We must look beyond the musty pages of theology and church history to discover the miracle and the mystery of that moment in time when all that is eternal entered into our narrow frame of existence, calling to us from beyond, calling us to be more than we ever imagined, to be better than we believed we could be, to link our lives with the eternal, to enter, literally, eis aionos, “into the age.”
When Jesus was born, God touched the earth.
Bill Tinsley reflects on current events and life experience from a faith perspective. His books are available at www.Tinsleycenter.Com. Email bill@tinsleycenter.Com
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Jesus’ birth: The mystery and the majesty
Trusting Not Santa, But Jesus, At Christmas
My family was part of a cult that embraced a mishmash of various religions and practices, which meant that because of our version of the Jewish “Holy Days,” we didn’t celebrate Christmas. I was bummed that Santa appeared to have been told to skip our house on the night he flew around the world personally delivering gifts to “good” kids.
But I do have a childhood Santa memory, from when I was about six years old, that I’d like to share with you.
For 50+ years, Josh McDowell Ministry has been delivering breakthrough messages for those seeking meaning and purpose. We offer you our accumulated knowledge and research to help you find truth and encouragement to live a healthy and whole life in Christ. Christmas Promises, Broken
I can recall this memory so clearly. I was at the shopping mall with my parents, begging them to let me sit on Santa’s lap, like all the other kids waiting in line. They finally agreed, but warned me that Santa wasn’t who I thought perhaps he was.
I can still feel the thrill of getting to tell him the gifts I wanted. And I distinctly remember him promising, “Ok! Look under the tree on Christmas morning!” When Christmas day came, I woke early. I hurried into my snowsuit and boots, and ran outside. But looking around, it dawned on me that I had a problem. Santa didn’t say which tree – and we had three!
Undeterred, I diligently searched under each tree. What did I find? Nothing! Well, nothing beyond the trail of my circling footprints in the fresh snow. Santa didn’t deliver on his promise. Bah humbug! I marched my disappointed six-year-old self back into my house. My parents were right: Santa was NOT someone I could trust.
I share this childhood memory with you because, as Christians, we DO have someone we can trust to keep His promises – and not just on Christmas, but all year: God! I have personally learned the truth of this over the years.
Unlike Santa, who is a delightful but fictional character, God is real, always present, and always mindful of our wants and needs. But He wants a relationship with us, not just have us approach Him with our wish list.
As Josh McDowell shares in his best-selling book, More Than a Carpenter, Christianity is about coming to understand that the Creator of the universe invites us into a personal relationship with Him through the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross. It’s about seeing God for who He truly His, and trusting that He deeply cares about us and wants to help us answer our big life questions.
We’re basing our new series on More Than a Carpenter, which highlights some of the meticulous research Josh did as a college student to prove to himself, beyond all reasonable doubt, that Jesus was a real historical person. Was He gruesomely tortured and crucified at the hands of the Romans? Did He really supernaturally resurrect? If so, what role did Jesus deserve to play in Josh’s life?
As a diehard skeptic, Josh wasn’t buying the “blind faith” that many Christians based their faith on.
Were these individuals missing some brain cells?! The idea that anyone could believe that God exists — or cares about them — seemed ridiculous to Josh! Only one thing would persuade him: hard, cold facts. He set out to quickly show that Christianity is a sham, by proving the Bible is factually unreliable.
What did Josh’s evidence turn up? You’ll have to check out the new blog series in January to find out! We can’t wait to take this journey with you!
Now, with my own kids, gift-giving is a fun part of our Christmas celebration. But we recognize the true meaning of Christmas isn’t about what Santa might do, but what Jesus has done. For all of us!
>> Join us in reading the first chapter of John, one of the four Gospel books in the Bible’s New Testament. For an immersive experience, read Chapter One three times, in these three translations: NIV, MSG, and NLT. (Hint: “The Word” is referring to Jesus.).
>> Read the story of Jesus’ birth in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapters One and Two. The rich details will help you to see the story in your mind.
>> You might also watch The Nativity Story on Netflix, or watch episodes of The Chosen, a fabulous online series that shows Jesus beginning His three-year ministry.
Merry CHRISTmas!
Christina Gordon is the digital marketing manager at the Josh McDowell Ministry.
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