RELIGION
Scholars to explore existence of Jesus
Billions of Christians around the world believe that a man named Jesus roamed the earth 2,000 years ago, performing miracles and delivering salvation to his followers.
But as Christians prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth later this month, a group of skeptical scholars, historians and biblical experts will meet in Amherst to examine more closely whether he existed.
The Center for Inquiry, an international, secular humanist think tank, will host the inaugural session of the Jesus Project Friday through Sunday in its offices on Sweet Home Road.
The conference is meant to be an extension of the work of the Jesus Seminar, with at least one key difference: These scholars regard the belief that Jesus of Nazareth was a historical figure to be a “testable hypothesis.”
In other words, they’ll examine whether or not Jesus existed by applying historical and critical interpretation to gospel accounts and other literature.
For all the controversy around its launch in 1985, the Jesus Seminar operated on the premise that Jesus was an actual person. From there, the seminar sought to determine what biblical sayings and deeds could accurately be attributed and ascribed to Jesus.
The seminar was derided for the color-coded bead voting system used in determining the historical authenticity of passages in the Bible and other religious texts. And many conservative Christians dismissed the findings as the product of liberal scholars.
The seminar continues through the Westar Institute in California, but the Center for Inquiry is seeking a new investigation of Jesus’ life that is free of any theological constraints.
Organizers noted, though, that they’re not out to disprove the existence of Jesus.
The Jesus Project kicks off with a panel discussion at 8 p. m. Friday, followed by a series of discussions from 9 a. m. to 6 p. m. Saturday and a concluding session on Sunday morning.
Several veterans of the Jesus Seminar will be participating, including Bruce Chilton, professor of religion at Bard College and author of “Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography,” and Robert M. Price, author of “The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man.”
Among others participating are Frank Zindler, author of “The Jesus the Jews Never Knew: Sepher Toldoth Yeshu and the Quest of the Historical Jesus in Jewish Sources,” and James Tabor, chairman of the department of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and author of “The Jesus Dynasty: A New Historical Investigation of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity.”
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