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How did Dominic Crossan become a skeptic about Christianity?

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  • #16
    Originally posted by robrecht View Post
    I was going to suggest his memoir too, but have not personally read it.

    Crossan does not believe in a physical resurrection, but if I recall correctly, he does believe in the resurrection, that the disciples had true visions of Jesus exalted after his death, the first fruits of the general resurrection, or something like that. He very much considers himself a Christian. I do too. I had a nice conversation with him once on a post-breakfast stroll at an SNTS meeting. He's a delightful man, by the way.
    Yeah, Crossan's view is that the disciples had some sort of visionary experience that convinced them that Jesus had been raised into God. His view isn't impossible and goes in the theme of liberal Protestant scholarship. I tend to see Crossan as a continuation of the liberal quest, not as a member of the poorly named Third Quest.


    I don't know how he personally came to his view of the resurrection, but it is not an uncommon position among professional theologians and academics
    Agreed. I think it's the most likely option that doesn't involve a physical resurrection.

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    • #17
      Originally posted by rakovsky View Post
      That verse says:
      " 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. "

      One of the main teachings is that Jesus bodily revived after death. Without Christ's physical revival, a main part of Paul's preaching would be fictional and misleading. But the preaching would still have some value, as in teaching ethics.
      I wouldn't say it was a bodily revival. I'd say that Jesus had the resurrection body, a body that is beyond physical and can do things that a normal body can't.

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      • #18
        Originally posted by psstein View Post
        I wouldn't say it was a bodily revival. I'd say that Jesus had the resurrection body, a body that is beyond physical and can do things that a normal body can't.
        I think one must say that it could take physical forms. For example, Jesus wanted to prove that he had flesh and blood after his resurrection and was not just a nonphysical spirit in form, so he had the disciples physically touch his physical body to physically prove it to them.

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        • #19
          The only thing I've read by Crossan was his book on the Lord's Prayer, The Greatest Prayer. (It was assigned to me in seminary.) Since I don't remember a whole lot about it, I'm looking back at the paper I submitted for it. It was pretty critical of the book (and I didn't know how that would fly with the professor) but I did get an A on the paper. (It was a liberal seminary and I felt like the token non-hostile conservative in there.)

          I agreed with Crossan on what he called "Enoughism" being a biblical theme, that is, every person having enough. I was convinced that the Lord's Prayer spoke more to the economic realities of Jesus's world than modern people realize (and that "debts" is a better translation than "trespasses"). I was completely unconvinced by his claim that the Lord's Supper was really just about making sure everybody had enough to eat. I was also unconvinced by his rejection of the book of Revelation (he went on this tangent to justify complete non-violence, and because Jesus is involved in violence within Revelation's visions, his solution was simply to dismiss the book).

          I accused Crossan of turning Christianity into little more than a social justice movement. My professor responded in his comments that Crossan was simply focusing on that one aspect of Christianity. Perhaps, but I want to know what else he believes.

          It was a good lesson to me that an author I fundamentally disagree with can make many good points while still missing the forest for the trees.
          "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

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          • #20
            My impression from what you are telling me is that Crossan could just have chosen to focus on the justice aspect, but one of the reasons that he did not could be possible disillusionmentioned at that time with the most supernatural claims wrt Jesus, eg the Virgin birth.

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            • #21
              Originally posted by rakovsky View Post
              My impression from what you are telling me is that Crossan could just have chosen to focus on the justice aspect, but one of the reasons that he did not could be possible disillusionmentioned at that time with the most supernatural claims wrt Jesus, eg the Virgin birth.
              I don't wish to speculate about his motives, but no doubt there was some sense that abandoning these freed him up to approach Christianity in a way where he could cherry pick the aspects he liked and discard the rest.
              "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

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