Pullman repeats the old lie that Jesus of Nazareth was a good man who has been manipulated and abused by the church and turned into the Christ - a title he neither claimed nor wanted for himself.
Hurtado in a work of careful historical study shows, among other things, that devotion to Jesus predates the writtings of the apostle Paul.
By devotion to Jesus what Hurtado is describing is the worship of Jesus as God and the ascription to him of titles like Christ, Son of God and Lord (kurios). In Paul's letters, from the 40's and 50's AD we find repeated comments in passing recognising the divine worship being given to the Lord Jesus. That such comments are made in passing tells us that they are not considered controversial by Paul and would be readily accepted by the churches.
Within 10 to 20 years of the resurrection of the body of the Lord Jesus he is being worshipped as God. If only Philip Pullman and others understood history rather than attacking the church and the gospel.
No comments:
Post a Comment