Who Said That?

Who Said That?

"We should give Jesus a demotion. It is no longer credible to think of Jesus as divine. Jesus' divinity goes together with the old theistic way of thinking about God.  The plot early Christians invented for a divine redeemer figure is as archaic as the mythology in which it is framed. A Jesus who drops down out of heaven, performs some magical act that frees human beings from the power of sin, rises from the dead, and returns to heaven is simply no longer credible. The notion that he will return at the end of time and sit in cosmic judgment is equally incredible. We must find a new plot for a more credible Jesus."

You know the drill!  No cheating (google searches or otherwise).  Post your answer in the comments section.

Update on Monday, September 11, 2006 at 02:31PM by Kim Riddlebarger

As some of you guessed, this blasphemous screed came from Robert W. Funk of the Jesus Seminar.  As Raymond Brown (the Roman Catholic New Testament scholar) once quipped, it is time for the Jesus Seminar members to give up their adolescent rebellion against the fundamentalism of their youth and begin to do some serious scholarship.

Comments

[AerodynamicPenguin]

It doesn't sound very academic, and it's certainly foolish, so my guess is: John Shelby Spong.

[Tim Etherington]

Out of curiosity I'm going to google it but man, things are not going to be well for that person when the Divine Jesus does return and judges sin. Yikes.

[Jason. J. Stellman]

Sounds like something Leigh Teabing could have said....

[Chris Coleman]

John Dominic Crossan, or any of the other members of the "Jesus Seminar."

[re4mdmom]

Robert Schuller's my guess.

[zrim]

whoa!

spong is a good guess, but something tells me to agree with chris...crossan.

in the tone and tenor of the comment i hear the faint but distinguishable and irrevent clap of marbles hitting each other in the background (the way i have heard the seminar decides what parts of scripture are true in an effort to ironically satirize how the canon came to be).

zrim

[paul]

Robert Funk!

[R.K.Brumbelow]

Sniff Snifff It has a pretty funky smell to it so I have to go with Robert Funk.

[BrianR]

Now WHO do you suppose could have said that? Could it be......SATAN!!???

Sincerely,
The Church Lady

[Chris Allen]

Marcus Borg - Jesus Seminar

[John C]

John Dominic Crossan

[Wayne Rohde]

Beats me ... though it could come from any of the "Jesus Seminar" crowd (Funk, Borg, Crossan, etc.). Re: the person and work of Christ, they obviously have no clue.

The Jesus Seminar is to liberals what the Health/Wealth - Name It/Claim It crowd is to charismatics: so far out that even the liberals and mainline charismatics can't stomach them! Too bad that every Christmas and Easter ABC, CBS and NBC interview these folks as if they're Bible experts!

[David R. Aubuchon]

Definitely Robert Funk.

[Chris Allen]

AAAARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

I peeked....

I was wrong!!!!

[Timothy Spradling]

When I first read it I thought of John Shelby Spong.

Timotheus
<><

[Nathan]

My bet is Marcus Borg. Although it could be C.S. Lewis being sarcastic as he speaks for the other side.

[Rick B.]

I think that it could be an emergent type person. Brian McLaren? Rob Bell?

[Carson]

Hugh Schoenberg "The Passover Plot"

[Carson]

BTW, did anyone else think about how the oxymoronically-named Jesus Seminar folks decide on what is and/or isn't scripture when it was announced that Pluto is no longer a planet simply by a show of colored cards by those present at the meeting?

[pilgrim]

My first thought was Spong...