Please Help Me Write a Book

I’m starting to write a book, with the working title What Really Happened to Jesus?  A Lawyer Reexamines the Evidence, and What It Means for Christianity and Christians.  I’d like my readers to help by providing critiques and comments.

The book arises from my identification with what we might call doubting seekers.  By that I mean people who sort of wish they could be Christians, but who are uncomfortable with “Christianity.”  These folks often spend their Sunday mornings worshipping at the Little Church of St. Starbucks, with the Sunday paper as their prayer book.  I used to be one of them.

I mourn what these people are missing in their lives.  I know firsthand what a difference it makes to trust in God.

For many such people, the religion of Jesus is an attractive proposition, but that’s not what they see when they look at your average church.  What they see certainly does include the religion of Jesus, more or less, but it’s encrusted by a variety of dogmatic barnacles.   

For centuries, too many in the church have insisted that Christians cannot merely embrace the religion of Jesus:  they must also accept a variety of additional speculations about the nature and mission of Jesus.  As has been said by others, the religion of Jesus has been transformed into a religion about Jesus.

Seekers typically have at least a nodding familiarity with the religion about Jesus.  They also know, through education and experience, about the so-called modernist worldview.  They know that the modernist worldview has a very respectable track record in dealing with the real world.  When it comes to the religion about Jesus, they’re not so sure we can say the same thing. 

Not without reason, seekers often doubt whether the religion about Jesus is compatible with a modernist worldview.  Too often, however, "the church" wants seekers to accept the religion about Jesus in toto, while offering no plausible reconciliation of the disparities, nor brooking any dissent from the dogmas of that religion. 

Seemingly faced with an all-or-nothing choice, many seekers choose nothing.  They show up in church only for weddings and funerals, and perhaps for the occasional Christmas and Easter.

To a great extent, I'm still one of these doubting seekers.  But I no longer think the term “Christian” can be reserved exclusively for those who adhere to the religion about Jesus.  It now appears to me that a Christian is simply someone who believes in the existence of a Creator, and who tries to follow the way of Jesus of Nazareth.  I'm one of them, too.

For several years I’ve felt a calling to reach out to my fellow seekers.  (My teen-aged son can fairly be called one of them.)  This blog has been one product of that calling.  I’ve also wanted to write a book addressed to such folks.  I’ve made several starts, none of which has gotten very far.

John F. Kennedy once told a story of a boy who, coming to a high wall, tossed his cap over, so that he would have no choice but to follow it.  I’ve seen the story attributed to Irish poet Frank O’Connor but haven’t been able to track down an exact cite.

With that story in mind, I’m making a fresh start on a book.  My focal point is is one of the central claims of “Christianity,” that Jesus was raised from the dead.  I’ve got most of it outlined already.  Much of the text will be adapted from previous postings here.

I intend to post major sections of the book on this blog as I complete them, then transfer them to a wiki.  I’ll worry about hard-copy publication later. 

I hope to post at least two sections a week.  I beg your assistance in the form of questions, comments, suggestions, and critiques.  If I slack off in posting, please nag me.

Wish me luck, or pray for me, as you see fit.

Comments

[TRACE]

Here, this ought to get you started. You can use it as the forward to your new book, no charge!

What the hell is going on with the “morally superior” Republican conservatives? They have been reduced to cannibalism; the rest of us can only watch, aghast at the feeding frenzy as they rush to eat their own. But whether it’s the Snake or Sissy Hawk they’re eating they’ll still be left with a nasty fiscal hangover to go along with that case of moral indigestion.

Understandably cranky over the 5 year fiscal screwing they have been taking from their “allies” in the White House and GOP congressional majority, the Miers nomination has seemed to unleash years of pent-up frustration; but this time they’re not aiming at those of us whom they view as their moral lessers, they’re aiming at each other!

Well sure, they seem to understand that Bush and his congressional buddies have increased non-defense/security discretional spending at a rate greater than Lyndon Johnson, but red staters soothe themselves with thoughts of big batches of well-protected stem cells. Sure, they rationalize, Bush and the congressional republicans have replaced the massive program of income re-distribution to those (like themselves) who actually need it with a program of massive re-distribution of wealth to those who don’t need it, but red staters soothe themselves with the knowledge that Bush and the GOP majority despise gays as much as they do. Sure, they rationalize, Bush and the GOP congressional majority want to cut health insurance for the poor and elderly (which benefits 75% of them) to lock in the capital gains tax cut (which benefits only the top 1% of wage earners), but they’ll end the massive epidemic of flag burning in the country, won’t they? Besides, God is on the side of Bush and the GOP, isn’t he? It’s a strange case of moral dwarfism that allows these nice supposedly Christian folks to mortgage their present for so-called moral reasons while passing the very real costs of Bush’s spending binge on to their children and grandchildren. Whether they’ll get their moral reward seems to be up in the air; what’s a virtual lock is that their kids and grandkids will be left holding the bag.

Well, God if is on the side of the GOP, he seems at the very least to have something of a odd sense of humor. They’re quick to note that God saw fit to punish the country for our decadence by taking out New Orleans, ground zero in the front against moral decay. They conveniently forget to note that God swung Katrina over south Alabama and Mississippi, 2 of the most conservative states in the Union. He even destroyed Trent Lott’s house, what’s up with that? If (as their religious leaders tell them) God hates the “gay lifestyle” why the hell doesn’t he take out San Francisco with a well-placed earthquake? If gay marriage is an affront to their God, why doesn’t God send a category 5 hurricane to wipe out Massachusetts? Instead he wiped out one of the most solidly Christian sections of the country! Jesus loves you, this I know; but he has a curious way of showing you so.

And why doesn’t God smite those who are after that pious money-launderer Tom DeLay? And those who are after Karl Rove, who as they well know sitteth at the right hand of their political God GW Bush? And what of those who are after Scooter Libby, who sitteth at the right hand of Bush’s Dick?

The political right is nothing if not compliant. They have dutifully sat on their hands, compliantly absorbing an unprecedented fiscal screwing by their so-called conservative political leaders. “Take your screwing like a man,” they’ve been told by the GOP; “we’ll make it up to you when we have an opportunity to do so on “moral issues.”

But the Miers nomination seems to have triggered a firestorm. Is it because they have been betrayed by their moral leaders over the failure to deliver the moral goods? Or is it that perhaps they have come to realize that the leadership in the White House and GOP Congressional majority is not so moral after all? After all, what sort of curious morality allows Bush and his conservative cabal to offer their supporters limp-wristed reassurance of doing their moral heavy lifting while at the same time lifting their wallets? And weren’t red staters given to believe that, since they elected them on moral issues, that the GOP leadership wouldn’t just be another pack of corrupt liars and scumbags?

So alas, the SS Bushtanic lists alarmingly to starboard, piloted by a leader who increasingly seems to have lost his way. The jackbooted neo-fascists who form the core of the party rush to scuttle the foul craft while conservative moderates impotently wring their hands trying to decide whether to do as they are told and rearrange the deck chairs or whether to rush for the lifeboats while there’s still time. Christ would suggest that women and children be the first to flee, but even he has never had to face a pack of self-righteous self-deceivers who seem to have come all at once to the realization that they have been fiscally screwed by their so-called leaders, and in Christ’s name to boot!

And so the band played on, but despite Bush’s suggestion to play “Happy Days are here Again” the song sounds more like a dirge. Even for those like myself who are grateful that Bush and his intellectually lazy self-deceiving pseudo-moralist supporters are finally getting their well-deserved comeuppance it’s hard to be too happy. After all, it’s my country, my constitution, they’ve been seeking to undermine…and they’re still at it!

[Patrick Bridges]

Good luck with this.

I came to a similar conclusion about Christianity being very much for me despite having trouble with some of the claims about what it mean that the religious right imposes on Christianity. I don't know and have trouble believing, intellectually speaking, that Christ was physically risen - perhaps I'm even a little jealous of those people who appear to believe that so easily.

What I do know beyond a doubt, intellecutally and spiritually, is that, spiritually speaking Christ and his message survived crucifiction. Rome couldn't extinguish Jesus and his teachings in his followers. For me, that's what matters, and it's why I call myself a Christian - I try (and often fail in a wide variety of ways) to keep Christ and his message alive in me and my life.

[bls]

I didn't believe in the Resurrection for the longest time, either. And I couldn't call myself a Christian, either. Actually, I still often have problems with that, for many reasons.

That's what's good about the Episcopal Church, though, since there is a bare minimum of doctrine and there are no demands that people join, or even subscribe to any particular beliefs, in order to come and take part. 'Piskies mostly just let the Prayer Book do the talking.

I'm with Patrick, anyway. I don't see - and never have seen - why it matters whether the Resurrection is literally true or simply a metaphorical desription of a larger, unseen order. In either case, it's a message from God to humanity, and people can participate in the living out of that message.

[bls]

(The book's a good idea, though. I'm very interested in reaching the "doubting seeker," too, as I think you know. I personally think ECUSA could really benefit a lot of these people, and I wish we could get the message out to them. Maybe this book will help.)

[Harry Celine]

The people you are trying to reach already don't believe in the resurrection. Why will they read your book?

[D. C.]

Harry Celine, I don't think I said anything about trying to persuade doubters to believe in the resurrection. Stay tuned ....

[Derek]

Intriguing. I'm looking forward to it.

[JDB]

Hi, just came across your blog. I'm 26, in my third year of law school and just finishing a four year stint as an episcopal youth minister. I grew up very conservative and have gone through quite a transformation in the past decade. I've studied Christianity both from a Baptist perspective, and from some classes I took at UCSD... And I empathize with your idea. If I can help or contribute in any way to your book, let me know! I'd love to discuss this issue more. And it has been a dream of mine for a while to teach or write on the subject of what defines "Christian" and how we can still claim the name while understanding that the writings in the Bible are only as valid as the people who wrote them down... Get in touch if you want to talk more.

[r gautreau]

ok here is something you can use , i am a very firm believer in the lord though i do not go to church , in my heart i know the lord is there , no need to spend sunday morning with a group of people in some spacific church when you can read your bible at home and get the same response , i am catholic well baptized catholic, one ? for the priests or the catholic religion why do they have to dress in such worshiping clothes such as the gold , robe and all that jazz when jesus all he wore was an old robe and sandles i think it is a wrong impression , and i feel like they r the ones who r wanting to be worshiped and play god , i ask god for forgivness for my sins , i know i shouldnt pray as often as i should but god already knows what i need and i dont need to ask he will put it right in front of me i will just have to look and recognize what he is trying to tell me , good luck on writeing your book , sincerely R gautreau

[G]

You should google/amazon "The God Who Wasn't There" it is a documentary exploring something more fundamental: What proof is there that Jesus even lived? Aside from the Bible, in which there are very conflicting accounts (even to the question of under which roman emporer Jesus was born), there is no firm evidence that a single person existed who could reasonably be indentified as the Jesus of the Christian myth.

He may very well be the result of a hodgepodge of different myths cobbled together many decades after his supposed demise.

[dt]

I also am thinking about writing a book.Yes! Jesus is coming.I have received revelation from the Holy Spirit.Sept.19,2002-The Lord is coming.Nations have waged wars among each other. Oct.9,2002-I have spoken these words to you. The Lord is coming. Nations have waged war among each other.Nov.21,2005-Yea must be born again says the Lord.My spirit is gentle. I will comfort, and guide those who are willing to know me.Jesus is coming.
I am a born again Christian for 4 yrs now and have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:1,2,3,4. John 16:13-15 John 3:3,7
All revelation must be in align with the word of God. It is confirmation that it actually is received from the Holy Spirit.