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NOTES ON RELIGION AND MYTH

These essays were published in Verdict (An International journal of theology) about 25 years ago. I have journeyed on since then, but I have a fondness for these papers because they represent my first break through of the rigid walls of classical Christian theology. The reader will need to indulge me in recognizing that my thinking has always been a work in progress.

A 3 part series. Originally published in 1983 in the Verdict.
THE SCANDAL OF GOD'S JUSTICE - Part 1
THE SCANDAL OF GOD'S JUSTICE - Part 2
THE SCANDAL OF GOD'S JUSTICE - Part 3

Christian Theology Reexamined:

A Christmas Essay (Part 1) - 24 December, 2000
New Years Essay (Part 2) - 01 January, 2001
Easter Essay (Part 3) - 2001

THE SCANDAL OF JOSHUA BEN ADAM 9 PART SERIES - Originally Published 1998-1999
Editor’s Note:
The Scandal of Joshua ben Adam represents my return to writing after almost a decade of silence during the 1990’s. I had paused in my spiritual journey because I wanted to re-examine the whole question of the historical Jesus viz á viz the Jesus of the Christian faith. I read a good number of authors engaged in what was known as “the third quest for the historical Jesus.” I was finally satisfied with the position that the Jesus Christ of the great Christian Creeds was a mythical construct who was very different to the real Jesus of history. So you could say that The Scandal of Joshua ben Adam was my take on the historical Jesus at that stage of my theological journey. Like anything I have written along the way, it should be read as my life itself - that is, as work in progress. After another 10 years, of course I would see some things and say some things differently today. Since I began a theological writing career around 1959, I had fallen into the unplanned pattern of doing a major review of my thinking about every 10 years. The review at the end of the 1990’s was a review of the core teaching of Christianity. Here is the first part of that review. RDB
   PART 1: Introduction
       This Man and the Christian Religion are Not Compatible
       Joshua Ben Adam Not Jesus Ben Parthenos
       The Real Motivation to Remodel the Man
       Did Jesus Really Exist?
   PART 2: The Big Picture
       The Vertical Order
       The Horizontal Order: A New Development of Human Consciousness
       Methodology
       No Titles
   PART 3: No Discrimination
       No Religion
       Excursus on Paul
       Lord of the Dance
       No Apocalyptic
   PART 4: No Sin - Except
       The Christian Situation
       No Atonement
       The Scandal of His Death
       The Roots of Blood Atonement
       No payback Justice: No Atonement in Ben Adam's Teaching
       The Christian Chamber of Horrors
   PART 5: No God Above
       A New Vision of Humanity
       The Distinction Between the Natural and the Human
       Being Human is the Image and Likeness of God
       A New Vision of God
       God can be a Dangerous Idea
       God in Solidarity with Us
   PART 6: No Home (Except): The Itinerant Spirit
       Restrictive Structures No Home for Ben Adam (No Home......in Any Sect......in Any
       Exclusive Group.......in any Establishment......in Any Creed...)
       Joshua ben Adam didn’t find a home in any written tradition
       The Big Picture of Human Freedom and Progress
       No Home Big Enough Except God
   PART 7: No Barriers
       INTRODUCTION
       THE HEBREW VISION OF GOD
       THE HEBREW VISION OF HUMANITY
       THE HEBREW VISION OF JUSTICE
       THE HEBREW VISION OF ELECTION
       THE CHRISTIAN VISION OF GOD
       THE CHRISTIAN VISION OF HUMANITY
       THE CHRISTIAN VISION OF JUSTICE
       THE CHRISTIAN VISION OF ELECTION
       BEN ADAM AND ISLAM
       BEN ADAM AND ATHEISM
   PART 8: No Living By the Book
       Chapter 1: Ben Adam and Scripture
       Chapter 2: Paul and Scripture
       Chapter 3: The Fourth Gospel and Scripture
       Chapter 4: The Christian Religion and Scripture
         (a) The Failure of Tradition
         (b) The Failure of Written Text
         (c) The Failure of the Vertical
         (d) The Failure of an Exclusive Revelation
       Conclusion
    PART 9: The Resurrection
       The Story Thus Far
       The Collapse of Resurrection Apologetics
       The Legend of the Empty Tomb
       The Crass Resurrection Traditions of the Ancient World
       The Believability of the Resurrection
       The Resurrection and the Scandal of God's Justice
       The Retreat of the Christian Religion from the Centrality of the Resurrection

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