Jesus the Jew is the title of the first episode in Channel 4′s new documentary series Christianity: A history which aims to tell the story of Christianity from the perspective of eight individuals. Did you see it? If you had read Friday’s guardian then you had already read the script.
In this first episode Howard Jacobson, a Jew and fellow Mancunian, makes the case that Christians have treated Jews appallingly over history, because they have denied his Jewishness and as a consequence blamed the Jews for the death of Jesus.
Like others, though, I don’t think the programme interviewed widely enough. I’m sure they could have included interviews with Messianic Jews (Jews who have become Christians) for example. Theologians outside the Vatican might have helped too. The history of most religions is appalling. Can’t argue with that. And yes no doubt it in some way it shaped a world where the Holocaust was allowed to happen, but I felt the programme was trying to critique a Christianity of the past (even if it was justified).
Most of the books that have found a home on my shelf in recent times make the fact that Jesus was Jewish fairly fundamental to uncovering the meaning of the teaching and life of Jesus. Tom Wright, Marcus Borg, Dallas Willard, Rob Bell, all want us to base what we do with the life and words of Jesus on his Jewish context. He was a Jew and I think most modern Christians think that to be important.
Using a non-English speaking Vatican theologian to give the official “modern Christian” line seemed to show the producers hand a little. And why with all their research budget, were they quoting from a translation of the bible that is 500 years old? There are plenty of modern translations around. Or was this just another subtle way of discrediting anything the writers of the NT said? It seems the gospel writers aren’t the only ones who can spin the story when they want to! The various quirky video montages of old Jesus films were probably trying to to do the same thing.
Apart from these gripes, the concept of the series works for me. Personally I can’t wait for the next episode, even if I am little worried about the prospect of Cherie Blair being able to plot the future path of Christianity in her final episode.
If you missed the show or reside outside the UK, you can still watch it online.
I fully agree about the narrow interviewing and use of an ‘old’ translation. (I get worried when any one uses the KJV as ‘the only and definitive version’…)
Also in the part about Paul ‘creating the Church in his image’ completely failed to mention that before his conversion, Paul was a Jewish Pharisee and the chief ‘Christian hunter’. Howard said that Paul was on the way to Damascus when his vision occurred, but not why he was going there! And also that Paul had ‘Jewish enemies’ but again not why!
To me it seemed like he was saying that one day Paul got fed up with being a Jew and so decided to start a new religion based on this Jesus bloke, hoped on a boat to Rome and got started… Not exactly what the Bible or history says!
And yes, many religions have done terrible things in ‘the name of God’, such as at York and Lincoln in the middles ages. But again the programme seemed to omit that, at the time, most people believed in fairies and the people were killed for being half man/half dog monsters! And more crucially all the reconciliation work that has been going on in the past few years…
I’m really interested in the Jewish roots of Christiany, but sadly I don’t think this did the subject justice.
It will be interesting to see the other shows in the series and see the different takes other people have.
The argument about Paul inventing Christianity is not a new one and I think that large sections of the Christian community tend to read a certain interpretation of Paul that often ignores the Jewish Jesus of the gospels. So at least the programme gets us thinking about it.