© 1996 Meredith Sprunger
© 1996 The Christian Fellowship of Students of The Urantia Book
The present day quest for the historical Jesus is the third wave of critical theological research in modern times to search for the Jesus behind the New Testament picture. It is, in essence, a secular, academic approach using an impressive array of disciplines: cultural anthropology, history of religions, political economy, sociology of religion, psychology of religion, studies of peasant societies, purity societies, patriarchal societies, honor-shame societies, and various literary methods.
All of this research for the historical Jesus is rooted in the rise of modern secularism with the loss of the credibility of the Biblical record. The obvious inconsistencies and contradictions of the gospel stories have undermined doctrinal claims of infallibility. Many theologians are, therefore, attempting to construct a picture of Jesus on credible secular foundations: scholarly research and religious experience. They point out that there are religious prophets and ecstatics, paranormal healers, and enlightened teachers in many religious traditions.
As a historical report, the resurrection story and claims of divinity lack credibility in our secular society, but as a metaphorical narrative of religious experience of the early followers of Jesus, they make sense and are truths which are verified in the religious experience of many people today. Metaphor, Marcus Borg points out, is the first language of religious experience. Later these visions are converted into concepts and doctrines. These doctrines are then projected into ontological pictures of reality such as the Christian view of the Trinity.
Through this process of theological reasoning, the contemporary Christian can avoid the stumbling blocks of doctrine about Jesus which are troublesome and can at the same time affirm the religion of Jesus. In what sense, then, are the gospels revelatory? To deny that Jesus said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father,” “I and the Father are one,” “I am the light of the world,” or “I am the way the truth and the life,” is to deny the revelatory nature of Jesus’ personal testimony about himself recorded in the gospels. Many of the faithful regard this contemporary academic theology as the leaven of secular humanism. They maintain that this tells more about 20th century theologians than about the authentic historical Jesus.
The best answer to this dilemma, I believe, is found in The Urantia Book’s Life and Teachings of Jesus. It gives a coherent and believable picture of the life and teachings of Jesus which basically affirms the gospel story. Furthermore, it purports to be a new and authentic revelation, not merely a metaphorical testimony of the early church. And, I believe, there is considerable internal evidence of its revelatory nature.
The Urantia Book picture is a much more satisfying and reasonable picture of the life and teachings of Jesus than we find in contemporary theological writing about the historical Jesus. It is my conviction that The Urantia Book narrative will eventually be recognized as the most reliable description of Jesus and his teachings available to humankind. This recognition is destined to trigger a renaissance in Christianity, and a revitalization of spiritual values throughout the entire world.