Another view of Jesus

Press, 11 April 1977, Page 6

Another view of Jesus

NZPA-Reuter London Jesus Christ was a self-: (confessed failure spurned by I his own family and — in the end — by most of his) disciples, according to a new’ book by a distinguished Brit-, ish scholar. Jesus was probably born! in Nazareth, and not Bethlehem; the year was about' 48. C. and not 1 A.D.; he came from a reasonably! well-off family: and most of I his teachings were taken 'from John the Baptist, writes Michael Grant in the; book “Jesus,” published in London. Jesus was not the meek and mild creature often por-( trayed, but was stormy and. passionate by nature, writes ,Mr Grant, a former Cambridge University classics

professor, and a respected author of 30 historical l ! works. He was not a Che Guev-ara-like revolutionary, but he was obsessively single-r ■(minded in the belief that he) had been chosen to usher inii the Kingdom of God, the 1 book says. 1 His family had to apolo-; 1 ■ gise for his behaviour, and; - he met the end he did only; • because of deliberate clashes (: ’ with Jewish leaders which, ! |Could have been avoided. ;; ’ After his death, his name: ' lived on largely because of i word-of-mouth stories about) . his ability as an exorcist! fiMr Grant claims. i Christ’s admonishments to turn the other cheek and!' ; love thy neighbour did not, -(so much indicate a gentle; imature as the desire to get: > I on with his mission in life - — preparing the way for the: >’immediate coming of the

prophesied Kingdom of God. ) “Jesus himself included only Jews in a perfect, world, and it was Paul of ithe Epistles who extended! ! the Church to include geni tiles,” he writes. I Mr Grant after years of’ (studying Jesus as an his-( jtorical figure, used the disciples of classical scholar-! (ship in taking a fresh look; (at the four Gospels and the' .vast array of literature (about Jesus. I As a result he is inclined 'to view the miracles, the; 'virgin birth, and the Resurrection as legendary stories that either arose around ’Jesus during his lifetime or I were created in later decades by the early Christian Church. The author rejects the theory that Jesus never really existed, but he takes no stand on Christ’s divinity.