Well, the commie prof is at it again. Christian called me after class today to tells us their professor had told them that all the other gospels were based on the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas that is dated from around 150 A.D. Many years after virtually all the gospels. Only fringe scholars of the likes of Elaine Pagels and Marcus Borg hold to such a theory and it has been thoroughly debunked since it was popularized by the radical Jesus Seminar in the 1990’s. Here is a link to an article by Craig Blomberg, a reputable New Testament scholar, that puts it all in context. Here is a good lay level discussion of the topic by Tim Keller.
After that, our commie went on to say that their was too much time between when the events happened to when it was written down. Christian told him that people who were alive when the events happened were also alive when the gospels were written down and that, in the case of John, there is an eyewitness account. The prof’s response was to ask Christian if he could remember what he was doing seven years ago and then change the subject. This is too pathetic even to take the time to post the links that refute this goofiness. I wonder what he thinks we know about the life of Julius Caeser.
Update: In the meantime, Kelly sends the following text message:
Hey Dad, the professor is crazy… he brought up the Gospel of Thomas which is like directly contradicted in my New Testament textbook, said that Cain and Abel were possibly homosexual and when Christian argued that the Gospels came from direct sources to Jesus and not from inaccurate oral traditions, he countered with “Well, do you remember what you were doing seven years ago?”
Update II: The kids walked out of their commie prof class and into their New Testament class. The N.T. professor showed the Craig-Ehrman debate where Craig (to be very gracious) demonstrates that Bart Ehrman is either dishonest or not a serious scholar or both. The title of the debate is “Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?” You can see the debate on YouTube here.
Trisha
It is disgusting to me when College Professors use that platform to “teach” their opinion rather than the skills needed to excel in a particular area. It is WRONG. I hope they will have the opportunity to evaluate this teacher.
Its funny that they apparently think the queer theological interpretation is more accurate and plausible than the traditional interpretation.
Wes – That queer thing came COMPLETELY out of the blue. It was not even in context with what they were trying to study. I think the guy must have just thrown it in there because he could not find any place else to squeeze it in, but wanted to make sure the kids got hammered with it.
Trisha – As for the teacher, I checked him at RateMyProfessor.com. He got either high marks are all zeros with the high marks dominating. This is a pretty big indictment of the education system here in North Carolina–ignorant professors teaching ignorant kids and we pay for it.
This is fascinating. I’ve found that people–yes, myself included–when faced with a challenge from history or science or philosophy to which we do not have a solid response, will often toss out a “witty” rebuttal and switch topics. I’ve seen this over and over again. Humorous rebuttals are easy to amass and drop on people. The trouble is, they almost never actually address the challenge, we just make them appear as if they do. And the less-than-informed–or interested–believe the issue has been resolved.
I wish we could get people to stick to their thesis and wrestle the challenges to the ground. I very much dislike how we can dance around the issues as this professor did.
~Luke
Great observation Luke. That has been one of the biggest frustration about this class: The professor makes an outrages statement, the kids object, the professor says something flip then asks another student a question on a different topic so the kids cannot respond. I think that is a common enough occurrence that it calls for a strategy, but I cannot think of a good one other than to be quiet, humble, and hope you get another chance or at least have an influence on someone who was listening.
How can you mock someone and still call yourself Christian? We are called to be compassionate and guide those who are misguided. I am proud that you have taught your children how to stand up for our faith but malice breeds more malice. We are all children of God and are all equal in God’s eyes.
I suppose Elijah was wrong when he mocked the prophets of Baal? This man was actively trying to subvert my children. I do not have any sympathy of that. And to be honest, the thing you call mocking does not seem to be too aggressive to me.