I had an email in my inbox. It was from a graduate student who served as an officer in our Lutheran Collegian student group at Michigan Tech University. It began, “Pastor, a friend of mine shared a link with me. It’s rather disturbing. Could you do a Bible study on this with us?” I checked the link. The website offered a Blu-ray disc and a book. The title was controversial. “Caesar’s Messiah: The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus.”
Disturbing indeed. I scanned a bit further. The author contended that Jesus was the invention of the Roman Imperial Court. What? Roman Caesars invented Christ? How? The author claimed the Caesars used the first-century historian Josephus to ghost-write the New Testament. And how did the author come to that conclusion? He claimed to have discovered parallels between the works of Josephus and the New Testament.
Hmm. The “evidence” felt flimsier than paper-thin. Then I wondered, “Why would the Roman Caesars bother with such an ambitious project?” The author anticipated the question. He countered that Rome feared the revolutionary spirit of the Jews would infect the rest of the Empire. Huh? My recall of history tells me that Rome squashed Judah like a bug in 70 A.D. Her capital city of Jerusalem was destroyed along with her precious temple. All this happened just as our Savior had prophesied. "Amen I tell you: Not one stone here will be left on another that will not be thrown down." (Matthew 24:2)
My reaction to this book and video was that it was nothing but speculation heaped on top of fabrication. But still, my student was concerned. So I downloaded the eBook.
I read the book. I groaned with the turning of every page. I regretted that I burned $8.69, the cost of the download. There was nothing in this book that came close to proving the author’s damning claims about the New Testament Scriptures. This book was nothing more than the devil’s first lie clumsily repackaged for unsuspecting 21st century readers. “Has God really said?” (Genesis 3:1) I researched a bit further and found out that even the rankest of atheists disavowed this book.
Nevertheless, I prepared a Bible study and shared it with my student group. Some wondered, “Then why is this book so popular? Why are so many listening to it?” The questions were heart-wrenching, because we were talking about classmates, roommates, and friends. I suggested that the answer lay, in part, in the genre of the book: “conspiracy theory.” Conspiracy theory books remain all the rage, because so many people are disillusioned with authority, whether it be in government or society or religion. And frankly, Christianity is often singled out for the fiercest of attacks. Therefore, even the most outlandish claims gain traction.
But that’s not the whole answer. Attacks on Scripture, on our Savior, and on our Christian faith will continue to the last day, because Satan is still a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:9) Desperate beyond despair, the devil will seek to destroy our faith anyway he can, even though he knows he’s already been crushed by our Savior’s heel.
Yet why are people so gullible, even eager to believe the devil’s lies? Our Lord explains through his servant, St Paul. “However, an unspiritual person does not accept the truths taught by God’s Spirit, because they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually evaluated.” (1 Corinthians 2:14)
The solution? It goes far beyond pointing out the half-truths and lies of devil-driven scholarship in conspiracy theory books. The solution is Jesus. His Good News alone softens stubborn human heads and hearts that are dead in sin.
Privileged to serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke
Disturbing indeed. I scanned a bit further. The author contended that Jesus was the invention of the Roman Imperial Court. What? Roman Caesars invented Christ? How? The author claimed the Caesars used the first-century historian Josephus to ghost-write the New Testament. And how did the author come to that conclusion? He claimed to have discovered parallels between the works of Josephus and the New Testament.
Hmm. The “evidence” felt flimsier than paper-thin. Then I wondered, “Why would the Roman Caesars bother with such an ambitious project?” The author anticipated the question. He countered that Rome feared the revolutionary spirit of the Jews would infect the rest of the Empire. Huh? My recall of history tells me that Rome squashed Judah like a bug in 70 A.D. Her capital city of Jerusalem was destroyed along with her precious temple. All this happened just as our Savior had prophesied. "Amen I tell you: Not one stone here will be left on another that will not be thrown down." (Matthew 24:2)
My reaction to this book and video was that it was nothing but speculation heaped on top of fabrication. But still, my student was concerned. So I downloaded the eBook.
I read the book. I groaned with the turning of every page. I regretted that I burned $8.69, the cost of the download. There was nothing in this book that came close to proving the author’s damning claims about the New Testament Scriptures. This book was nothing more than the devil’s first lie clumsily repackaged for unsuspecting 21st century readers. “Has God really said?” (Genesis 3:1) I researched a bit further and found out that even the rankest of atheists disavowed this book.
Nevertheless, I prepared a Bible study and shared it with my student group. Some wondered, “Then why is this book so popular? Why are so many listening to it?” The questions were heart-wrenching, because we were talking about classmates, roommates, and friends. I suggested that the answer lay, in part, in the genre of the book: “conspiracy theory.” Conspiracy theory books remain all the rage, because so many people are disillusioned with authority, whether it be in government or society or religion. And frankly, Christianity is often singled out for the fiercest of attacks. Therefore, even the most outlandish claims gain traction.
But that’s not the whole answer. Attacks on Scripture, on our Savior, and on our Christian faith will continue to the last day, because Satan is still a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:9) Desperate beyond despair, the devil will seek to destroy our faith anyway he can, even though he knows he’s already been crushed by our Savior’s heel.
Yet why are people so gullible, even eager to believe the devil’s lies? Our Lord explains through his servant, St Paul. “However, an unspiritual person does not accept the truths taught by God’s Spirit, because they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually evaluated.” (1 Corinthians 2:14)
The solution? It goes far beyond pointing out the half-truths and lies of devil-driven scholarship in conspiracy theory books. The solution is Jesus. His Good News alone softens stubborn human heads and hearts that are dead in sin.
Privileged to serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke
RSS Feed
