"The Bad Jesus" New Book

The Bad Jesus
The Ethics of New Testament Ethics
Hector Avalos

Did Jesus ever do anything wrong? Judging by the vast majority of books on New Testament ethics, the answer is a resounding No. Writers on New Testament ethics generally view Jesus as the paradigm of human standards and behaviour. But since the historical Jesus was a human being, must he not have had flaws, like everyone else?

The notion of a flawless human Jesus is a paradoxical oddity in New Testament ethics. According to Avalos, it shows that New Testament ethics is still primarily an apologetic enterprise despite its claim to rest on critical and historical scholarship.

The Bad Jesus is a powerful and challenging study, presenting detailed case studies of fundamental ethical principles enunciated or practised by Jesus but antithetical to what would be widely deemed ‘acceptable’ or ‘good’ today. Such topics include Jesus’ supposedly innovative teachings on love, along with his views on hate, violence, imperialism, animal rights, environmental ethics, Judaism, women, disabled persons and biblical hermeneutics.

After closely examining arguments offered by those unwilling to find any fault with the Jesus depicted in the Gospels, Avalos concludes that current treatments of New Testament ethics are permeated by a religiocentric, ethnocentric and imperialistic orientation. But if it is to be a credible historical and critical discipline in modern academia, New Testament ethics needs to discover both a Good and a Bad Jesus.

Hector Avalos is Professor of Religious Studies in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Iowa State University, Ames, IA.



http://www.sheffieldphoenix.com/showbook.asp?bkid=294

One to read.

Of course he did stuff wrong?! I always rather thought that was the point? He was an ordinary man who spread gods word but got it wrong sometimes?

The closest thing I've ever seen/read that makes sense as to what Jesus was like was the musical Jesus Christ Superstar

Made him look human and his relationship with Judas was a real emotional one.

eddie wrote:Of course he did stuff wrong?! I always rather thought that was the point? He was an ordinary man who spread gods word but got it wrong sometimes?

The closest thing I've ever seen/read that makes sense as to what Jesus was like was the musical Jesus Christ Superstar

Made him look human and his relationship with Judas was a real emotional one.

That is not the point to Christians, to them, her is the perfect man who did no wrong.

I will read this with interest, mainly to see if it has any validity or is just sadly some book that is Christian bashing