Theos-Talk Archives (January 2004 Message tt00351)

Hey,

I'm now almost finished reading American Jesus by Stephen Prothero, 
and recommend it to anyone interested in how perceptions of Jesus 
have evolved in America over 400 years. Although the NYTBR review 
of 12/28 was mainly favorable, Prothero has a letter in the current 
issue protesting one misreading by the reviewer. Here's the gist:

I was amused to return from church...and learn [from the NYTBR 
review] that I had no business being there. If Massing is to be 
believed, I have somehow magically converted, against my will, into 
a crusading rationalist who shares Thomas Jefferson's "vision of 
Jesus" as nothing more than "an enlightened Galilean 
sage."...Massing seems to confuse my method of bracketing my faith-- 
an approach I share with virtually all my colleagues in religious 
studies-- with a lack of the same. The fact that he takes me to be 
a Jefferson lover only testifies to my success in applying that 
method, since, truth be told, I personally find it difficult to be 
anything other than snide when it comes to Jefferson's absurdly 
ahistorical Jesus...I would request that you refrain from 
attributing to me theological positions I do not hold.
-------------------------------------------------------------

This certainly rings a bell with me, not just from personal 
experience but also from that of other authors whose bracketing is 
misinterpreted by fellow-believers. It reminds me of the simple 
experiment in which you place one hand in hot water, the other in 
cold, and then plunge both of them into lukewarm water. The hand 
that was hot perceives the lukewarm water to be cold, and vice 
versa. Similarly, a believer is prone to interpret a noncommital 
tone as one of disbelief, and an unbeliever might interpret it as 
credulity.

Cheers,

Paul

PS-- Theosophy and HPB are mentioned a few times in Prothero's 
discussion of Eastern religious interpretations of Jesus.