Are You Ready to Meet the Jesus of History?

 
In my last email I introduced the Law of Language and Linguistic Profiles (click here to read). Today I am going to introduce you to the Linguistic Profile of “the Jesus of history” -- the person who lived in Nazareth and traveled through Galilee and Judea preaching his gospel. We call him “the Jesus of history” because as we explore biblical heritages and travel from the 1^st century to the 21^st century, we will make new Linguistic Profiles from documents written between those dates. Those Linguistic Profiles will be about Jesus the Christ, Jesus The Christ of Paul, Jesus the Christ of Athanasius, Jesus the Christ of Arius, Jesus the Christ of Constantine the Great, Jesus the Christ of Augustine, Jesus the Christ of the Trinity, Jesus the Christ of Martin Luther, etc.
 
The information we acquire from creating or just reading Linguistic Profiles is very useful, but when we compare Linguistic Profiles of Jesus from documents written over a 1,500 year span, we acquire very valuable insights about the evolution of Christianity.
 
As you read the Linguistic Profile below you may find things that trigger your BS Warning System (BS = belief system). This happens when you read something that doesn’t agree with what you believe about Jesus. What you believe about Jesus will be found in the other Linguistic Profiles above. Later, as we explore biblical heritages, we will find the one you probably have for him. Now it is time to meet “the Jesus of history.”
 
1. Symbols: Taught orally in Hebrew; spoke Aramaic in his daily life. He may have been familiar with Greek and Latin too.
 
2. Source: Yeshua ben Yoseph (Jesus son of Joseph). Luke has “the virgin birth story and Matthew copied it from him. No “virgin birth” story is found in Mark or John. Based on his culture and the way he interacted with his Jewish audiences, our conclusion is they would have viewed him like any other person, except for his message and miracles. There are stories about other people in that culture proclaiming similar messages and doing miracles. The people that heard him most likely referred to him this way -- his name plus the name of his father. They did not have last names like we do today.
 
3. Time & Place: 25 - 28 CE. Information in the four Gospels provides two options for the length of time he led his movement – either one year or three years.
 
4. The Culture of Jesus: Late Second Temple Period Galilean Judean. His primary culture was that of the Land of Judea, but the influence of living in the Galilee would have been apparent to people in Judea. I run into the same problem, being a Texan living in the USA.
 
5. Personal Experiences of Jesus: Probably educated by Joseph and teachers at synagogue in Nazareth; his childhood textbook was the Torah (first five books of Bible); at age twelve interacted with leading teachers at the Temple in Jerusalem; probably worked as a carpenter with Joseph until age 30; influenced by the teachings of John the Baptist; he had a lot of knowledge about the Torah and the Prophets (especially Isaiah); began his movement around 25 CE (probably called “The Kingdom of Heaven Movement); led the movement for either one or three years; crucified by Romans for a political crime (claiming to be king without Roman approval).
 
6. Receptors: He spoke to Jewish audiences about Jewish things.
 
7. Goal: Proclaim that the Kingdom of God had arrived; the Great Day of Judgment was imminent; people must repent and do acts of righteousness (TDQ) or they will face eternal punishment instead of entering eternal life. A new age will begin after the earth has been cleansed of sin and purified and he will King of God’s new Kingdom.
 
It is important to note that the Jesus of history did not write anything. He only taught orally. So, how did his oral teaching end up in my 1769 King James Bible? That will be the subject of my next email. Please share and discuss this information with others. Thank you for reading Exploring Our Biblical Heritages emails!
 
Shalom,
Jim Myers
 
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Whose Words Are You Reading In Your Bible?

You have probably heard this before, but the journey that led to the creation of the Biblical Heritage Center began when I prayed the prayer below in August 1980. I was preparing to begin classes at a Bible College and become an ordained minister.

 Dear God, please show me what you want me study in my Bible.

Immediately, these words popped into my mind:
 

Unless you know how words work

you can’t understand the words of the Bible.

 
If that was the answer, it made absolutely no sense to me -- so I forgot about it! After that I graduated from the Bible College, became an ordained minister and founded a church.
 
Four years later an advertisement for a new book came in the mail -- “Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus.” I ordered it and as soon as I finished reading it I remembered the answer to that prayer. That was the moment I decided to find out “how words work.” I spent an entire month in a university library doing research which led to the creation of my Law of Language.
 

A word is a symbol or group of symbols (or sounds)

with an attached bundle of associations which are products

of a Source’s culture, time period, place and personal experiences.

 
Below are explanations of key words:
 
1. Symbols: Letters of the alphabet and punctuation marks.
 
2. Source: The person writing or speaking the word.
 
3. Time Period and Place: When and where the Source wrote or spoke the word.
 
4. Culture: Knowledge, beliefs, morals, laws, religion, customs, concepts, habits, skills, institutions, and any other capabilities of a given people in a given period.
 
5. Personal Experiences: Experiences in the Source’s life that affect the meanings of his or her words.
 
6. Receptor: The person or group to whom the Source communicated his or her words.
 
7. Goal: Discover the Source’s meanings of the words.
 
The model above is used to create a Linguistic Profile for the words we are examining. I created the Law of Language to discover what the words of Jesus meant to him. So, I opened up my Bible, applied the Law of Language to the words of Jesus and created a Linguistic Profile.
 
1. Symbols: English language.
 
2. Source: Benjamin Blayney, chief editor of the project.
 
3. Time Period & Place: 1760-1769 Oxford University, Oxfordshire, England.
 
4. Blayney’s Culture: 18^th century British.
 
5. Blayney’s Personal Experiences: Oxford University Master's Degree (1753); became a fellow and vice-principal of Hertford College (a constituent college of Oxford) (1768); employed by the Clarendon Press of Oxford University; member of the clergy of the Church of England.
 
6. Receptors: English markets and customers of Clarendon Press.
 
7. Goal: Correct errors, intentional mistranslations and other differences in editions of the King James Bible printed after 1611.
 
I was not reading the words of Jesus – I was reading the words of Benjamin Blayney’s translation team. I had always been told that my King James Bible was written in 1611, but now I discovered I was actually reading a 1769 Revised King James Version.
 
If they hadn’t revised it I could have been readings from the 1631 edition printed by Robert Barker and Martin Lucas, the royal printers in London. It was called the Wicked Bible, Adulterous Bible or Sinners' Bible. Below are a couple of verses from it.
 
● “Thou shalt commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14 & Deuteronomy 5:18)
 
● “Behold, the Lord our God hath shewed us his glory and his great-asse . . . .” It should have read “Behold, the Lord our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness . . . .” (Deuteronomy 5:24)
 
Obviously, that caught the attention Bible readers in 1631 – and it created a huge scandal. Historians discovered information that led to the conclusion a competitor planted a typesetter in the print shop to make those changes so Barker and Lucas would lose their “royal contract.”  The scheme worked.
 
But, the Wicked Bible remained in circulation with a number of other versions for over 130 years until the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge produced the version of the Bible I was reading. Whose words are you reading when you read the Bible?
 
I will create a Linguistic Profile for Jesus in my next email. Please share and discuss this information with others. Try making some Linguistic Profiles. Thank you for reading Exploring Our Biblical Heritages emails!
 
Shalom,
Jim Myers
 
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