New book claims that Jesus may have been an architect

I'll start my post by saying that I'm not a believer, but I do take an interest in religion.

I found this article about a book called THe Jesus Discovery. The author suggests that Jesus was not the son of a mere carpenter and that he trained in the temple to become a rabbi. It suggests that he or Joseph may have been an architect, which I found interesting thinking of a link to the Masons.

I read another thread here recently in which the OP asked about the translations of the bible, so I hope this of interest:

www.dailymail.co.uk...

This is the first paragraph of the article. I think it would be worth reading the whole thing before commenting:

Jesus was the son of a middle-class, highly educated architect and rose to become the highest ranking Rabbi of his age, according to a new book.
The Jesus Discovery, by Dr Adam Bradford, claims that his revered position in the Jewish faith explains why Christ was able to exert such influence and why his teachings became such a concern to the authorities.
Dr Bradford, who works as a GP, drew his conclusions after studying and comparing the original Greek and Hebrew scriptures.
He also used human psychology to analyse the behaviour towards Jesus as depicted in the Bible.
Biblical scholar Dr Bradford said: 'Jesus's high ranking position as a Jew seems to have been written out of history but in fact it makes more sense of the Bible.
'If Jesus was the son of a poor itinerant carpenter with some radical ideas nobody would have been that concerned about what he said.
'But, because Jesus was trained up to become the most educated Jew of his time it gave him the chance to exert extraordinary influence and let him get away with acts that normal Jews would have been imprisoned or chastised for.
'For example, when Jesus turned the money changers out of the temple there is no mention in the Bible of the police guards getting involved or there being a backlash.
'The money changers were an essential part of gaining revenue for the Temple so if Jesus was an ordinary Jew he would have been arrested or physically attacked.

[edit on 2-4-2010 by berenike]

reply to post by berenike


This is very interesting!
Why is it here? So few people will see it (and I have to re-log in in order to reply)?

I am not sure I believe in this theory, but it is at least interesting. And it's a welcome break from the usual "alien visitation" topics...

reply to post by AdAstra


I thought his might be the right forum - I don't usually post articles about religion but I thought this one was worth a mention.

I got the title wrong too, it should have said that Joseph was the architect but I realised my error too late to edit it.

I'm glad you found it interesting and took the time to re-log in to reply

reply to post by berenike


Interesting post.

However there are some big holes in this hypothesis:

Biblical scholar Dr Bradford said: 'Jesus's high ranking position as a Jew seems to have been written out of history but in fact it makes more sense of the Bible'.

In other words, "There is no evidence for what I am about to say, but if we make this assumption we can find an explanation for a lot of things I don't understand".

'If Jesus was the son of a poor itinerant carpenter with some radical ideas nobody would have been that concerned about what he said.

This "Biblical scholar" seems to have conveniently forgotten that it was not 'some radical ideas' that got people's attention, but

*things he did which no other man had done throughout the whole of history

"Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind".

(Man who had just been healed, John 9:32)

*because of the sheer authority with which his teaching came across

When Jesus had finished this sermon, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, because He was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.

*because of the unheard-of quality of his character, a flawless person

Can any of you accuse me of sin? If you cannot, why won't you have faith in me?

and

Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into Your hands I entrust My spirit. " Saying this, He breathed His last.
When the centurion saw what happened, he began to glorify God, saying, "This man really was righteous!"

(Luke 23:46-47) [and many other such incidents]

'For example, when Jesus turned the money changers out of the temple there is no mention in the Bible of the police guards getting involved or there being a backlash.
'The money changers were an essential part of gaining revenue for the Temple so if Jesus was an ordinary Jew he would have been arrested or physically attacked.

This man simply needs to open his Bible and start reading. He sounds like one of those 'scholars' who's read academic books, but not truly searched the Scriptures. The answer to his point is obvious:

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they knew He was speaking about them. Although they were looking for a way to arrest Him, they feared the crowds, because they regarded Him as a prophet.

(Matthew 21:45-46)

All in all this 'scholar' doesn't have a leg to stand on.

There is one thing I agree with, though: Jesus was an architect.

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

He was with God in the beginning.

All things were created through Him,

and apart from Him not one thing was created

that has been created.

(John 1:1-3)


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/47ff4d49c934.jpeg[/atsimg]

Originally posted by berenike
reply to post by AdAstra

 

it should have said that Joseph was the architect but I realised my error too late to edit it.

Hey, didn't He always say he was in his father's business? :-)
So, it's all right!

But I don't agree with the posting of this article here. It deserves so much more discussion!




[edit on 22-5-2010 by AdAstra]

This is new???

The band Ministry said that almost 20 years ago in their song Jesus Built My Hotrod

soon i discovered that this rock thing was true
jerry lee lewis was the devil
jesus was an architect previous to his career as a prophet
all of a sudden, i found myself in love with the world
so there was only one thing that i could do
was ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long

So I'm just gonna guess that this is a fairly old theory...

I agree that social status wasn't necessarily (or at all!) the decisive factor for Jesus' impact. After all, he likely attracted the attention very early on, at age twelve, when he sat among all those pundits expounding the Torah for them. I don't think they would have cared "even" if he was a beggar.

There is one thing I agree with, though: Jesus was an architect.

Good point.




[edit on 22-5-2010 by AdAstra]

reply to post by nick_napalm




I've always said art is the prefiguration of history!








[edit on 22-5-2010 by AdAstra]