Resumo de Jesus The Man - Barbara Thiering

kirjoita lyhennelmä.
Why Jesus the Man should be
translated into other languages

When Dr. Barbara Thiering wrote her book Jesus and The Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls (paperback version Jesus the Man) in the early 1990?s, mainstream scholars were all but unanimous in rejecting her pesher theory.   Yet she showed almost water tightly that Jesus was not crucified in Jerusalem (Ierousalêm) but in the Greek plural form of the word, in Hierosolyma, Hierosolymon, which meant Qumran, a place near the Dead Sea which had probably served as a monastic centre. Most ?Jerusalems? in the gospels (in Greek) are Hierosolymas, and even in the Acts there are more than 20 occurrences of Hierosolymas, i.e. Qumrans.
These findings ? if generally accepted ? might influence even the peace process in the Near East, if one party in the dispute over the control of Jerusalem, i.e. the Christians, would concentrate their pilgrimages on Qumran and its surroundings instead of Jerusalem.
Thiering does not believe in miracles. She provides good and plausible explanations for each alleged miracle, even for resurrection after three days in grave and for the three hours? darkness on Good Friday in AD 33.
Having interpreted several New Testament books and epistles using an ancient Jewish pesher method, Thiering says that John?s gospel was written first, before 37 AD, and even the last gospel was written before AD 64, when the Acts was completed. Thiering?s dating was much earlier that that of mainstream scholars in the early 1990?s, but later even the majority of mainstream scholars have admitted that at least Mark?s gospel (whose fragment was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls) was written around 50 AD. Also some new radio carbon datings support those of Thiering.
The fact that Thiering?s dating of the gospels has proved correct, although it was against the consensus of mainstream scholars, gives credibility to the pesher method that she employs. The marriage ? or at least erotic relationship ? between Jesus and Maria Magdalene is well documented even without resorting to pesher meanings, for e. g. the Gospel of Philip talks much more openly about it than the gospels which are in the bible.
Pesher is an ancient Jewish method of interpreting scriptures. The meaning of the word pesher is solution, interpretation. Thiering says that the best test for her theory is how well the different parts of the historical puzzle fit together.
In her book, everything seems to fit. For example, Thiering says that the Word of God also means Jesus. Consequently, ?the Word of God increased? means that Jesus had a girl child. If ?the Word of God increased greatly?, it means he had a boy child. In Jesus? dynastic rules it was said there should be a three-year (+ at least 9 months) break after a daughter and a six-year break after a boy child. According to the pesher interpretation Maria Magdalene gave birth to a daughter in September AD 33 and ?the Word of God increased greatly? after 3 years and 9 months, and with a break of nearly seven years ?the Word of God increased greatly? again, meaning that Mary Magdalene gave birth to one daughter and two sons. It all fits.
Jesus? miracles are all explained in a natural way in Thierings book. Especially ?walking on water? is explained most convincingly. Even the stadium measures given in the UT are explained and have a natural reason. The resurrection has been analysed with great care; a convincing and natural explanation is given.
I hope this book will be translated into Scandinavian languages including Finnish so that people here would be inspired to study the bible even if they do not belong to the Christian church. In Australia there has been a hectic debate going on for years after the television documentary on this subject was broadcast in 1990 and after this book was published in 1992. Such a debate would be welcome also in Finland, wouldn?t it?

                                                          Pentti Ruotsalainen
                                                          translator

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