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July 7, 2008 | 11:17 am

The media and Jesus mythbusters

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

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Photo: Boston Globe

In light of the hype surrounding the unveiling of an ancient tablet that suggests some Jews were expecting the messiah to rise from the dead after three days, Mollie at GetReligion has some strong words for the media’s affinity for sensationalizing any report that will supposedly—supposedly—shake the bedrock of Christianity:

There is nothing the media like more than to sensationalize undeserving stories. Usually this involves either the disappearance of young, attractive white women or alleged revelations about Jesus. in the latter category, we’ve read that Jesus walked on an ice floe (not water), that he wasn’t crucified in the manner in which people think, that Jesus’ father was a Roman soldier named Pantera, not Joseph, and that Jesus didn’t die on the cross so much as pass out after being doped up.

Usually these stories “break” around major Christian holidays. Remember Easter 2006? When National Geographic argued that Judas was unfairly maligned by Christians? The story was covered far and wide by all the major media outlets. Two years later, the news that National Geographic rushed the story and engaged in shoddy scholastic work (daemon translated as “spirit,” etc.) was not covered in any way approaching the same degree.

The latest example shows the difficulty journalists have in resisting the shock angle on stories. A completely legitimate and interesting story gets turned into yet another thing that is supposed to shake the very foundations of Christianity. Come on! Enough already! Or can the media at least come up with a better spin, hoax or overblown discovery?

(skip)

Um, newsflash to the New York Times. Christians pretty much think the entire story of Jesus life, death and resurrection is part of a “recognized Jewish tradition” at the time. In other words, Christians read much of the Old Testament as prophesying about Jesus. They see Jesus as the fulfillment of those prophecies.

She makes some great points. Read the rest of her post here.

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Yes, she makes some great points. We in the Orthodox Jewish community face this kind of thing all the time - “Hey, didja hear about the Orthodox gay Rabbi?” “No, but there’s an Orthodox rabbi who proposes dividing Jerusalem” “How about the Orthodox rabbi who says there are many valid paths to God” “That’s nothing - I know an Orthodox guy who says God doesn’t care if you eat ham and eggs for breakfast dadadadada…”

Likewise, Ben Plonie posts on the God Blog here http://www.jewishjournal.com/thegodblog/item/was_jesus_resurrection_culturally_expected_20080706/#comments
“It doesn’t look to me like there is enough definite information to generate meaningful debate or hand-wringing.” etc. Good readin’.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 7/07/08 at 5:02 pm

True dat, BP.

Comment by Brad A. Greenberg on 7/07/08 at 5:05 pm

And before I forget, thanks for the links to http://www.getreligion.org, never seen it before.

“Holy Hannukah! Orthodox Judaism seems a little underrepresented there, B-Man!” Hehehe…

Comment by Ben Plonie on 7/07/08 at 5:15 pm

Your article “The media and Jesus mythbusters” points to an article by Mollie at GetReligion, which says that the Gabriel stone shows the Messiah’s resurrection to be part of a “recognized Jewish tradition.”

If as she says, “there might be a reference to the “prince of princes” rising from the dead after three days” in the tablet, does it refer to part of the scriptures? How does Biblical scholar Israel Knohl conclude that since the tablet resembles Daniel in discussing Gabriel and a prince of princes, it therefore must be talking about a Messiah who dies and resurrects in three days? Does the book of Daniel lead him to that conclusion because Daniel 9 predicts the Messiah’s death? If so, then why does Knohl claim “a suffering messiah is very different from the traditional Jewish image of the messiah as a triumphal, powerful descendant of King David.”

Why does Molly say that prophecies in Isaiah and Psalms are about the Messiah, instead of God’s servant Israel, or David? Knohl says that Jesus’ “mission is that he has to be put to death by the Romans to suffer so his blood will be the sign for redemption to come… This is the sign of the son of Joseph.” How is martyrdom a sign of the son of Joseph, and is Knohl admitting that scriptures say that a Messianic “son of Joseph” would be killed?

How do we know that his mission “to shed blood is not for the sins of people but to bring redemption to Israel?”

Comment by Hal Smith on 2/21/10 at 11:33 am

It is interesting reading your articles on the GodBlog about the scriptures and the Messiah’s resurrection, Brad. After reading them and other articles, I have come to think that the scriptures predict that the Messiah would resurrect, and wrote about it on my blog rakovskii.livejournal.com

And, depending on your view of John 10:22, I would like to wish you a Happy Feast of the Dedication and a Happy Hanukkah, brother!

All the Best!

Comment by H. Smith on 12/23/10 at 9:01 pm

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