After studying many of the conclusions and books written by Jesus seminar authors for many years, I have concluded that their findings or opinions are less credible than the gospels themselves, the oral traditions that may have actually been written down along the way by some, and the overall tradition of the Jesus movement. Somewhere along the way, the members of the Seminar have seemed to be too influenced by alternate gospels like Thomas, and a general unwillingness to accept the earliest traditions of the oral stories that were being passed down , and even seeming to dismiss Pentecost as it was described in Acts as well- which was instrumental in spreading the Jesus movement. In fact, by excepting the Seminars conclusions that much of the gospel stories had words put into the mouth of Jesus, or the actions of Peter or Judas as fiction, you might as well call the followers a bunch of liars at worst and exaggerators at best. And we might as well dismiss Paul’s claims about Jesus as well if you reach the conclusions the Seminar did. Obviously, from a historical perspective, they didn’t and don’t accept the influence of the Holy Spirit as a legitimate reality. For an uneducated, uninformed public who may not know the history of the early church as well- whether they be agnostics, atheists, believers, or adherents of other faiths, the majority of individuals who comprised the Seminar-and their supposed unbiased opinions have done nothing but harm any rational, real conclusions about the validity of the New Testament.
After studying many of the conclusions and books written by Jesus seminar authors for many years, I have concluded that their findings or opinions are less credible than the gospels themselves, the oral traditions that may have actually been written down along the way by some, and the overall tradition of the Jesus movement. Somewhere along the way, the members of the Seminar have seemed to be too influenced by alternate gospels like Thomas, and a general unwillingness to accept the earliest traditions of the oral stories that were being passed down , and even seeming to dismiss Pentecost as it was described in Acts as well- which was instrumental in spreading the Jesus movement. In fact, by excepting the Seminars conclusions that much of the gospel stories had words put into the mouth of Jesus, or the actions of Peter or Judas as fiction, you might as well call the followers a bunch of liars at worst and exaggerators at best. And we might as well dismiss Paul’s claims about Jesus as well if you reach the conclusions the Seminar did. Obviously, from a historical perspective, they didn’t and don’t accept the influence of the Holy Spirit as a legitimate reality. For an uneducated, uninformed public who may not know the history of the early church as well- whether they be agnostics, atheists, believers, or adherents of other faiths, the majority of individuals who comprised the Seminar-and their supposed unbiased opinions have done nothing but harm any rational, real conclusions about the validity of the New Testament.