The Secret Family of Jesus

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55u9RcO7SxE[/youtube]
(I couldn’t find a video of the right program, but this is very similar, and the same host.)

We ended up watching part of this show on PBS the other night, The Secret Family of Jesus. We came in late and left early, so I will not pretend that anything I write here is correct or true. It’s all about the family of Jesus, and what information about his family made it into the Bible, and what did not. Discussions about how at that famous wedding where he turned water into wine, he was probably at a family wedding, that kind of thing. Then the idea was floated that Jesus felt that John the Baptist was the most important man, and that perhaps he was supposed to be the son of God, something like that. Also, that John the Baptist may have been a cousin of Jesus. I don’t know, because for one, I didn’t see it all, and for two, I’ve only read part of the Bible, and am not a scholar in this area in any way.

If you watch the YouTube clip, you’ll find that the host, Dr. Robert Beckford, is a lot of fun to imitate. While getting Maya tucked in, we enjoyed saying outrageous claims about the Bible in his accent, things like, “If you look here, the original document said “Jesus = Buddha”, but if you look very closely, you can see that the editors of the Bible have changed it to read “Jesus ≠ Buddha”, and we can further look, and, using carbon dating, verify that the little dash changing = to ≠ was added 300 years later! So, as you can clearly see, Jesus was, in fact, Buddha!” It’s mostly fun in that accent.

So after having some fun, I tucked Maya in to bed, and came downstairs, ready to watch Lost. That’s when I heard the following, (paraphrased): “And that’s the real tragedy, that in all of this, what has been lost is the real message of Jesus Christ.” Roll credits. Crap! I wanted to see that! I missed the real message of Jesus Christ! Help! Luckily, help was easily found, via the internets, and I found that the real message hasn’t been lost at all, though I will say that it is largely ignored. According to the Evangelical Alliance, what Beckford went on to say was that the real message of Jesus was “speaking out against injustice and oppression, His moral code and heralding the Kingdom of God on earth here and now.”

Whew. Knew that one. And even as an atheist, it’s a message I support. Now, back to imitating/ridiculing Beckford’s accent and enthusiasm. Join me, won’t you? It’s fun!