I just watched 48 Hours program on the birth of Jesus. I want to know why John Crossan still gets air-time. It’s pathetic.
Oh well. At least they had one token Christian, although they didn’t bother trying to actually present any of the Christian arguments and apologetics surrounding the birth of Jesus. Naturally, they let the skeptics talk on and on without any direct refutation, so the summary of the arguments look a bit like this:
Skeptic: Jesus’ birth was a myth because it matches a Roman myth and because it’s obvious that there’s no such thing as the supernatural because only morons would believe it.
Narrator: These skeptics, like most scholars, agree that the Jesus story in the Gospels is a myth.
Token Christian: I believe the story is true.
And there you have it. They let the skeptics present evidence, but all they let the Token Christian do in response is go around saying, “See, this stuff could have actually happened because there were sheep in Bethlehem.” That’s nice and wonderful, but how about a meaningful response to the septic…er, skeptics? It’s not like there hasn’t ever been any meaningful interaction with these arguments before. But of course CBS wouldn’t want to actually get THAT aired, although everything John Crossan says is de facto Gospel.
Kinda ironic. And by the way, I’m not bashing the Token Christian at all (he was Ben Witherington, in case you were wondering). I haven’t heard of him before, but what he did was basically good. I’m quite sure he probably would have loved to have more of his arguments actually aired, although I suspect he didn’t expect it any more than I would expect a fair treatment in the media if I was on one of their shows (although, honestly, even if I was a “scholar” in one of their recognized fields, I doubt I’d actually go on one of those propoganda shows they call “news”).
Does this mean I’m jaded toward the media? Nope, just realistic. Everyone get back to your Winter Break With Shiny Lights For No Apparent Reason.
