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A Semester With Jesus

By Jessica Bennett | NEWSWEEK
Published Apr 18, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Apr 27, 2009

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  • Posted By: jdn3553 @ 04/20/2009 2:19:30 PM

    nice point. Just one question: Based on what we know of the life of Jesus, what are this sins that He owned?

    • Posted By: Constitution Lover @ 04/22/2009 2:00:57 PM

      "Based on what we know of the life of Jesus, what are this sins that He owned?"
      Claiming to be the Jewish Messiah and the only way to god. Two pretty major sins for a so-called Jew to committ (assuming that one believes what is written itne the Christian Scriptures [NT]). .

      • Posted By: paproudmom @ 04/22/2009 2:44:26 PM

        It is not a sin to tell the truth.

        • Posted By: Constitution Lover @ 04/22/2009 5:26:39 PM

          "It is not a sin to tell the truth.":

          But since it is a lie it would be a sin.

          • Posted By: paproudmom @ 04/23/2009 12:18:49 PM

            And you know this how? You confuse your opinion with truth.

            • Posted By: Constitution Lover @ 04/23/2009 2:20:36 PM

              "And you know this how? You confuse your opinion with truth"

              Actually the only opinion here is that he was a god or the Messiah. There is no proof of those claims. Therefore the truth seems to set with that he (or more likely his followers) lied.

              • Posted By: True Realism @ 06/09/2009 7:46:04 AM

                You 'know' this because you have chosen your brand of faith. Yet you spend so much time in refutation. Move forward iwth your life and leave behind the truth of those with whom you disagree. You have two choices: Believe what you say so completely that you are at peace, can leave others who don't agree alone and try and live your life fully. Or you can spend your whole life trying to dispute the faith of others. I have seldom seen those who believe in Jesus as the Christ try as hard to proselytize as you have to your brand of faith. Let it go...or try to discover why you prostest too much. You only have one chance and then you die. Spend your energies in a fulfilling manner or learn why you can't and why you are so drawn to this argument.

              • Posted By: mlina002 @ 04/23/2009 11:38:09 PM

                Just a question....have you ever been to Mt. Everest? Or did you ever have a chat with Jefferson?

                As such a logical/educated person, I am pretty sure you are aware that there is surmountable amount of proof that Jesus existed. Just like we have records of Jefferson's existence, we have numerous sources that verify the existence of this man called Jesus.

                That he has just a good teacher or the Messiah is what is in question, or better said, it is what people question. But I do challenge you or anyone else that can make such claim, to visit Mt. Everest, and see for themselves what it really is meant to be, and on that note to get a hold of a Bible and read /study it from beginning to end to then make such a claim.

                I find it rather preposterous when people that cannot even spell ???least??? correct argue to be ???logical??? and make irrational claims without even taking the time to study the subject at hand. Until you have read and study the Bible and it???s many prophesies/controversies, after you have peruse the original documents in Hebrew and after you have made a conscious and detailed study about the authenticity of Jesus, please refrain from making unfounded claims that make you seem rather obtuse and absurd.

                • Posted By: Constitution Lover @ 04/24/2009 11:37:47 AM

                  As such a logical/educated person, I am pretty sure you are aware that there is surmountable amount of proof that Jesus existed. Just like we have records of Jefferson's existence, we have numerous sources that verify the existence of this man called Jesus. "

                  I never said that a human being named Jesus did not exist. Nor did I ever say that he was not an itinerant rabbi.

                  "and on that note to get a hold of a Bible and read /study it from beginning to end to then make such a claim."

                  I have done so. That is why I can say that he was not the Messiah. And since there is not irrefutable proof of god (or that Jeuss was a god) my statement that he was not a deity is also a valid one.

                  "I find it rather preposterous when people that cannot even spell ???least??? correct argue to be ???logical??? and make irrational claims without even taking the time to study the subject at hand."

                  Typos happen, especially on blogs so that comment is ignorable. I will place my academic credentials against yours any day of the week on that one. And the statement that Jesus was neither deity or Messiah are not irrational claims. And if you are going to make comments about spelling errors then you should know that your own post had a far more serious one. You wrote "there is surmountable amount of proof that Jesus existed". Surmountable means that the "proof" can be overcome (disproven or proven false). The word you wanted is INsurmountable. At least leaving out the s in least does not result in a word that is the exact opposite of what I was trying to say.


                  " Until you have read and study the Bible and it???s many prophesies/controversies,"

                  I have.

                  "after you have peruse the original documents in Hebrew"

                  I read the TaNaKH in teh Hebrew, not the English. It is the mistranslations of the Hebrew by Christains that cause them to claim the Jesus was the Messiah (Moshiach).

                  "and after you have made a conscious and detailed study about the authenticity of Jesus"

                  I have, and as I said before his existence in no way validates his (or his followers') claims of his divinty or Moshiach status.

                  "please refrain from making unfounded claims that make you seem rather obtuse and absurd. "

                  The unfounded claims are that he was anything other than a charismatic rabbi who lived and died.

          • Posted By: jdn3553 @ 04/22/2009 6:49:24 PM

            You sound pretty sure of yourself that Jesus was "lying". Let me ask you something: what are your religious beliefs? If you have any, i mean. Have you read the Bible? If so, what parts? On what grounds do you speak against Christ and label Him a liar?

            • Posted By: Constitution Lover @ 04/22/2009 8:01:06 PM

              "You sound pretty sure of yourself that Jesus was "lying". Let me ask you something: what are your religious beliefs? If you have any, i mean. Have you read the Bible? If so, what parts?"

              I was raised a practicing Jew and studied both the TaNaKH and Talmud for years. I also studied the Christian Scriptures (NT) for several years. I am now an atheist having realized that although there are very real general human ethical ideas in the TaNaKH that they have no need for the theological aspects and that the TaNaKH is simply a compilation of human ethics that had existed long before Moses compiled them and fine-tuned some of them. And that there is no irrefutable evidence of there even being a god outside of the human imagination.

              "On what grounds do you speak against Christ and label Him a liar?"

              Because Jesus failed miserably in fulfilling the obligations of Moshiach and there is no evidence whatsover (outside of the beliefs of his followers) that he was a divine entity. Therfore IF he actually claimed to be either of those things, he lied.

              • Posted By: SilentObserver_intheCorner @ 04/23/2009 10:10:42 AM

                Hate to say it, but after reading some of the comments made by these sort of individuals. You might have an easier time scaling Mt. Everest than convincing these people that JC was anything less than god himself. It seems that logic is nothing more than a nuisance when seeking the truth with these people.

                • Posted By: Constitution Lover @ 04/23/2009 2:22:50 PM

                  "You might have an easier time scaling Mt. Everest than convincing these people that JC was anything less than god himself. It seems that logic is nothing more than a nuisance when seeking the truth with these people."

                  That is so true. The old line that faith is blind is proven over and over again. Also at leat we know that Mt. Everest is what it is claimed to be. The same cannot be said for Jesus. As Jefferson said, he was probably a very good teacher (in some ways) by in no way a divine entity.

                  • Posted By: mlina002 @ 04/23/2009 11:39:11 PM

                    Just a question....have you ever been to Mt. Everest? Or did you ever have a chat with Jefferson?

                    As such a logical/educated person, I am pretty sure you are aware that there is surmountable amount of proof that Jesus existed. Just like we have records of Jefferson's existence, we have numerous sources that verify the existence of this man called Jesus.

                    That he has just a good teacher or the Messiah is what is in question, or better said, it is what people question. But I do challenge you or anyone else that can make such claim, to visit Mt. Everest, and see for themselves what it really is meant to be, and on that note to get a hold of a Bible and read /study it from beginning to end to then make such a claim.

                    I find it rather preposterous when people that cannot even spell ???least??? correct argue to be ???logical??? and make irrational claims without even taking the time to study the subject at hand. Until you have read and study the Bible and it???s many prophesies/controversies, after you have peruse the original documents in Hebrew and after you have made a conscious and detailed study about the authenticity of Jesus, please refrain from making unfounded claims that make you seem rather obtuse and absurd.

                    • Posted By: Constitution Lover @ 04/24/2009 11:36:44 AM

                      "As such a logical/educated person, I am pretty sure you are aware that there is surmountable amount of proof that Jesus existed. Just like we have records of Jefferson's existence, we have numerous sources that verify the existence of this man called Jesus. "

                      I never said that a human being named Jesus did not exist. Nor did I ever say that he was not an itinerant rabbi.

                      "and on that note to get a hold of a Bible and read /study it from beginning to end to then make such a claim."

                      I have done so. That is why I can say that he was not the Messiah. And since there is not irrefutable proof of god (or that Jeuss was a god) my statement that he was not a deity is also a valid one.

                      "I find it rather preposterous when people that cannot even spell ???least??? correct argue to be ???logical??? and make irrational claims without even taking the time to study the subject at hand."

                      Typos happen, especially on blogs so that comment is ignorable. I will place my academic credentials against yours any day of the week on that one. And the statement that Jesus was neither deity or Messiah are not irrational claims. And if you are going to make comments about spelling errors then you should know that your own post had a far more serious one. You wrote "there is surmountable amount of proof that Jesus existed". Surmountable means that the "proof" can be overcome (disproven or proven false). The word you wanted is INsurmountable. At least leaving out the s in least does not result in a word that is the exact opposite of what I was trying to say.


                      " Until you have read and study the Bible and it???s many prophesies/controversies,"

                      I have.

                      "after you have peruse the original documents in Hebrew"

                      I read the TaNaKH in teh Hebrew, not the English. It is the mistranslations of the Hebrew by Christains that cause them to claim the Jesus was the Messiah (Moshiach).

                      "and after you have made a conscious and detailed study about the authenticity of Jesus"

                      I have, and as I said before his existence in no way validates his (or his followers') claims of his divinty or Moshiach status.

                      "please refrain from making unfounded claims that make you seem rather obtuse and absurd. "

                      The unfounded claims are that he was anything other than a charismatic rabbi who lived and died.

  • Posted By: woaitheo @ 04/27/2009 9:19:27 PM

    that's really a sad commentary and kind of freaky on this guy's part. there are ways to learn about christianity without being deceitful and maipulative. afterall, to get into the university you do have to declare that you are christian. it's sad that he felt as though he had to lie to get the answers that he wanted.

  • Posted By: kimme051 @ 04/21/2009 8:28:15 PM

    there's an Assembly of god minister across the street with his wife and 8th kid on the way. they are home schooling the kids. I think it's a travesty. those kids will have no base when they grow up if they are lucky enough to figure things out.

    • Posted By: John Dough @ 04/22/2009 2:34:38 PM

      Home schooled children have higher test scores, higher SAT and ACT scores and lack the social interaction with the perverts, dopers, drunkards and other losers in the public school system. for their own good we should force them to join the rest.

      • Posted By: Horrible Bastard @ 04/22/2009 5:07:23 PM

        " and lack the social interaction with the perverts, dopers, drunkards and other losers in the public school system"

        Which makes it all the more humourous when they hit the real world like innocent little lambs.

        • Posted By: paproudmom @ 04/23/2009 12:20:30 PM

          You don't have to wallow in sin to know it exists.

          • Posted By: Osama Bin Login @ 04/23/2009 3:49:28 PM

            But it's more fun that way.

        • Posted By: Osama Bin Login @ 04/22/2009 5:31:38 PM

          Yeah, they make a really neat "splat" noise.

    • Posted By: paproudmom @ 04/22/2009 11:06:39 AM

      Evidently you did not have much of base growing up to hold such ignorant opinions. Many home schooled kids do quiite well in college and in life.

  • Posted By: sieg6529 @ 04/22/2009 10:03:58 AM

    If he had tried to "come out" as a secular person, he would have been strung up by his toes. Christian forgiveness is surprisingly limited when it comes to us godless heathens.

    • Posted By: paproudmom @ 04/22/2009 11:00:25 AM

      That did not seem to happen as was stated when he revealed the truth.

      • Posted By: jdn3553 @ 04/22/2009 7:11:38 PM

        That is such a biased view. You cannot label all Christians as such, since many "Christians" in this nation are not practicing Christians at all. You act the part of the victim, when in reality i doubt anyone has ever serious called you a "godless heathen" or condemned you for it. The Bible teaches forgiveness. Many Christians, sadly, do not follow the Bible, and therefore do not represent Christ as they should. But the Bible is God's Word and IT teaches forgiveness and not to judge others; as Christians we acknowledge that we are sinful, therefore we are better than no one.

  • Posted By: Cazador72 @ 04/21/2009 8:52:13 PM

    The level of polarization in this country is so outrageous that evangelicals think "liberal" means a baby-killing, hermaphrodite by choice who is going to destroy their marriage. Liberals think "conservatives" are xenophobic, war-loving reactionaries who'd replace the Constitution with the book of Leviticus. While the project of this book is interesting, the fact that it can be seen as so illuminating is a bad testimony (no pun intended) of our own alienation.

    • Posted By: Horrible Bastard @ 04/22/2009 5:10:37 PM

      We had the same problem in Great Britain about 450 years ago. It almost destroyed our nation.

  • Posted By: dpegues @ 04/22/2009 1:40:07 PM

    I am so proud of Kevin. I am the author of that "self-help" book "30 Days to Taming Your Tongue" and it's rewarding to know that it's working!

    Deborah Smith Pegues
    www.confrontingissues.com

  • Posted By: cander509 @ 04/22/2009 1:36:30 PM

    Very clever gimmick. I hope the book sells well. My question is, while you were dreaming of writing the next "Black Like Me" did you stop to consider the impact of this infiltration? In my opinion all this stunt accomplished was to confirm the christian/ rightwing belief that the rest of America consists of nothing more than a pack of shallow, vapid glory hounds who will stop at nothing to reach celebrity status...Now off you go Mr. Roose, to yuck it up on the talk show circuit and have a good laugh at other expence. Again, I hope the book sells well because it is a perfect example of whats very, very wrong with our country right now. For the record, I am not a christian, Just a worried Man.

  • Posted By: WyteFyre @ 04/22/2009 9:40:17 AM

    Greg the Third: failure is a normal part of life and a learning experience. By proclaiming how perfect you are - you have just put a curse on yourself. Someday, when you really do experience a real life failure (job loss, divorce, tragedy, etc.) you will fall apart.

    • Posted By: Greg the Third @ 04/22/2009 10:22:05 AM

      If failure can be averted by following sound advice, wouldn't you take advantage of that opportunity? At no point have I declared myself to be perfect. I simply pointed out what I think is an important reason I became successful academically and identified the same behavior in this group. I would add that you also need to acquire a sort of passion for learning that conterbalances or outweighs your passion for adult indulgences when you are a student. For contrast I used very real examples of people who had equal or greater raw material than I started with but became unsuccessful due to failure to delay gratification. Once you drop out of the student phase of your life your prospects are greatly diminished for enhancing your income and making your life easier. This is the kind of lesson one should teach children before they face such the temptations to take on adult behaviors and be saddled with adult responsibilities before they have fully developed their minds and with it their full earning potential. I have witnessed more of a trend to indoctrinate younger children into adult behaviors and I believe this is a mistake our society is making resulting in the academic underachievement which is well documented.

      • Posted By: irateredhead2008 @ 04/22/2009 12:53:20 PM

        I agree completely.

    • Posted By: Greg the Third @ 04/22/2009 10:17:32 AM

  • Posted By: JoanR @ 04/22/2009 11:09:43 AM

    What stories he could have told had he gone undercover at Islamic American University and spent some time with Allah.Of course,as a liberal house organ, Newsweek will have no truck with that since the current left wing cant holds that religious fundamentalism is retrograde and dangerous only if its Christian

    • Posted By: SilentObserver_intheCorner @ 04/22/2009 12:36:28 PM

      Do you think that Allah is a different deity, even though God goes by many names? Quite frankly one can find zealots at any local college, be they of secular or religious background. As for Newsweek, I do think it was about where the kid went to, it felt like they interview him because he tried something different. They have had articles about Islam and Muslim beliefs, but something tells me that some of your value system overlooks them.

  • Posted By: Dredd @ 04/22/2009 12:03:02 PM

    Be careful of religious law schools. The Department of Justice was turned into The Department of Just Us by lawyers from that realm: http://blogdredd.blogspot.com/2009/04/tortured-record-of-bush-ii-torture.html

    Keep the faith but keep it out of government.

  • Posted By: lovo del norte @ 04/22/2009 11:56:44 AM

    I think for the ones that are not familiar with Liberty University, Jessica should give us an insight of what it is about. other than i understand it is a religious school...

  • Posted By: jdn3553 @ 04/20/2009 2:22:12 PM

    Nice comment. Just one question: based on what we know of Jesus, even from a secular view, what are these sins that He Himself owned?

    • Posted By: SilentObserver_intheCorner @ 04/22/2009 10:31:07 AM

      Seeing as we do not know what is that he thought, only those that men around him perceived, it is hard to say what was going though his mind. Also we do not know what happened from the time he was a child to when he was a middle aged man, so what happened there. He could have experienced every emotion know to man and some of those are deemed sinful, so he could have died for his sins and asked for the burden of everyone else's sins.

  • Posted By: Libricrat @ 04/22/2009 10:30:52 AM

    I salute his attempt to look at a complete other view in and share his experience. I would be an interesting read no doubt. I think the most important thing to come from this would be the effort reconcil -somewhat- the increasing polarity between Christian and the growing Secular members of society. I hope we can someday come to point where we can agree to disagree without the anger. Then hopefully we can work on more separation between Church and State... MAYBE!

  • Posted By: HMJFC @ 04/22/2009 6:08:54 AM

    I agree with mac101. It's easy to get along with others when you don't engage anyone's values or beliefs. I may see if my local library picks this book up. My father is a very devout Christian, while I am a staunch athiest. And, of course, many would perdict some tension. There isn't any because we don't talk about religion. We do discuss quite a bit along the lines of politics and current events, and interestingly, we are able to debate the issues in near complete agreement. As long as we keep JC out of it, we agree. Interesting. We can argue very fundemental ethic problems and agree while completely disagreeing over something like religion. Perhaps morality and decency transcend spiritual truths.

  • Posted By: mac101 @ 04/22/2009 12:24:38 AM

    So this young man pretended to fit in, and we are surprised to find out that he fit in.

    What would have happened if he had been himself in such an environment, and proclaimed his secular beliefs - would his experience have been as positive or would his more religious peers have treated him with less tolerance?

    My own experience trying to hold secular views in a fundamentalist religious atmosphere was very discouraging; I found little Christian charity among them once they found out I did not believe the same things they believed.

  • Posted By: Greg the Third @ 04/21/2009 11:59:00 PM

    There are some interesting points to look at here. Liberty grooms their students to be leaders in government which is no small task. I am willing to bet they are quite successful. Going through high school and college my conduct was much the same as the Liberty students yet I was in all secular schools. Certainly I had above average intelligence, but by following the code of moderation and delayed gratification I did not succumb to the addictive and consuming temptations that befell my counterparts at all levels of my education. For example the number one student in my class in junior high fell victim to drug use and disappeared from the scene. One of my best friends through high school got caught up in the social scene in college, decided also to work in the field when he didnt have to and as a result underachieved and failed to get into medical school. Another equally intelligent friend from high school fell victim to the ravages of alcoholism in college and failed her potential as well. I avoided all of these temptations, focused and excelled in my studies, and to the surprise of many finished second in my pre-med class and had the Medical school of my choice coming out of college. I did not just do my work but was also constantly trying to find ways to study faster, study more efficiently, and write more and effectively. My IQ on the standard IQ test actually increased from 126 before junior high to 156 out of 160 after college. My social web wasn't great then by choice, but of course since I finished training and entered the field that has changed. I am quite certain that many of the people that dropped out of sight and failed to achieve had every bit the same potential I that I had and would have excelled in the same way I did had they done what I did and not caved in to the temptations of addicitive and non-productive immediate gratification. I am not saying that I agree with the fundamentalist Christian philosophy but everyone has something to learn from their moral code. I am willing to bet that the principle reaon that U.S. students underachieve is a lack of such dicipline and the work ethic that goes with it and while they cave in to trivial pursuits as well as adult pursuits that are best put off until later. Parents beware, over-indulgence by your children in things you might consider to be normal will in fact bring their academic performance down. It quite possibly may also get them hooked on alcohol, drugs, smoking, or get them pregnant. Until they are employed in a high paying job as a professional, their studies must always come first and everything else a reward after this fact is established.

  • Posted By: 3than @ 04/21/2009 6:48:34 PM

    dude....this kid is going to be big some day

  • Posted By: LIMPbaugh @ 04/21/2009 4:07:24 PM

    IIf this kid has an ambition to be a writer or reporter, he's off to a good start. It appears that he didn't goof on them.

  • Posted By: Nor-Cal for Obama @ 04/21/2009 4:04:24 PM

    Jesus would of made fun of these students and then return to our ultimate Frisbee session.

  • Posted By: cthulhu.ftw @ 04/20/2009 11:39:28 AM

    sounds like one of the last places i would ever want to be.
    "jesus died for his own sins not for mine."- Crass

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