Jesus Seminar? Believers Stress the Message, Not Words

Catherine Casey had never heard of the Jesus Seminar, which surprised me. I thought there was a good chance she would see the group of biblical scholars as the devil’s henchmen.

Casey is part of a five-family conglomerate of couples that opened a Christian bookstore 16 years ago. Four of the couples still operate it today, tucked into the corner of a strip mall on Westminster Boulevard in Westminster.

It’s a business built on faith and sustained by people who keep the faith. You see it everywhere in the store--a veritable one-stop shopping outlet for all your Christian needs. Business has been good lately because of the Persian Gulf War--people had been coming in looking for books about Armageddon and Saddam Hussein. In the store, the messages start for the very young: One book is entitled “High Chair Devotions,” to be read to infants. Other sections of the Our Ministry Christian Bookstore handle weightier subjects, such as alcoholism, divorce, abortion, homosexuality and the occult.

The books are written by true believers for true believers.

Given that, you would think Casey would bridle at the notion of the Jesus Seminar--a group of biblical scholars that just concluded a six-year project in Sonoma by announcing that many of the words often attributed to Jesus weren’t said by him at all. Among the questioned passages was John 3:16 (“For God so loved the world . . . “), among the first Bible verses learned by any Christian kid in Sunday School.

But Casey didn’t take it that way at all. Besides chiding the group (“Who are these Bible scholars, and who said they were scholars, anyway?”), she said the question of literalness in the Bible isn’t that big a deal.

She said the Book of John, which generated the most skepticism from the Jesus Seminar, was written about 50 years after Christ’s death.

“John was writing to tell the meaning of Jesus,” she said. “Maybe Jesus didn’t say, ‘I am the bread of life,’ but he is the bread of life. Maybe he didn’t say, ‘I am the way,’ but he is the way.”

As a Roman Catholic, Casey doesn’t derive her religious views solely from the Bible. Centuries of Catholic writings and teachings also bolster her faith. As such, she isn’t particularly hung up on whether every word attributed to Jesus was actually spoken by him.

“It’s not going to affect me in the sense that it makes me wonder. I have no doubts Jesus lived and lived to save us all. Whether what was attributed to him actually came out of his mouth--it was how he lived and the example he gave (that counts). People who experience his love just don’t get caught up in whether he actually said the words or not.”

I told her I was surprised that she wasn’t angrier at the group’s conclusions.

“It annoyed me,” she said. “The thing that kept running through my mind is, ‘Why bother?’ Why go to the Scriptures and say, ‘Did he really say this or did he really say that?’ ” Why take the fabric of what people believe and try to tear it down? That doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Let’s face it, talking and arguing theology are as old as mankind. A couple of days ago, I got a phone call from a man who was bothered by the mere presumption that God exists.

“I don’t mind good, healthy discussion,” Casey said. “I suppose any intellectual pursuit is healthy. But it’s up to the individual to think responsibly and do their own thing. We all have to be responsible for our own thinking and not rely on someone else to tell us what or how to think.”

Casey sees the Bible, particularly the New Testament, as the equivalent of a love letter from Jesus to mankind. And just as people are swept up more from receiving the letter than they are by memorizing every word, she said, so it is with the Bible.

“Once you’re in love, you’re in love,” Casey said. “People who really have experienced that Jesus aren’t going to be offended by some group of intellectuals saying, ‘Did he say this or did he say that?’ Belief in Jesus isn’t just an intellectual thing--it’s an experience. Once a person has experienced his love, all the words in the world would not make much difference.”

Blind faith?

“It isn’t blind faith, but it’s something beyond just what the Bible says,” Casey said.

The only thing that concerns her, she said, is if a new Christian is convinced that the Jesus Seminar debunks Christ’s divinity and, therefore, loosens the cornerstones of Christianity.

“I think the people who are out to shake the foundations are going to have a lot to answer for,” she said. “And they will answer for it.”

In the background, the ever-present sound of Christian music filled the air. Just like the Gospel for the true believers, it’s always there, comforting and reassuring--the Jesus Seminar be damned.