Diverse panel discusses Jesus
in religion, history

October 19, 2009 by Tiarra Wantz 

Scholars and theologans discuss the essence of Jesus

A priest, a rabbi, an imam, a minister and two history professors walked into a forum on Jesus, and despite the circumstances, had a lengthy and serious discussion.

More than 50 students and curious community members crowded into Room 224 of the Student Union on Thursday to discover “the essence of Jesus.”

The panel, organized by Phi Beta Sigma and moderated by fraternity member Reuben D’Silva, strove to answer questions about how different religions and historians view Jesus and his influence on modern society.

The panel of guest speakers included a Catholic priest, a Pentecostal minister, a Muslim imam, a Jewish rabbi, an expert on Buddhism, an agnostic humanist and professors Andrew Bell and John Cury of the department of history.

“What is this essence of Jesus?” D’Silva asked at the opening of the discussion. “He truly is the prince of peace, bringing peoples together throughout the eras… At best, he was a divine being. At worst, he was just a man.”

D’Silva, a devout Catholic, said he was inspired to organize the forum after reading a book called “The Essence of Jesus” by Arthur Rowe, which analyzes Jesus from the perspectives of different religions. 

Panel members spoke on how their faiths view Jesus, or how Jesus was viewed from a historical standpoint, in the case of professors Bell and Cury.

Father Albert Felices, a Dominican Catholic priest of nearly 50 years, shared the views of the Roman Catholic Church.

He spoke of the apocryphal books of the Bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. 
Felices described how in his view, although each book told the same story of Jesus’ life, they each focused on different aspects of the figure as a teacher, a compassionate man and a divine being.

He said Catholics believe Jesus, as the son of God and the son of Mary, was both human and divine. 

Pentecostal pastor Anthony Harris addressed the image of a man whose teachings, the church says, lead humans to salvation.

“Jesus is the son of God,” he said, “both 100 percent [divine] and 100 percent human. Those of us who believe in him shall not perish but shall have everlasting life.”

Imam Mujahid Ramadan shared that Islam sees Jesus as a messenger of God, a prophet who preceded Muhammed by 600 years. He also said that Muslims see Jesus as a connection to Jewish people and Jewish law.

“We find Christ as being an expression of human potential,” Ramadan explained. 

Rabbi Yitzchak Wyne, of Las Vegas Young Israel Aish, explained the way that Judaism perceives Jesus.

He said that Jesus does not play a role in Jewish theology since Jewish theology was closed long before Jesus lived. He also explained that Judaism rejects the idea of Jesus as the Messiah.

He said that from a Jewish perspective, the purpose of Christianity and Islam was to pass on the teachings of Biblical figures like Abraham and Moses.

Brian Oney, a Buddhist practitioner, took a much more eclectic approach to the topic, asking the audience, “What time is Jesus?”

He said that there is no definitive opinion of Jesus in Buddhism because Buddhism is a very personal, introspective religion and each person’s opinion of Jesus might be different.

Oney, who lived in India for a short period of time, shared that in Hinduism, Jesus is considered an incarnation of Vishnu.

History major Jacob Cassance was much more skeptical about Jesus. He surmised that since most of the texts that talk about Jesus’ life are religious doctrine, he can neither prove nor disprove that Jesus existed.

As an agnostic humanist, he said, his priority is letting people believe and practice whatever faith they like, as long as they are not hurting other people.
Speaking from a historical point of view, professor Andrew Bell related some thoughts about Jesus from a different perspective.

Bell said there are mentions of “Cristos” in Roman doctrine that could very well be relating to Jesus as a historical person. He said that Jesus likely spoke Aramaic and would have listened to a lot of Hebrew.

“If you believe that the gospels are the Word of God somehow literally transmitted, then I can conclude that God does not have very good Greek,” he said wryly, pointing to the fact that the New Testament was written in Greek.

He said that Jesus and the teachings that are believed to be his are very ambiguous.

“If you have faith, it seems to me as a historian, then you have to have faith because this figure and the sources we have for this figure demand faith and interpretation,” he said. 

Professor John Cury suggested that the influence of Jesus historically and the early persecutions of Christians may have been heavily influenced by perceived political threats.

He also lamented the fact that there were no female members of the panel, despite the idea that there were many prominent female figures in Jesus’ life.

Participants agreed that an open dialog between different faiths is important, as it promotes better understanding and encourages people to think differently.

Oney said that he hoped those in attendance would find “a new beginning” and apply the discussion toward leading a more peaceful existence.