Christianity Is an Eastern Religion
Jesus Discovered to Live Further East than Pittsburgh!
Radiolab did a show on Ancient Garbage. One segment was centered on papyri with supposed lost sayings of Jesus. Jad Abumrad, one of the hosts, comments that in these ancient scraps Jesus sounds almost Eastern. “This is a different Jesus than the one in the Bible,” he says.
Western Lenses for an Eastern Jesus
Of course, Jesus sounds Eastern. He even sounds Eastern within the canonical Bible. You don’t have to go to the Gospel of Thomas to get that. Abumrad’s comment just shows our perception of Jesus has been colored by our culture. I don’t think it’s wrong to approach Jesus from a Western mindset (how could we not?). In fact, I think our culture will bring to light different aspects of Jesus and his message that even his Apostles would have had a hard time grasping. But we deceive ourselves if we think we approach Jesus without any presuppositions.
Let me ask you this then. What types of things are emphasized by an Eastern Jesus versus a Western Jesus?
Listen to the Radiolab show
You can listen to the segment below. Around 5:30 you’ll hear Abumrad declare Jesus sounds Eastern. The host goes on to contemplate Jesus’ words that heaven is here and all around us. That sounds vaguely familiar (Luke 17:20-21). You might also be interested in reading about these Eastern Christians who wanted a Western representation of Jesus.