Freethought & Rationalism Archive

neilgodfrey · 04-03-2007, 04:29 PM

Professor Francis Moloney has decided its time the best of catholic scholarship should take on the popular money-making nonsense of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code and get a bit of "truth" out there -- with the assistance of convicted perjurer Jeffrey Archer.

Commentary and links here:

Toto · 04-03-2007, 05:03 PM

Archer, the story-teller, turns pen to Judas

Gospel according to Jeffrey Archer

Quote:

Dr Moloney, regarded by many as the greatest living Biblical scholar, drew on years of scholarship to make The Gospel According to Judas as close as possible to those passages thought genuine in the three synoptic gospels and the Gospel of St John. But he insisted that they omit verses agreed by scholars to have been invented by the original authors of the Bible. Old habits die hard, however, and the partnership with Archer almost collapsed when the bestselling author tried to inject unbelievable elements of fiction into the story of Jesus’s life, death and resurrection. Dr Moloney agreed that Archer could invent a plausible ending to Judas’s life but drew the line at giving him a deathbed conversion to Christianity.

Dr Moloney said that Jesus had been a miracle worker. But he had studied the Bible all his life, and had become convinced that some miracles had been invented by the early Church. Turning water into wine came “out of a profound desire to show that Jesus, like the God of Israel, is the messianic giver of all good things”. Walking on water and calming the seas stemmed from a desire to prove that Jesus had the same mastery over nature as the God of the Hebrew Bible.

But note the comment:

Quote:

Father P Mankowski SJ of the Vatican's Pontifical Biblical Institute thinks the 'scholarship' of Fr Moloney/Jeffrey Archer, and the Gledhill interview, to be largely nonsense.
• The Pope did not "bless" the Archer-Moloney novel.
• The scholars of the Pontifical Biblical Institute had nothing whatever to do with the book's content.
• The Archer-Moloney novel was not "published with Vatican approval."
• No biblical scholar believes Father Frank Moloney to be "the world's greatest living biblical scholar."
• Father Moloney is not "one of the Pope's top theological advisers."
• The teaching of the document Dei Verbum (§11) [from the Second Vatican Council, dealing with the Bible] has not been abrogated.
Moloney's claim that certain miracles of Jesus never really took place is not compatible with Catholic orthoxdoxy (see Dei Verbum # 19). This is not only a question of blind faith. His methodological judgments are bad scholarship.
Like AN Wilson's book on Jesus - a flop.

HW Scott, Hemel Hempstead, Herts

Toto · 04-03-2007, 05:13 PM

The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot (or via: amazon.co.uk) (Hardcover) by Jeffrey Archer (Author), Francis J. Moloney (Author)

Praise for The Gospel According to Judas:
"Riveting and plausible."
--Archbishop Desmond Tutu

pharoah · 04-03-2007, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toto

The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot (or via: amazon.co.uk) (Hardcover) by Jeffrey Archer (Author), Francis J. Moloney (Author)

Praise for The Gospel According to Judas:
"Riveting and plausible."
--Archbishop Desmond Tutu

I think that link should be The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot

Steven Avery · 04-03-2007, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toto

The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot (or via: amazon.co.uk) (Hardcover) by Jeffrey Archer (Author), Francis J. Moloney (Author) Praise for The Gospel According to Judas: "Riveting and plausible."
--Archbishop Desmond Tutu

At first I thought that might be a late April Fool's joke by
Archmoderator Despot Toto -- however it looks like an actual quote.

Toto · 04-03-2007, 05:33 PM

sorry about the link. It's fixed.

Desmond Tutu's voice can be heard on the audio version of the book.

Steven Carr · 04-03-2007, 10:36 PM

So Catholic scholars think the way to write a Gospel is to get a theologian and a writer together to produce a Gospel designed to refute theology they dont like and advance their own personal theological agenda?

Surely the only way to write a Gospel is to interview eyewitnesses and only mention people that your intended readers have heard of, and suppress all mentions of people who might be put in danger if you write about them.

None of this getting together and deciding what the theologically correct line is and then writing a document to put forward your own spin on other people's stories.

(Although that does seem not too inaccurate a description of what Matthew and Luke did to Mark)

neilgodfrey · 04-04-2007, 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Carr

None of this getting together and deciding what the theologically correct line is and then writing a document to put forward your own spin on other people's stories.

(Although that does seem not too inaccurate a description of what Matthew and Luke did to Mark)

Exactly. Judas scholar Malone boasts that he has shown "how a gospel works" -- but I suspect he may be chagrined a bit if he was quick enough to see how he has been used by the devil to reveal too much: no eyewitnesses, no oral traditions, no historiography necessary. Only an interest in redactional theology and a talent for making it sound historical. It must at least sound that way. Result? All those pieces of silver start rolling in . . .

http://vridar.wordpress.com/tag/new-testament/judas/ for transcript extracts etc.

Neil Godfrey

04-03-2007, 04:29 PM	#1
neilgodfrey Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Darwin, Australia Posts: 874	Judas scholar collaborates with the Devil (Jeffrey Archer) Professor Francis Moloney has decided its time the best of catholic scholarship should take on the popular money-making nonsense of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code and get a bit of "truth" out there -- with the assistance of convicted perjurer Jeffrey Archer. Commentary and links here:

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04-03-2007, 05:13 PM	#3
Toto Contributor Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Los Angeles area Posts: 40,549	The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot (or via: amazon.co.uk) (Hardcover) by Jeffrey Archer (Author), Francis J. Moloney (Author) Praise for The Gospel According to Judas: "Riveting and plausible." --Archbishop Desmond Tutu

04-03-2007, 05:33 PM	#6
Toto Contributor Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Los Angeles area Posts: 40,549	sorry about the link. It's fixed. Desmond Tutu's voice can be heard on the audio version of the book.

04-03-2007, 10:36 PM	#7
Steven Carr Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: England Posts: 5,629	So Catholic scholars think the way to write a Gospel is to get a theologian and a writer together to produce a Gospel designed to refute theology they dont like and advance their own personal theological agenda? Surely the only way to write a Gospel is to interview eyewitnesses and only mention people that your intended readers have heard of, and suppress all mentions of people who might be put in danger if you write about them. None of this getting together and deciding what the theologically correct line is and then writing a document to put forward your own spin on other people's stories. (Although that does seem not too inaccurate a description of what Matthew and Luke did to Mark)

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