Once upon a time—a very long time ago—four guys who had written stories about Jesus submitted their works to the Bible Screening Committee.
They each received a notice to be near the screening committee’s headquarters on a certain day. By unhappy coincidence, they all chose to wait at the same bar, about a block away. They really didn’t like each other, but managed to be polite as they waited for word from the BS Committee. They each got a text message on their phones at the same time: “Congratulations! Your story has been approved for inclusion in the New Testament we’re putting together.” Each author was about to gloat—until they realized that all four versions had been given the okay, and even worse than that: the BS Committee was planning to print the four versions of the Jesus story together. They all knew that would be a disaster. At least there was potential for disaster. They had no clue that many centuries later, when lay people finally had access to the New Testament, reading the gospels carefully—comparing them carefully—would not become a habit.
Continue @ Church And State.
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