O’Reilly’s The Last Days of Jesus Christ

https://sugandhmalhotra.com/2024/08/07/v588on2 Recently I finally finished reading The Last Days of Jesus: His Life and Times, by Bill O’Reilly. It was a book that I was looking forward to reading. Given Mr. O’Reilly’s spot on Fox News, and his defense of conservative causes, I fully expected a book written from a conservative Catholic perspective. Mr. O’Reilly strongly and positively speaks about his Roman Catholicism when it is appropriate, so I thought that this book would contain theological viewpoint. I am also not accustomed to hearing a journalist speak openly about his faith. Generally journalists hide their personal faith stance as part of maintaining an ostensible neutrality in reporting the news. Finally, Mr. O’Reilly was a history teacher, thus I expected a book that would encompass a strong historical approach.

https://homeupgradespecialist.com/l8y0phly259 Unfortunately, I read a book that could have been written by Thomas Jefferson in the same way in which he collated his version of the New Testament. The book that I read was neither written by a conservative Roman Catholic nor by a scholar of history. Rather, this is a book that presents historical data without explaining from where it comes and removes theological data without explaining why it is not reliable and/or historically inaccurate. Thus, the book ends up being neither fish nor fowl.

Xanax Order Lorazepam When Mr. Jefferson collated his version of the New Testament, he removed all miraculous data as being inconsistent with the ethical teacher whom he believed Jesus to be. In the same way Mr. O’Reilly moves the miracles far away from his record. When he speaks of the miracles, it is always in the third person and far away. Thus, miracles are mentioned as being reports that are passed around. The few instances in which the account leads to a point in which a miracle is reported, Mr. O’Reilly does not mention that. For instance, when Jesus is praying in the garden, no mention is even made that the Gospel accounts report the presence of an angel. At Jesus’ baptism, a dove comes to sit on Jesus’ shoulder, which John the Baptist interprets as a sign of God’s presence. But, no voice speaks, no thunder sounds. Mr. O’Reilly’s account is devoid of any attempt to deal, either theologically or historically, with the report of miracles. Finally, he manages to report on the Last Supper without any mention of the Last Supper. Rather, the concentration is on reporting Jesus’ humbleness in washing the disciples’ feet. Yes, he does a Jefferson on the last days of Jesus Christ.

https://solomedicalsupply.com/2024/08/07/6j916jrje The historical part of his presentation is actually very enlightening. He does a consistent and very good description of the historical milieu of Jesus’ time. His descriptions of the politics of the time, the living standards of the time, the type of life lived in the capital versus the countryside is excellent. It is obvious that Mr. O’Reilly has either read or consulted some good archeologists and historians. His background as a historian comes to the fore in this book, and he almost makes the most of it. Nevertheless, even here he cannot leave well enough alone. More than once, he states that Jesus must have seen a particular historical event. But, that is extrapolation of the worst sort. Merely because Jesus was in the area, it does not mean that he witnessed the event up close and personal. Like many of us, he might just have been out of the immediate area at the time that the historical event happened. But, let me emphasize, when Mr. O’Reilly reports on a historical event, he reports the circumstances correctly, even when he extrapolates Jesus’ presence. There is little doubt that he was a history teacher.

https://www.completerehabsolutions.com/blog/ge594ruu Nevertheless, my final recommendation is that you do not use this book to reach your children, or a Sunday School class, or a history class. If you are an orthodox believer, you will be quite disappointed by the way in which miracles have been sidelined and never dealt with. If you are a historian, you will be frustrated by the utter lack of the scholarly infrastructure that could be used to point your students to further references. Footnotes are essentially absent. References are almost non-existent. The structural framework of the historian is simply not present.

https://inteligencialimite.org/2024/08/07/bcrgx1ax97c Sadly, the book is neither fish nor fowl.