The
“Breath of God”…or, is it? Following is a critique of Jeffrey Small’s
action-packed thriller, “The Breath of God”:
The
central proposition of the book is that Jesus traveled to India sometime between
His 12th and 30th years, when the bible is silent about His
activities. While in India, Jesus learned all He needed to know in order to say
and do all that He did. Mr. Small sites as historical reference a 19th
century Russian journalist named Nicholas Notovitch who supposedly discovered
texts while on a journey to the Himalayas that describe Issa’s (Jesus’s)
interactions with Buddhist monks. “These Issa texts go to the very heart of who
Jesus was,” exclaims the “Breath’s” chief protagonist, the winsome, if
beleaguered hero Grant Matthews, who consistently and courageously stands
strong throughout the book against the mad clamor and repressive tactics of those
who ruthlessly espouse Christian orthodoxy. Grant ponders, “Was Jesus receiving
his message from God directly, or was he a man whose revolutionary teachings
were derived from his studies of Hinduism and Buddhism?” The response to this
question, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15) thus forms the heart of
what “The Breath of God” is all about.
Mr.
Small begins painting the portrait of his central proposition on the very first
page of “The Breath of God” as he juxtaposes a verse from the Tao Te Ching (6th
century BC) with the first four verses of the Gospel of John as follows:
“In the beginning was the Tao. All things
issue from it; all things return to it. Every being in the universe is an
expression of the Tao. The Tao gives birth to all beings, nourishes them,
maintains them.”
The Tao Te Ching, 6th century BC
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All
things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was
made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
John 1:1-4
Although
quite different in meaning, these excerpts sound similar. The implication, of
course, is that no one religion embodies all essential elements of truth, a key
tenant of both the ancient Greek skeptics and modern “enlightened” thinkers. Grant
Matthews highlights this point later in the book by concluding that “if
different nations speak different languages within their borders, why wouldn’t
God speak in different religious contexts to different cultures?” Mr. Small
thus provides his readers with a near perfect illustration of the “begging the
question” logical fallacy, which is repeated at regular intervals throughout
the book.
Although
Mr. Small utilizes the medium of fiction, the messages contained in his book
are serious propositions about God, man’s relationship with God, cosmology, and
epistemology (the study of how we know what we know). Although Mr. Small’s
academic credentials are extremely impressive (The Westminster Schools in
Atlanta, Yale, Harvard Law School, and a stint at Oxford) he fully leverages
the medium of fiction to elevate his case by casting his opponents (in this
case, traditional Christians) in the worst possible light, thus exploiting to
full advantage the straw man and ad hominem logical fallacies. For example, the
chief antagonist in the book, the mainline evangelical Reverend Brian Brady, up
for election to high church office in his denomination, exhibits every
repulsive characteristic one could think of in such a man, from unrestrained,
self-aggrandizing ambition to the most egregious forms of manipulative
behavior. His second in command, the odious William Jennings, an obvious
reference to William Jennings Bryan, viz., the attorney defending the Christian
position at the infamous Stokes Trial, is the real evil wizard behind the
curtain. Not to be outdone, however, is the next example of the self-absorbed evil
Christian, Tim Huntley, a crazed psycho-killer and repressed homosexual whose
driving ambition is to think of new, creative ways to torture and annihilate
the infidel, defined in this case as anyone who doesn’t subscribe to Reverend
Brady’s self-serving “Christian” agenda. Indeed, some of the most impassioned
expressions of Christian orthodoxy in “The Breath of God” are announced through
the lips of the utterly despicable Mr. Huntley. By the end of the first quarter
of the book, there is no doubt about the score - winsome, long-suffering
Buddhist monks 24….Christians 0…and the route continues…
In
his tireless efforts to demonstrate the superiority of Buddhists and Hindus
over Christians, Mr. Small implies that Buddha was nobler than Jesus because:
“throughout
his life, the Buddha’s followers tried to deify him, but he resisted. He [Buddha] insisted that he was
nothing more than a man who understood the truth. He had been enlightened, and
he taught that others could become similarly enlightened.”
Mr.
Small’s opinions about Jesus’s perceptions of himself notwithstanding, it is
clear in both the old and new Testaments that Jesus was (and is) immediately
aware that he was both human and divine. The following examples from scripture
support this conclusion:
“I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me,
‘You are my Son; today I have begotten You.’”
Psalm 2:7
The Father: “I, even I, have
spoken and called him; I have brought him, and he shall prosper in his way.”
The Son: “Draw near to
me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it
came to be I have been there. And now the Lord God has sent me, and his
Spirit.”
Isaiah 48:15&16
“But you, O Bethlehem Ehprathah, who are too
little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who
is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from the days of
eternity.”
Micah 5:2
“When the Son of man comes in his glory, and
all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him
will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”
Matthew 25:31&32
“And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, ‘How
can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, in the
Holy Spirit, declared, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, until I
put your enemies under your feet.’ (Psalm110:1). David himself calls him Lord.
So how is he his son?’”
Mark 12:35-37
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words
will never pass away.”
Luke 21:33
“Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to
you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
John 8:58
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law
or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”
Matthew 5:17
This
last verse is very important because it demonstrates that Jesus was quite
conscious of His messianic mission as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins
of the world.” (John 1:29). Indeed, the Passover itself and the entire system
of Levitical sacrifice was a foreshadowing of this Lamb of God “who would bare
the sin of many, and make intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:12b)
Mr.
Small sites, among others, John Shelby Spong as a source of inspiration.
Spong’s theology, which, in many ways, mirrors that of the John Dominic
Crossan-led “Jesus Seminar”, is evident throughout “The Breath of God.” For
example, Mr. Small weaves the following theological propositions into the book,
spoken as fact by the book’s chief protagonist, Grant Matthews:
1)
“The oldest copies of the gospels in existence were written more
than two hundred years after the originals. For decades after His death,
stories of Jesus would have circulated first among His followers in Aramaic,
and then later they would have been translated into Greek and then written down
in various forms.”
2)
“Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were not apostles of Jesus who had
known the historical man. They were men who were part of the later Jesus
community who compiled the stories that were in circulation about him and
composed the Gospels.”
3)
“The majority of biblical scholars believe those tales” [e.g., the
virgin birth stories] “to be later additions to the Jesus tradition, part of
the myth that grew up around Jesus after his death. Grant grinned. And if Jesus
was somehow divine from birth, why don’t we have a history of miracle stories
from the first thirty years of his life, instead of only one final year?”
4)
Jesus’ ministry “began around the age of thirty and lasted about a
year.”
Contrary
to Mr. Small’s assertion that these and other similar theological positions he
espouses in “The Breath of God” represent an implacable scholarly consensus, in
fact, they’re considered fringe speculations by a wide body of past and contemporary
Christian scholars. Perhaps Mr. Small would be willing to consider doing what
his protagonist, Grant Matthews, did in “The Breath of God” when he debated the
effusive Reverend Brady. Maybe this time we could make a careful search for a
less offensive and more articulate debating opponent with whom Mr. Small could
engage so that he could test his assertions in a more balanced context.
Mr.
Small also implies in the book that, since flood stories can be found in other
works of literature, e.g., “The Epic of Gilgamesh” which pre-date the flood
account in Genesis, the bible has no exclusive claim on truth. But why should
the fact that we see other accounts of the flood in ancient Babylonian and
Assyrian texts surprise us if, in fact, as the Bible states, the flood actually
happened? This fact should simply reinforce our confidence in the historical
accuracy of the Bible.
Perhaps
Mr. Small’s reasoning can be distilled in the following two logical inferences:
Statement of
Logical Inference #1:
1)
Premise 1
All world religions derive from the
same common source and represent different variations of the same theme [of and
from] the incomprehensible “Divine” to mankind.
2)
Premise 2
Buddhism, which preceded Christianity,
contains several examples of themes common to both traditions. *
3) Conclusion
Therefore, Jesus must have interacted
directly with Buddhists on a trip to India between the time He was 12 years old
and the beginning of His ministry, a period of time not alluded to in the
Gospel narratives.
* The fact that
Buddha was born prior to the incarnation of Christ is not a matter of concern
for Christians since, as the second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, who is
co-equal and con-substantial with the Father and the Holy Spirit, always
existed and was born in the form of a man at the appointed time according to
the pre-ordained plan of God.
Statement of
Logical Inference #2:
1)
Premise 1
Any “supernatural” occurrence described in a
religious text, e.g., the Bible, the Koran, the Bhagavad Gita, etc., is
explainable only as a human attempt to lend authoritative credence to positions
taken in those texts. A supposed violation of the natural physical order sited
in any religious text should be interpreted as having a subjective, spiritual
meaning vs. an objective physical (or literal) one.
2)
Premise 2
The Bible contains many examples of violations
of the natural physical order, i.e., miracles.
3)
Conclusion
Therefore, any mention of a supernatural
occurrence in the Bible did not really happen.
Mr.
Small’s operating premise seems to be that truth, which is really an
incomprehensible term in “The Breath of God”, is largely unknowable in our
present state and has not been revealed to us by the Deity in any intentional,
exclusive form, either in books like The Bible or in “great men” like Jesus
Christ, Mohammad, Buddha, etc. This point is repeatedly reinforced in the final
chapters of the book wherein we are told that “Jesus was a man who woke up to
the divinity that is inside us all.” The culmination of this monument to nihilism
and self-worship is expressed by protagonist Grant Matthews who, in the
epilogue, as a wizened professor, responds to his student’s questions as
follows:
“These [Issa] texts point to a deeper truth
underlying all religion, a truth independent of the historical details, which we will never truly know (italics mine).
And that ultimate truth is what? Hodges [a student] called out from the front
row. Without missing a beat, Grant replied, “The answer to Mr. Hodges’s
question can only be answered by one person”…Mr. Hodges.
So
there it is…we are, in effect, our own gods, autonomous creatures caught up in
a meaningless vortex of arbitrary cause and effect, accountable to no one but
ourselves, and ultimately, perhaps mercifully (we don’t know) consumed in the
cosmic OM of the universal, but eternally incomprehensible, FORCE…”having no
hope…and without God in the world…” Ephesians 2:12b
Since
Mr. Small left the classroom without offering anything but the same tired
themes of the hegemony of self and the applesauce of divine resonance in
response to his student’s questions, I’ll conclude by telling a little of my
own story. I believe it is appropriate to do so since, early in my life, I reached
conclusions similar to those of Mr. Small but, unlike Mr. Small, was deeply
troubled by the inadequacy of the answers. I could relate well with T.S. Elliot
in his poem “The Wasteland” (written prior to his Christian conversion) when he
said, “I have heard the key turn in the door once and turn once only. We think
of the key, each in his prison; thinking of the key, each confirms a prison.”
In my
desperation, I cried out to the God I didn’t know…and He answered me…and He was
Jesus Christ, “Word of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14). Jesus reached His arms out to me and raised
me from the dead as surely as He raised Lazarus, and “He put a new song in my
mouth, a song of praise to my God.” (Psalm 40:3). That was 40 years ago and,
since then, He has patiently walked with me and loved me every day and, when my
time on earth is finished, He will take me home so that I can live in His
presence forever. As wonderful and joyous as my awakening was, and it was
indescribable, my love for Him continues to deepen as I learn more about the
depths of suffering He endured to rescue mankind from its desperate
predicament. Following is a brief summary of the greatest story of love,
courage, and sacrifice ever conceived…and it was conceived in the very depths
of God’s heart.
-
God is infinitely holy.
-
God created mankind to uniquely bear the stamp of His image.
-
Mankind chose to rebel against God, thus separating himself from
his Creator.
-
Although God is the very essence and definition of Love, He is
also the essence and definition of Justice. He will not violate one aspect of
His character in favor of another. God loved mankind but justice had to be
served, so…
-
God made the most loving and sacrificial decision that has ever
been made by anyone, at any time, in any situation. He poured out the divine
justice and retribution that should have fallen on us upon His One and Only
Son, Jesus Christ, as Isaiah says “Behold My Servant shall act wisely; He shall
be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at You –
His appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and His form beyond that
of the children of mankind – so shall He sprinkle many nations; kings shall
shut their mouths because of Him.” (Isaiah 52:13-15a). “He was wounded for our
transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the
chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah
53:5)
-
“The true Light which enlightens everyone, was coming into the
world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world
did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him.
But to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to
become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:10-13)
The
glorious truth is that reality, and all of life, is full of meaning, dignity,
beauty, and purpose - yet we can only discover this as we yield our wills and
our lives to our Creator through His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ.
Neither
Buddha, nor Mohammad, nor any Hindu deity died for you in your place Mr.
Small…but Jesus did…and He says to you and every person in the world today:
“It
is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give
to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.”
Revelation 21:6
I mentioned
at the outset that the central theme of “The Breath of God” revolves around the
question, “Who is Jesus Christ?” While I’ve attempted to outline the contrasts
between Mr. Small’s answer to this question, which necessitates an early
journey by Jesus to India to learn the wisdom of the east, with my own and tens
of millions of others who have been awakened by the risen Lord Jesus Christ down
through the centuries, I’ll conclude with an appeal to reason.
Is
God impersonal and capricious? Did He leave mankind with a myriad of incomprehensible
sets of puzzle pieces so that, if we were somehow able to put a few of them together,
we could, perhaps, glean at least a modicum of understanding of Truth?
When
I think of a mother looking into the eyes of her newborn child, or a Daddy
watching vigilantly over his family to protect, nurture and provide, I know
that our Creator is not impersonal or capricious.
When
I witness His creative genius in all that we see and experience in this world,
from the human eye, to the vast panoply of animal and plant life, to the atom,
whose centrifugal properties are replicated in everything from the smallest
cell to the universe itself, I know that our Creator is not impersonal or
capricious.
When
I think of Jesus Christ who, “being in very nature God, did not consider
equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the
very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in
appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even
death on a cross.” (Phil 2:6-8) - and, from that cross, in mortal agony, cried
out “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)…I know
that our Creator is not impersonal or capricious.
“For
God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes
in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son
into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever
believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned
already because he has not believed in the name of God’s One and Only Son.”
John
3:16-18
“And
this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The Lord our Righteousness.’”
Jeremiah 23:6b
