Article April 23, 2007 Issue

The historical Jesus and the living Christ

How three Boston clergymen connect with Jesus.

BY LYLE YOUNG

THE RECENT DOCUMENTARY, The Lost Tomb of Jesus, gained a large television audience, as well as considerable criticism from Bible scholars and archaeologists. With this film as a conversation starting point, I explored the practical meaning of Jesus' teachings with three prominent Christians in the Boston area.

When I met with Reverend William Rich in Trinity Church's newly built offices, I asked how important the historical Jesus is to him. He shot back (in good humor), "That's reminiscent of an ordination exam question!" In that exam, he was asked to distinguish between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith. The historical Jesus, he explained, is central to Episcopalians' faith. Rev. Rich serves as Senior Associate Rector of this historic Episcopalian (Anglican) church on Copley Square, just a few blocks from The Mother Church.

"Jesus knew what it was to be hungry," Rev. Rich continued. "His own experience with life included the downsides of life—hunger, thirst, aloneness, illness ... death. ... And we take all that very seriously and say, 'Well, the Biblical record gives us evidence that he lived a full human life in all of its ups and downs.' One of the theologians who was important in the 20th century and in Christian theology, Karl Barth, said that Jesus lived his whole life, though he was not himself sinful, in the realm of sin—meaning he spent his whole life encountering sin and what it causes. He didn't hold back from that."

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