Jesusgate 2021 Revised 3rd Ed: A History of Concealment Unraveled

by Ernie Bringas

“Overall, this work exposes the reasons why Christians continue to splash around in the backwaters of 17th century religious naiveté, and provides the knowledge that will help mitigate that debilitating absurdity.”This is not a religious book; it is a book about religion. Specifically, this work seeks to assess the Jesusgate phenomenon. The term Jesusgate, used herein, indicates that Christian leaders, by acts of commission and omission, have seriously neglected their responsibility to share with the laity vital information about the origins of Christianity and the Jesus tradition. As a result, an incredible knowledge gap has ensued between what scholars of religion now know, as opposed to what lay people have been led to believe (be they parishioners in the pew, or the person on the street).If you unknowingly perceived religion with an antiquated mind-set—and nearly everyone does—wouldn’t you want to know about it? Ignorance of our religious obsolescence has created consequences for our society that are far reaching. It has disrupted the quality of life on all levels, be they personal, political, scientific, or otherwise. In Jesusgate, the problem sees the light of day, and is explained in words that are powerful, understandable, and enlightening.

352 pages, Paperback

First published August 16, 2012

Reviews

[6'5 & Gifted · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.. I swear half star was a feature but it is not working for me right now, this is really embarrassing.

Good for normal ppl who are theoretically open to changing their worldview

[Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Path to Global Understanding of Religions

Ernie Bringas comes to this controversial task of assessing the Jesusgate phenomenon with the right credentials: he has a Master of Divinity degree and a history of serving as an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church before moving into the academic world of teaching Religious Studies at the university level. But in addition to the learned background he owns a gift for writing that combines scholarship with intellectual honesty and serves this fine combination with a flair for wit and humor and warmth of communication.

The title Jesusgate references Watergate in that it addresses the religious whitewash that has removed the teachings of Jesus from the esteemed qualities of the historic Jesus in the manner in which ministers or preachers or evangelists or what ever name is comfortable to the reader have hidden scientific data and the profound research by scholars who have found the discrepancies in the manner in which the Bible has been translated multiple times and fallen into the `rules and regulations' of governing clerical bodies that seek to hide the investigations by religious scholars that have been present for many years.

No, this book is not an attempt to debunk Jesus but rather it is an attempt to shed light on the acts of commission and omission perpetrated by the persons in the pulpit to hide fact from fiction. He discusses the heinous crimes of the Inquisition, the burning of witches, and the sacrifice and murder of `heretics' who dared to question the veracity of the `Church'. These unfortunate acts performed in the name of religion apply to Judaism, Christianity and Islam - the monotheistic religions - each of whom has a canon of beliefs that demands obedience. `It should also be noted that during the Middle Ages, Church authority and doctrine could not be questioned with out serious consequence.'

As Bringas so succinctly states, `Looking back on the examples I have presented, one can recognize presumption and expediency throughout: Kill or persecute anyone who disagrees with your religious view; kill anyone who does not consider the Bible, Jesus, or Church to be God's infallible instruments; kill or persecute anyone who appears peculiar, mysterious, heretical, or from another faith such as Jews, Muslims, and other different believers. Do it in God's name - it's what he wants' it's not for man's own good; God wills it. Slay those innocents...'

What follows in this immensely readable and entertaining AND edifying book is a sincere and honest discussion about miracles such as virgin birth, resurrection, the condemnation of all who do not align with the Church's doctrine, the idea of hell and heaven - all concepts that that be created by those who feel the need to control congregations with ancient myths rather than inform people about the beauties of the original ideas put forth in the bible uncluttered by the need to hide the simple `love you neighbor as your self' message that is at the core of all religious belief systems. Yet it is the literal approach to the Bible that causes the problems we see on the battlefields from Jesus' time to the present. Bringas offers copious information to inform the reader that the Bible was not meant to be taken literally, that the literal aspects of `if thy right hand offend they cut it off' type of elective belief systems (ignore whatever you don't want to believe) lead to fractures in the interreligious contentions. He is a devoutly religious man - but he happens to be a thinking man who has taken the time - and courage - to inform the public that the problems with spiritual belief systems are actually problems in religion/church/denomination/control. What he offers is an enlightening and comprehensible evaluation of the ignorance of antiquated mindsets that have resulted in tearing mankind apart rather than binding us together. This is a very important book for everyone and hopefully will find a wide readership...

Grady Harp

[Jeff Maziarek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being more oriented towards the topic of spirituality than religion, I typically don't read many books that have a theological slant. In the case of "Jesusgate," I have to admit that the title and subtitle (i.e., A History of Concealment Unraveled) really caught my eye and in turn, my interest. Now that I've read this work I have to say that I found it incredibly interesting and thought-provoking. To coin a phrase, Ernie Bringas has really "done his homework" with this work, as the extent of the research he conducted to support his positions is very impressive.

To clarify, Bringas is not disputing the historical significance of Jesus, rather, he is raising very important questions about the stark differences between what respected biblical scholars have discovered in their studies, and the outdated (and in many instances incorrect) teachings that continue to be shared by ministers and priests with their congregations. While biblical scholars are living in the 21st century, for the most part "the church" is still living in the 17th century, or perhaps even earlier. This knowledge-gap is downright dangerous to the world because, in effect, it has caused people to go to war to either defend or spread their God-concepts, and based on the work of religious scholars these concepts may in fact be completely inaccurate.

This is an important piece of literature that should be read by anyone who claims to be absolutely certain they know that the information in the bible (and other "holy" books) is irrefutable. The following is one of my favorite excerpts from the book:

"If you're familiar with Winnie the Pooh (who isn't), then you're familiar with Tigger too...He's the only one! And that's precisely what he unabashedly declares when he sings his catchy little tune:

The wonderful thing about Tiggers, is a wonderful, wonderful, thing.
Their tops are made out of rubber, their bottoms are made out of springs...but The wonderful thing about Tiggers is that I'm the only one!

Those last four words file Tigger just fine. But these are arrogant and misguided words when they come from anyone who assumes that their "holy" book or religious leader is the only one or the only way. Sadly, the Tigger syndrome (I'm the only one) appears to be the main ingredient of most religious brews. Common sense, however, should tell believers of these various faiths that they all can't be right in their assertions of possessing God's ultimate truth, especially when they contradict each other. But I guess common sense is no match for the "voice" of God that they all claim to be hearing. After all, once they have God in their pocket, there's nothing left to discuss.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you can get past his incessant commentary about his life as a former musician, his lame humor, and his ridiculous chapter titles and headings, Bringas delivers an easy read that synthesizes mainstream biblical criticism and exposes why this scholarship has been and is being suppressed in many chrisitan churches. As an academic, I would have prefered much more citations of direct sources; however, he wrote this for the laymen and does an excellent job of explaining arguments from both the conservative and more progressive side of the debate. I highly recommend recovering evangelicals read this book because it is a great starting point to understanding a more accurate history of christianity and the bible. Conservative christians would also be wise to read Bringas because they have been fed incorrect rendings of church history, and this book addresses those inaccuracies well.

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intelligent book: It is of the stuff you learn in a mainline seminary, but presented in a better way that keeps your attention. Jesusgate is pointed at clergy who do not explain scholarship of the Bible to their parishioners. This book is not a post-modern viewpoint of faith, but rather an intellectual approach about scripture and myth as seen across the past fifty years. It is for people searching beyond the cliche and beyond dogma. It is not for the weak or people who are afraid of asking questions about the core dogma of Christianity. I very much I appreciated seeing Ernie's own beliefs spelled-out in the last chapter.