My article title is an ironic wordplay of Harvey Cox’s book, When Jesus Came to Harvard – Making Moral Choices Today.
Harvard’s “Jesus”
Cox is Hollis Research Professor of Divinity at Harvard. Because of his non-biblical view of Christ I’ve often said the book could have been more honestly titled When the Biblical Jesus Left Harvard.
A few things according to Harvey Cox,
Christians have never been unanimous about who he [Jesus] was, and this is one of the healthiest features of Christianity. (p 301)
I am not really worried about depictions of Jesus as a hallucinatory plant, a bouncy business magnate, or even a well-intentioned psychopath. (p 301)
…I can honestly report that I still think of Jesus as a friend, but I find him ever more elusive and impossible to pin down…I catch a glimpse of him sometimes on wintry afternoons strolling through Harvard Yard; chatting with sophomores… Sometimes I see him as one of the shivering homeless men or women who wander into those [Homeless] shelters (p 302)
As virtuous as that last statement may sound (to some), Cox used his book to question the “fundamentalist interpretation” of Jesus. For example he doesn’t like the literal views of the resurrection and atonement, among other things. He contextualizes and sanitizes the Bible to suit modern cultural (social justice, diversity etc) sensibilities. Cox doesn’t like the biblical Jesus so he imagines a different one.
In fact he reminded me of C. S. Lewis’ apostate bishop in The Great Divorce. That character asserted Heaven actually meant indefinite spiritual progress; and if Jesus had been older He might have avoided the cross with a little more “tact and patience.” The bishop didn’t believe he needed to be rescued from anything as crude as personal sin. He was offended by the notion.
Dan Phillips on Cox’s Jesus
I recommend reading Dan Phillips article (some links may not work) addressing Harvard’s Cox. Here are some pertinent observations by Phillips:
Cox is heralding the death of the insistent affirmation of “non-negotiable beliefs” definitive of Christianity, such as “the virgin birth, the physical resurrection of Christ…his imminent second coming [, and] belief in the literal inerrancy of every syllable of the Bible….”
I think it isn’t Fundamentalism that people want to see vanish. On such sneering lips, “fundamentalist” is a polite swear-word, a contemptuous and dismissive stand-in for Christian. And what is a “Christian”? A student of, slave of, believer in Christ Jesus…And there’s the real problem for the fundamentalist modernist. The problem isn’t fundamentalism…The problem is Jesus. What they really want to wish to the cornfield is Jesus.
An Atheist Chaplain in Harvard
At time of writing this article, Harvard unanimously elected an atheist chaplain (Greg Epstein). Tim Keller even sent him his well wishes! John Lomperis writes that it matters less and more than you think. Lomperis notes that “Harvard is not a Christian school.” He notes that Harvard is a multi-faith organization and that its choice of an atheist chaplain isn’t a new thing.
Well…yeah…but…
Epstein might be a nice guy and all but he’s a “chaplain” who proclaims that “We don’t look to a god for answers.” One colleague notes that Epstein likes to keep the lines of communication open. And so does the devil – in fact he loves to go to church. Beware the “lines of communication” and talks of unity. One person who commented on Phillip’s article rightly noted,
The doctrines that are fundamental to the Christian faith are what stand[s] in the way of ecumenical unity and therefore they are considered dangerous and detrimental to the apostate movements of our day. This is why they are caricatured as something ugly – that which divides rather than unites.
Harvard’s paganism (plurality) is cloaked in at least some pretense of being Christian. Cox talks so much about Christ and Christianity one could be excused in thinking he’s a Christian – whether or not he still identifies as one. But he isn’t. Moreover, many professing Christians go to Harvard to get their various Christian degrees. It caters for pagans and Christians and it isn’t unique in that sense.
The Greatest Danger to the Church
In the book The Inerrant Word John MacArthur stated that “the most pernicious and spiritually devastating assaults on the church always come from within,”
Artful deceit is more dangerous and more destructive than open rebellion. Wolves don sheep’s clothing.
He goes on to warn that false teachers (pretenders) robe themselves in pretended piety and decorate their walls with credentials from prestigious seminaries. They are “glib and likeable trendsetters” but are actually ravenous wolves who seek to gain influence and push whatever agenda they please.
Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 2 Tim 3:12-13 (See also 2 Tim 3: 14-17)
…preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 2 Tim 4:2-4
Run from these people and institutions.
Maranatha!
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