Name
456 Alphabet Drive
Los Angeles, California
19 September 2020
Director
University Authorities
634 Widget Street
New York
Dear Sir,
Over the last few years, several books have been aimed at reporting the historical concept of Jesus. Among these books, I believe that the 'Life of Jesus' by Friedrich Strauss has had the most accurate representation of the Christian happenings we are still trying to terms with. Based on the accuracy or sober renderings and examination of the life of Jesus that Strauss conducts in his book, it was shocking to learn that he was fired and no longer has an academic position. While this book has resulted in controversy, I believe that it provides a refreshing perspective of the miracles of Jesus that should not be ignored. Through this letter, I plan to support my thoughts by showing you why firing Strauss is a significant mistake that will result in significant loss to the academic years.
While attempting to understand the miracles of Jesus illustrated in the New Testament, there have been several debates with two major positions being established. These positions are mainly the rationalists and supernaturalists, with each position being defined by scholars with firmly established opinions. On one side, the rationalist scholars (a majority of whom are deists) claim that no one can violate nature's laws (Borg, 1991). Based on this claim, these scholars establish that the miracles detailed in the new testament could not happen. Instead, the rationalist scholars present a historical basis supporting more natural explanations for miracle texts within the bible. The miracle text of walking on water can be utilized to provide an understanding of these natural explanations. According to rationalists, while the disciples believed that they saw Jesus walk on water, He walked on rocks that were submerged below the water surface. Contrastingly, supernaturalists defend the historical accuracy of these miracle texts along with the element of direct divine causation (Borg, 1991). According to them, the miracles in the New Testament are exactly what they appeared to be. The supernaturalist perspective establishes that there are only divine explanations for the miracles, exactly as they appear in the text.
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The controversy surrounding Strauss and his book is mainly due to his disagreement with both of these perspectives. Instead, Strauss provides a separate point of view that is completely different from the two positions that have been firmly established. Strauss makes an argument for a mythical approach, which is based on the belief that miracle texts use the imagery of the religious and literary traditions inherited by the church (Borg, 1991). Strauss states that there is no rational or supernatural explanation for the miracles described in the text by identifying that the imagery included is used to emphasize the spiritual significance of Jesus. Hence, the main aim of miracle texts is not to act as a report of Jesus’ actions but instead to show the role that Jesus possesses spiritually. This point of view indicates that Strauss is mainly concerned with the texts’ nature and not the history surrounding the texts.
Based on this view, I believe that Strauss's work has a more extensive deliberation of the aim of miracle texts and their usefulness to the main audience. This usefulness and further understanding of the spiritual significance of miracle texts is extremely crucial for biblical scholars to further study these texts. Hence, as opposed to being fired, Strauss's work should be highly acknowledged and used as a reference resource. Due to the nature and importance of work, I propose that the university authorities reconsider his firing. I believe that this decision's reversal would be in our academic society's best interest and be remembered historically.
Sincerely,
Name.
Reference
Borg, M. (1991, May-June). David Friedrich Strauss: Miracle and Myth. Westtar Institute, 4-3 . https://www.westarinstitute.org/resources/the-fourth-r/david-friedrich-strauss/
