I was thinking this morning about why I am doing this, spending so much time of late intensely focused on reviewing recent research about Jesus as an historical figure and writing up my evolving views about the subject. It then occurred to me I haven’t explained that anywhere on the website.
So I rewrote the beginning of the homepage again, this time to spell out my motivations. Here is what I added:
My motivations are both personal and political.
On a personal level, I was raised as a Roman Catholic Christian and the teachings and example of Jesus as portrayed in the Christian scriptures are deeply embedded in me. My beliefs about Christianity have altered over time, but I still derive inspiration and guidance from how I understand Jesus. I want to insure that my understanding is well-grounded, and determine how honestly I can consider myself a follower of Jesus.
On a political level, for many years now I have been concerned about the political activities of people who regard themselves as conservative Christians. More recently the rise of Christian nationalism in the U.S., and its hold on many members of the MAGA alliance supporting Donald Trump, is something I want to challenge with better information and understanding of what Jesus actually did and taught.
That is it in a nutshell. I think you deserve to know that as people who have shown enough interest to sign up for my blog, and I think those who take the time to read any of what I’ve written also deserve to know.
Thanks again for your interest and I always appreciation hearing from people.
Alan
Jesus Reconstructed 