Last Updated on June 24, 2022 by Jason Harris

Summary

Below, I have listed everything the Jesus Seminar believes Jesus actually said (or close to it) and did with over a 75% degree of certainty… This is a very short read compared to the length of the New Testament.

My Faith Transition Journey

As part of my faith transition from Mormonism, after a literal belief in unique LDS scriptures and “prophets” had deconstructed, I decided to do more in depth research about how the Bible and the stories in it originated. I wanted to keep what was good from my prior paradigms without “throwing the Baby out with the bath water.”

During this process I learned there is overwhelming evidence the Old Testament was likely assembled from several (often conflicting) sources, and only a few hundred years before Jesus. I learned the Old Testament is likely a mixture of oral traditions, myths, literature and legends passed down from a variety of sources with some actual historical events intertwined (such as the Diaspora).

Sources on this I found particularly helpful include: Who Wrote the Bible? The Documentary Hypothesis (Regarding the Torah/Five Books of Moses). Patriarchs, Exodus, Conquest: Fact or Fiction? Israel Finkelstein Discusses the aspects of the Bible that are likely myth vs. grounded in concrete reality. Origins of Ancient Israel, Carol Meyers. Which Bible Characters are Historical (vs. Mythological or Legendary) and Authoring the Old Testament: Genesis- Deuteronomy, David Bokovoy, PhD Geared towards an LDS audience.

I also learned there is extensive evidence the New Testament was compiled from manuscripts based upon oral traditions and beliefs that circulated (and evolved) for several decades after Jesus was crucified. Stuff I never learned in “Sunday School.”

Christian Apologists

I read Christian apologetic books such as “the Case for Christ” by Lee Strobel as well as“Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis.

Of note, C.S. Lewis said the following, a very common argument in Christian circles:

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse… Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God.

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

This is an argument I bought into for many years. However, as I’ve come to learn more about how historical scholars believe the New Testament was compiled based on the evidence at hand, I’ve come to believe this argument is fallacious, though I highly doubt intentionally so on Lewis’ part. In fact, Lewis’ argument is based upon attributing many sayings and doings to Jesus that Jesus most likely didn’t say or do based upon all available evidence.

Critical Academic Christian Scholars

As I delved into trying to understand all sides of this issue, I read more academic works such as “The Case Against the Case for Christ” by Robert Price and “How Jesus Became God” by Bart Ehrman.

Progressive Christianity

I read works by progressive Christians such as “The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith” by Marcus Borg and Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life by Richard Rohr. I read and studied other works and articles as well.

The Scholarly Consensus

I learned the overwhelming scholarly consensus based on the evidence is that Jesus lived, was baptized by John the Baptist and was crucified by Pontius Pilate. These things are not only mentioned in early Christian documents (some of which contributed to the New Testament), but also by extra-biblical sources of roughly that same time period.

For those wanting to quickly get up to speed on some of the evidence for a historical Jesus, Tim O’ Neill, an atheist historian, has an excellent two-part article I would highly recommend reading. He shares why most Biblical scholars, Christian and non-Christian alike, think there was a historical Jesus. He also shares why most Biblical scholars think viewing Jesus as a purely mythical figure is probably not accurate.

An Athiest Historian Examines the Evidence For Jesus (part 1 of 2).

An Atheist Historian Examines The Evidence for Jesus (part 2 of 2).

The Jesus Seminar

Recently, I wanted to further explore what the scholarly consensus is about other things Jesus really said and did. So I skimmed two books by The Jesus Seminar, a group of over 50 secular Bible scholars who delve deeply into this.

1. “The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say? The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus.” published 1996

2.“The Acts of Jesus: What Did Jesus Really Do?” published 1998.

These books discuss not only what these scholars believe Jesus said and did (and why they believe this) but also give a nice overview of how Biblical scholars believe the New Testament evolved. This is outlined in this chart from “The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say?”.

The Jesus Seminar translated a “Scholars version” of the Bible and have included much of it in these books. In this they color code red that which as a group they agree with more than a 75% degree of certainty probably happened or was really said by Jesus. They color code in pink that which as a group they agree with a 50-75% degree of certainty probably happened or was said. They use methods of accepted historical and textual criticism in their analyses to arrive at “most likely” historical explanations.

Compilation of Highest Certainty Findings of the Jesus Seminar

Below, I have listed everything the Jesus Seminar believes Jesus actually said (or close to it) and did with over a 75% degree of certainty as shared in these two books. The two books together are around 1,000 pages, but the portions of the Jesus story these scholars believe to be true with a high degree of certainty total only a few pages and are coded in red (and are also indexed in the back of each work). All this to say, this didn’t take me long to put together. This is a very short read compared to the length of the New Testament.

This doesn’t necessarily mean all other things documented about Jesus in the New Testament couldn’t have happened. Just that there is insufficient evidence to provide a high level of certainty that they did (and often a good deal of evidence to suggest they didn’t).

Most of what is shared is verbatim from these books. I have shared nothing they believe not to be above this 75% threshold of certainty unless it is clear from the context and reading shared below such is the case. Anything in brackets [ ] is my own addition for clarification for the reader.

Of note, hardly any of the Gospel of John exceeds the 75% threshold of certainty. In fact, more of the recently discovered “extra-canonical” Gospel of Thomas meets this threshold than the Gospel of John.

The Bible quotes shared below are from the “Scholars version” of the Bible as translated by the Jesus Seminar and found in “The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say? The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus” and “The Acts of Jesus: What Did Jesus Really Do?”

Jesus was an Itinerant Teacher in Galilee who had Women Followers. He Proclaimed the “Good News,” Healed some Sicknesses and Drove out What Were Thought to Be Demons. Some Claimed He Was Led By Beelzebul. Some Resented Him.

Mark 1: 14. Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming God’s good news. 21. Then they [Jesus and his followers] come to Capernaum,

Matt 4: 12. He [Jesus] headed for Galilee.

Luke 4: 14. Then Jesus returned in the power of the spirit to Galilee. 31. He [Jesus] went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee,

Mark 6: 3 And they were resentful of him. 6. And he [Jesus] used to go around the villages, teaching in a circuit.

Luke 8: 1. And it so happened soon afterward that he traveled through towns and villages, preaching and announcing the good news of God’s imperial rule. 2. and also some women [were with him] whom he had cured of evil spirts and diseases: Mary, the one from Magdala,

Luke 11: 15. But some of them said, “He [Jesus] drives out demons in the name of Beelzebul, the head demon.”

Matt 13: 57. And they were resentful of him.

Jesus Associated With and Dined with Social Outcasts.

Mark 2: 15. Then Jesus happens to recline at table along with many toll collectors and sinners (Remember there were many of these people). 16. “What’s he doing eating with toll collectors and sinners?”

Matt 9: 10. And it so happened while he was dining that many toll collectors and sinners showed up just then and dined with Jesus. 11. “Why does your teacher eat with toll collectors and sinners?”

Jesus’ “Sermons” as traditionally taught from the Sermon on the Mount/Plain

Matt 5:

39. [Jesus said] Don’t react violently against the one who is evil: when someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other as well. 40. When someone wants to sue you for your shirt, let that person have your coat along with it. 41. Further, when anyone conscripts you for one mile, go an extra mile. 42. Give to the one who begs from you;

Luke 6: 20. [Jesus said] Congratulations you poor! God’s domain belongs to you. 21. Congratulations you hungry! You will have a feast. Congratulations, you who weep now! You will laugh. 27. Love your enemies. 29. When someone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other as well. When someone takes away your coat, don’t prevent that person from taking your shirt along with it. 30. Give to everyone who begs from you.

Thomas 54: [Jesus said] “Congratulations to the poor, for to you belongs Heaven’s domain.”

Among the things Jesus almost certainly said is the trio of “case parodies” in Matt 5:39-41, with parallels in Luke 6:29…

A parody is an imitation of a style or form of discourse that exaggerates certain traits for comic effect;.. The admonitions in this trio portray an extremely specific situation, one that rarely occurs (only right-cheek cases are covered; nothing is said about blows to the left cheek), combined with an exaggerated admonition (the loss of both coat and shirt would leave a person naked!)… And finally, the cases are stated in such a way that they cannot be taken literally without comic effect (imagine naked people walking about; the reaction of the Roman soldier who was faced with an offer to carry the load a second mile).

Case parodies, while not metaphorical, are nevertheless non-literal… because the commands are extreme, even ridiculous, when taken literally, they produce what may be termed “insight.” They prompt the listeners (or readers) to react differently to acts of aggression. In fact, the proposed response reverses the natural human inclination: when struck, we tend to strike back; when sued, we want to sue in return; when conscripted, our inclination is to resist…

… this trio of case parodies forms and exceedingly tight series, the individual parts of which seem never to have had an independent existence… Like the parable, a series of this type is not easily replicated…

The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say?, p. 145

There is no question about Jesus’ consorting with the poor, the hungry and the persecuted. He announced that God’s domain belonged to the poor, not because they were righteous, but because they were poor. This reverses a common view that God blesses the righteous with riches and curses the immoral with poverty.  

The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say?, p. 504

Abba, Father and “The Lord’s Prayer.”

Matt 6: 9 [Jesus said in prayer] Our Father

Luke 11: 2 [Jesus said in prayer] Father,

When we combine the more original versions of the petitions from Matthew and Luke, this is the prayer that probably appeared in Q:

Father, your name be revered. Impose your imperial rule. Provide us with the bread we need for the day. Forgive us our debts to the extent we have forgiven those in debt to us. And please don’t subject us to test after test.

It is unlikely in the judgement of the Fellows, that Jesus taught his disciples the prayer as a whole, even in its reconstructed form. They think it more likely, given the conditions under which oral discourse is transmitted, that he employed the four petitions from time to time but as individual players. He, of course, frequently used “Abba” to address God. Someone in the Q community probably assembled the prayer for the first time; Matthew and Luke then copied the Q version, while editing and revising it at the same time.

The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say?, p. 327

Jesus’ Story of The “Good” Samaritan

Luke 10: 30. [Jesus said] There was a man going from Jerusalem down to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and went off, leaving him half dead. 31. Now by coincidence a priest was going down that road; when he caught sight of him, he went out of his way to avoid him. 32. In the same way, when a Levite came to the place, he took one look at him and crossed the road to avoid him. 33. But this Samaritan who was traveling that way came to where he was and was moved to pity at the sight of him. 34. He went up to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring olive oil and wine on them. He hoisted him onto his own animal, brought him to an inn, and looked after him. 35. The next day he took out two silver coins, which he gave to the innkeeper, and said, “Look after him, and on my way back I’ll reimburse you for any extra expense you have had.”

The imagery of the parable itself draws upon longstanding animosity between Judeans and Samaritans… and throws the conventional distinction between “us” and “them” into question… The possibility of another kind of social world has come into view.

As a metaphorical tale that redraws the map of both the social and the sacred world, the Seminar regarded this parable as a classic example of the provocative public speech of Jesus the parabler.

The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say?, p. 324

Jesus’ Story of the Shrewd Manager

Luke 16: 1. [Jesus said] There was this rich man whose manager had been accused of squandering his master’s property. 2. He called him in and said, “What’s this I hear about you? Let’s have an audit of your management, because your job is being terminated.” 3. Then the manager said to himself, “What am I going to do? My master is firing me. I’m not strong enough to dig ditches and I’m ashamed to beg. 4. I’ve got it! I know what I’ll do so doors will open for me when I’m removed from management.” 5. So he called in each of his master’s debtors. He said to the first, “How much do you owe my master?” 6. he said, “Five hundred gallons of olive oil.” And he said to him, “Here is your invoice; sit down right now and make it two hundred and fifty.” 7. Then he said to another, “And how much do you owe?” He said, “A thousand bushels of wheat.” He says to him, “Here is your invoice; make it eight hundred.” 8. The master praised the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly;

Some of the fellows took the traditional view that v.8a is an appended conclusion, not integral to the parable and not customary in Jesus’ parables. Most of the Fellows, however, regarded v. 8a as part of the story itself. It provides the unexpected and surprising twist that is characteristic of Jesus’ metaphorical stories…

The multiple endings and explanations in these verses, which are appended to the parable (16:1-8a), all attempt to soften the disturbing commendation of the shrewd manager by moralizing the story. They were not part of Jesus’ parable, but are either secondary products of a later tradition that Luke has drawn upon, or were composed by Luke himself.

The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say?, p. 359

Jesus Died, Paul’s list of Resurrection Appearances, Paul Had a Visionary Experience of Jesus

1 Cor 15: 4. Christ died 8. Last of all, like the freak of nature I [Paul] am, he appeared to me as well.

Scholars are generally agreed that Paul mentions the appearance to him in v. 8 to defend his apostolic authority. Paul cites the list in his letter to the Corinthians as a way of affirming his place among the primary recipients of the revelation. The primacy of Peter in the apostolic group similarly depended on the claim that the risen Jesus had appeared to Peter on an early date. There are, however, conflicting reports about the first appearance, or protophany, as it is called: Paul and Luke award first place to Peter; Matthew and John 20 award the initial appearance to Mary of Magdala; the Gospel of the Hebrews gives the nod to James, the brother of Jesus. These competing claims suggest not so much historical reports as a rivalry among leaders in the early Jesus movement.

There seems to be little reason to doubt that Paul had at least one visionary religious experience that he came to regard as an appearance of the risen Jesus. The Fellows accordingly colored that statement red (v. 8). Although the appearance to Peter is nowhere narrated in any of the gospels, the Fellows were inclined to agree that Peter also had a similar visionary experience. Because Peter does not make the claim for himself it is always made on his behalf-they designated that statement pink rather than red (v. 5).

Notable is the absence of Mary of Magdala from Paul’s list. The Fellows agreed that she, like Peter and Paul, had at least one visionary religious experience of Jesus after his death…

…the Fellows were dubious about the inclusion of the appearances of James, the brother of Jesus, to the “twelve” as a group, and to the five hundred believers at the same time, in spite of the fact that they are in Paul’s list (vv. 5-7)…

Generalized lists of appearances are also found in several of the speeches in Acts…

These notices were invented by Luke as a part of his theological program… when Luke wrote Acts some thirty years after Paul’s letters, he did not regard Paul’s Damascus road experience as a bona fide resurrection appearance. Paul would have been surprised at his demotion.

The Acts of Jesus: What Did Jesus Really Do?, p. 454

Conclusion and My Current Beliefs About Jesus:

After studying all of these varying points of view and the evidence supporting these views (which I haven’t gone into in any depth in this post), I believe Jesus lived, was baptized by John the Baptist and was crucified by Pilate.

I see in the scholar’s depiction of Jesus a charismatic and very loving man with a great sense of humor (this is usually completely annihilated in “traditional” depictions of Jesus) who had no qualms about bucking the religious authority figures of his day.

I see an individual who had immense compassion for those around him, especially the “downtrodden” or those of lesser social status. He engaged with and regarded women in an egalitarian manner that was extremely unusual for his time.

I believe Jesus engaged in the healing of many illnesses (mostly psychosomatic illnesses and processes) with an antiquated understandings of these diseases common in his day. I don’t believe there was a miraculous force at play in these instances in the traditional meaning of “miraculous.” But given I view all of existence as a miracle, I guess any healings could be viewed as miraculous in that light. I think belief likely DID play a major part in many of these healings. I have seen this in my own practice as a physician, particularly with illnesses that are predominantly psychosomatic in nature.

I believe Jesus preached a message of the “Imperial Rule of Heaven” that both the Romans and the ruling Jewish class found very threatening, especially after his demonstration on Jewish Temple grounds. I believe he was later crucified for this and for his penchant to speak out against social conventions and authority figures.

Jesus shared profoundly moving and wise as well as humorous sayings in parables and stories. He was WAY ahead of his time.

I believe Peter, Paul and Mary (of Magdala, not the band) were (competing) historical figures and early leaders in the Jesus movement. I believe each of them had their own visionary experiences of Jesus (again, not referring to drug fueled trips by the band). I doubt these were literal physical witnesses of a literal resurrected Jesus. I believe these visions were most likely manifestations of processes internal to themselves. I believe how these accounts were recounted probably “grew” and “evolved” over time. Similarly to the way in which Joseph Smith’s several accounts of the”First Vision” over a decade after he claimed it happened also grew over time.

I believe there is not sufficient evidence to support a strong belief in the literal resurrection of Jesus. I also believe there is a tremendous amount of very strong evidence to argue against literal resurrection in general as well as the theological foundations the New Testament gives for a literal resurrection of Jesus. (To restore mankind from death caused by a literal fall of Adam. The evidence overwhelmingly shows death has always existed on earth in conjunction with life, and with timelines FAR beyond what a literal reading of the Bible suggests). But for brevity this post has primarily been about sharing what the historical scholarly consensus is on these things, not delving into why with any great depth.

That said, despite what the evidence suggests, I also can’t say with absolute certainty Jesus wasn’t literally resurrected. I don’t think anyone can. Just like nobody can absolutely prove God doesn’t exist as a literal physical (or spiritual) being in the heavens. One could believe Jesus specifically was literally resurrected (even though we have no scientifically admissible evidence of such with him or in any other case) and one could argue the theological underpinnings of the need for such a resurrection (a literal redemption from a literal fall of Adam) were misunderstood/mistaken by early New Testament authors.

At the end of the day, I think belief in the literal resurrection of Jesus specifically is strictly a matter of faith. If such really did happen, perhaps that is the way it is meant to be.

I think Divinity lived in Jesus irrespective of a literal resurrection or not. I’m personally not concerned if Jesus was literally resurrected or not and am not at all concerned if I will be either. I have emerged in my present state from 13.8 billion years of the development of the Universe. I trust the future Universe processes, wherever that may lead and am comfortable with whatever role the stream of life and existence that is me ends up playing in this much larger picture than myself. I believe in an overall “friendly” Universe.

I believe Jesus showed us what the Love of God can look like. He demonstrated and preached tremendous compassion and grace. I believe Divinity strongly resided within Jesus. And the moral compasses of billons of humans has been shaped and directed as a result.

I see in Jesus an Archetype of Godly love and death with subsequent rebirth/resurrection. The “Hero’s Journey.” A death and rebirth each of us apparently must experience in some manner if we are to fully grow into and embrace the Second halves of our lives. A “Kingdom of God” full of radical grace, acceptance and compassion… valuing people above narratives. I believe I have been experiencing this and am continuing to grow into this with my own faith transition.

I believe Divinity lives in all of us. That there is tremendous potential for growth and goodness within each of us.

I believe God is literally everywhere/throughout everything.

Jason Harris lived as an orthodox Mormon for forty years. He writes about his experiences leaving the Mormon Church and reconstructing a new World-View. He believes all religions and scripture are man-made, potentially helpful and harmful. He believes there is Divinity in all of them and everywhere.