While enjoying my read through UnChristian I began to wish for a more mature and circumspect viewpoint on Kinnaman & Lyons research than my own. I began to wonder what would these ‘outsiders’ impressions look like in relation to Jesus, would he square with them and did he speak to them in his life, works, message(s), and mission. I emailed a friend – Scot McKnight; who is a prominent Historical Jesus scholar as well as a leading voice in the Emerging Churches conversation about mission in the Post-Christian West. I asked Scot if he would be willing to be interviewed on the book, and he graciously agreed. I first met Scot by inviting him to speak at the Emerging Churches Forum at Westminster Theological Seminary, and have appreciated his reflections and muses at his blog since that ventur. Even as a busy scholar and professor Scot McKnight has a run by run reading on the state of the Church today, and hosts some of the more lively discussions I’ve seen on the church, her mission, and her Lord.
But I didn’t just want to interview him on his views on their book because he’s preparing to launch his own review series on it. Rather, I was hoping Scot would take the findings of their work to Jesus and ask the Historical Jesus the very criticism his Western bride is recieving among the younger generations (16-29 year olds according to Kinnaman & Lyons).
UPDATE: SCOT BEGAN HIS SERIES ON IT TODAY, HERE’S PART 1:
Below are the questions I posed to Scot, his answers to these questions are soon to come…
What did Jesus think of hypocritical people?
Did Jesus have a Get Saved! mentality? If so, what did getting saved mean for him?
Was Jesus homophobic?
Was Jesus sheltered? If not, how did he encounter the world(s) of his day?
Did Jesus have a political agenda?
