Gerry Adams, the President of Sinn Fein, MP was the defender of the IRA throughout the years of sectarian conflict and the subsequent peace process. He explored the life of Jesus for The Bible and discovered the historical figure of Jesus through the Scriptures, and the political and social context of Jesus' world.
I am a Catholic. An Irish Catholic. And despite all the let-downs and scandals that the Church, or at least a section of the Church, has been embroiled in, I remain a member.
My task on The Bible was to discover the real Jesus – Jesus the man; the historical Jesus. We only know about one year of his life. Was it possible to look at what came before this? What type of person was he? Did he have siblings? Sisters? Brothers? Girl friends? Children? I was very taken by this challenge.
As well as trying to discover the real Jesus, my remit was to establish who killed him. I also wanted to explore how the Jesus message of love and forgiveness and his extraordinary sacrifice has affected me throughout my life, during the conflict and the peace making processes in Ireland.
If Jesus had been Irish what would he have done? He too lived in an occupied country. There were a number of uprisings before, during and after his life. The desire of the Jewish people to be free of imperial rule was very strong. Indeed many of them were waiting for a Messiah to liberate them and to bring back the Kingdom of David. Did any of them see Jesus as a liberator? Is this what the Romans feared?
I explored Jesus' ethical teachings with victims of the conflict. One was a victim of the IRA. The other was a victim of British state violence and collusion.
In the Holy Land I spoke to scholars from both the Christian and Jewish traditions. I was surprised to learn how Jewish Jesus was. That may seem a ludicrous thing to say but nowhere in Catholic teaching is that obvious fact clear. Jesus was not about establishing a new religion. He was about modernising a very old one. And many of the practices which Christians, including Catholics, see as ours are rooted in Jewish rites.
It's long been my view that anti-Semitism is totally unacceptable and abhorrent, like racism and sectarianism. It was the Romans who put Jesus on trial. It was the Romans who executed Jesus. Yet the Jews get the blame?
I discovered that the roots of this lay in the gospel story about the passion of Christ. That story was written while the fledgling Christian Church was trying to convert the Romans. Much easier to do that if you weren’t blaming them for killing the Messiah.
As a supporter of the people of Palestine, I believe the security of the people of Israel is tied inextricably with the Israeli government’s need to acknowledge and uphold the rights and security of the people of Palestine. When I have visited the Palestinian territories before, I have been saddened by the awful, visible evidence of occupation and injustice, particularly the failure of the international community to encourage a peace settlement.
This time my visit was non political but the tragic irony was sharpened by my new and growing knowledge of the ancient history of the place. What would Jesus, the Palestinian do?
I came away from this programme more aware of the relevance of Jesus' message in these modern times. Not just in terms of forgiveness or peace making but also in social and economic issues. Jesus is about equality, the poor and the disadvantaged.
One thing is for certain. The core message of Jesus is relevant in today’s world. It retains the ability to motivate countless billions of people two thousand years after his execution.
If adhered to there would be no conflict, no hunger and no poverty in the world today. No wonder they crucified him.
Find out what academics are saying by visiting the following blogs:
Dr. Helen Bond on 'Jesus through the Eyes of an Irish Republican'
Julie Bond, Senior Lecturer at Edinburgh's School of Divinity, writes on The Bible and Interpretation website.
Find out more about Helen Bond
Mark Goodacre's New Testament Blog
Mark Goodacre's blog focuses on issues of interest in the New Testament and of Christian Origins.
Find out more about Mark Goodacre
