Lord Longford's Christ
Sir: The Longfordian Christ of Faith could be faulted by someone with a knowledge of modern biblical scholarship. Mr Alan Brien in his review of Lord Longford's The Life of Jesus Christ (October 26) has not done it. Mr Brien's Christ of Unbelief is miles further from the evidence. An amateur of biblical theology, 1 would prefer to leave it to an expert to knock down Mr Brien's very dim essay, but as 1 don't suppose they will bother, I will, lest readers even more innocent than Mr Brien be led astray by his.parade of dubious qualifications. The weight of modern biblical scholarship (Cullmann, Kilmmel, Bultmann, Bornkamm, Jeremias, Dodd etc.) does nothing to back up Mr Brien's contention that the Gospels were all written by "Hellenised Christians, probably all non-Jews". It is true that a good deal of material was added or adapted by the early Church for the purpose of argument, but the evidence certainly indicates that there was much earlier material, and a good deal of it non-Hellenic Jewish.
To take one example. Mr Brien is critical of Lord Longford on the Parables, but the painstaking work of Dodd and Jeremias shows that there is much material which is original and authentic. I am afraid that Mr Brien needs to read more than 'a score' of books before rushing furiously into all sorts of wrong directions. Perhaps he could put aside the odd Professor Brandon and start with Dr KtImmel's Introduction to the New Testament.
Michael Ivens 5 Plough Place, London EC4
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