New Testament Without Illusions

"An Iconoclast's temptation is to take down the temples along with the images adorning them. McKenzie overcomes that temptation, though his struggles with it strikes keen wit into sparkling apothegms. An iconoclast's great value appears when he shatters real idols and, knee-deep in rubble, opens eyes to the uncluttered truth." Joseph Tetlow The New Testament: The New Testament writing of Jesus followers, was a second best substitute for his teaching, his spoken word of mouth and personal example. A collection of twenty seven articles, called books, the longest of which is the Gospel according to Matthew is in 18,000 words. "If Jesus wrote no books, what he said was treasured and repeated by those who heard him, and by their hearers in turn. To those who confessed him as Lord, his words were at least as authoritative as those of Moses and the prophets. They were transmitted as a most important element in the tradition of early Christianity, together with the record of his works, his death and resurrection." FF Bruce Illusion of Demythologizing: John Cardinal McKenzie, a leading American Catholic scholar, is an iconoclast in the best sense of the word, in honesty to God, has chosen the disillusioned rather than the perplexed audience, of the Bishop of Woolwich, those 'who have reason to be contented with their affective maturity before God, but wonder whether they have matured intellectually as well.' Father McKenzie undertakes to approach and rediscover the cornerstone of Christian faith in his articulated book of 21 chapters without preface or introduction, with a conclusion, but without index. He enhances the NT credibility by defending it against man-made illusions, historical inaccuracies and flawed inherited assumptions. His undertaken topics, though versatile and challenging, target explanations of many controversial and disputed issues; of some passages, who wrote them, and what they meant. Could some sayings be attributed to Jesus in direct or precise quotations? The milestones of his mandate are obvious in some chapters: The Real Jesus, The much misunderstood Paul, This is the church?, Who is this Son of Man? , and The theology of John. He prepared the reader in preceding enteries: The world in which Jesus was born, Gospel and gossip, Not much time left, Behold the Virgin, Who were the Pharisees?, and Who killed jesus? He concluded his elaborations in 'Where do we go from here?' Author & Biblical Scholar: John L. McKenzie, who departed us 1991, was a most significant figure in biblical renewal, through many boldly insightful books, preparing for Vatican II. The Two Edged Sword (1956), was his theological debut, at age of 46. He taught at Loyola, Notre Dame, and De Paul universities from 1960 - 1978. He became Cardinal of Wisconsin, even after he left the Jesuit Order, 25 years after he was ordained. In 'Studies in Honor of John L McKenzie's memory, the chosen title by editor K. W. Flanagan was: "No Famine in the Land" "Besides sc