Jesus of Nazareth

The doorbell rang and there were two ladies, one clutching copies of The Watchtower. "Aha! the Jehovah's Witnesses" I exclaimed. After a few pleasantries, I assured them that I was not religious; they had no hope of converting me. They don't give up that easily, however. Did I believe in Jesus Christ? Well yes, I'm quite sure that he walked the earth. Did I believe he was the Son of God? No, I don't, I assured them. I believe he was a revolutionary whom many of his adherents thought was trying to get the damned Romans out of the country, but in reality was trying to tell people that there were more important things. Like spiritual purity and that sort of thing. Like render unto Caesar and then get on with it. Golden Rule and all that. I said one need not be religious to be virtuous. One should seek to be moral and ethical and not do harm to anyone. That's very well said the lady clutching the brochures, but wouldn't it be better to emphasize doing good than just avoiding harm? Good point, I admitted, but I thought of all the people who did so much harm in the name of good and of God, such as missionaries, such as the Grand Inquisitioner, but I didn't say anything. The second lady spoke up. Did I believe in God? No, I said. Did I believe in the devil? I hesitated, because, after all, there are a few around. But I said no, not really. I added that sometimes I wonder if evil is only a concept and not a real thing, a real solid entity out there that goes around doing bad things. Surely there is much evil and there are many evil people. That left us in a philosophical ether, so I went on to tell them about a book I had recently read, Nino Ricci's "Testament", one of many written about "the historical" Jesus. His portayal I felt to be very plausible and even probable. He was sympathetic but still made him out to be a mystic and, some thought, a kook. He didn't think much of his mother and avoided her. He knew what he was doing when he went to Jerusalem for Passover. It's involved, so you'd have to read the book. The ladies didn't seem to be interested. They wanted to come in, but I had been through that before, so I denied them as politely as I could and wished them well. They're really quite nice people.