What would surprise Jesus about Christmas in 2025

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

By Nicholas Kristof / The New York Times

This is the latest in my occasional series of conversations about Christianity. Previously, I spoke with the Rev. Timothy Keller, President Jimmy Carter, evangelical writer Beth Moore, professor Elaine Pagels and others.Here I speak with Bart Ehrman, a prominent New Testament scholar at the University of North Carolina and the author or editor of more than 30 books. Our conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Question: You have a new book coming out soon, “Love Thy Stranger,” arguing that Jesus taught a revolutionary message that transformed Western moral thinking. What was that message?

Answer: The heart of Jesus’ message is that loving “others” means caring not only for family and friends but even for strangers — whoever is in need, whether we know them or whether they are like us. This kind of altruism was not promoted — or even accepted — in the Greek and Roman worlds that Jesus came out of. But it is a view that completely transformed the thinking and ethical priorities of the Western world down till today.

Q: I admire that message of Jesus about helping strangers, but did it really transform the moral conscience of the West? White evangelicals overwhelmingly voted for President Donald Trump, and he’s not helping strangers but deporting them and breaking up families.

A: That’s right: A number of outspoken Christian leaders and Christian communities promote views that are quite contrary to the teachings of Jesus. Even so, his teachings continue to affect most people in the West, whether Christian or not. When a hurricane hits, many of us feel inclined to send money for disaster relief. Or we volunteer in soup kitchens to help people we don’t know. These practices are rooted in teachings of Jesus that became ethical norms once Christianity became the dominant religion of the West.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-what-would-surprise-jesus-about-christmas-in-2025/

[Aviation Pro]

1. Jesus would probably say

“Fuck it, I’m going old school God and smite these fools.”

[doc03]

2. That our president is 34 time convected felon, cheap con man and

pedophile.

[NewHendoLib]

3. That such an easy teaching - The Golden Rule - is ignored

by so many

[displacedvermoter]

4. That they could file their taxes online

and didn't have to make the journey to Bethlehem which started this whole Christmas thing.

[Sneederbunk]

5. That so many spent last night in a Holiday Inn Express.

[msongs]

6. he could use AI to fake that resurrection bit nt

[surfered]

7. For them, It's all about faith, not any actual works and according to the scripture they subscribe to,

It will not end well for them. According to Matthew in the parable of the Sheep and the Goats, they will be condemned to Hell for not welcoming the stranger.

[FarPoint]

8. Well.....

Jesus is/was a Palestinian Jewish man....to see how the Israeli pResident is treating the Palestinian people.... that would be shocking to Jesus.

[Brother Buzz]

9. What really surprised Jesus was when they removed the sack from his head

He discovered he was parked in an El Salvador prison, CECOT.

[Skittles]

10. that so many people believe in this delusion en masse

he was just a man, nothing unworldly

[Intractable]

11. Two millenia later, I'll go with ... cars.

[Paladin]

12. That we have the 25th Amendment, and we're too chickenshit to use it. (nt)

[Aristus]

13. What bullshit. More "Morality didn't exist until Christianity came along and invented it!" spew.

He's trying to make it sound like altruism and helping total strangers didn't exist until Jesus got nailed up.

He should put down his Bible, which is just a collection of the demented ravings of a tribe of Bronze Age madmen, and pick up a history book. Hell, altruism is in the fossil record, which means it predates history itself.

[drmeow]

16. Thank you!

I saw this "Even so, his teachings continue to affect most people in the West, whether Christian or not. When a hurricane hits, many of us feel inclined to send money for disaster relief." and immediately thought "you don't need Christianity to help your neighbor - and, in fact, data shows that non-Christians are more generous with aid than Christians are!"

[JustKay]

14. To paint Christianity as the driving force of altruism in the modern world is ridiculous.

Cases in point:

The Crusades lasted for almost 200 years.
The Inquisition. We hear much about the capital "I" inquisition, but these events have occurred worldwide throughout history.
Forced Conversions and Colonization of indigenous peoples - again, all over the world.
Catholics vs Protestants created some of the goriest battles in history.
Justification for Slavery and support of Jim Crow laws.
Suppression of women's right to vote.
Current backlash against the homosexual community.
Persecution of immigrants in this country right now.

Jesus promoted altruism, but the majority of his followers don't practice what he preached.

[FakeNoose]

15. Wasn't that "altruism" thinking actually refined by Saint Paul?

I believe the Apostles taught Jesus' words and deeds because they were the first-hand witnesses to his life. But Paul came later and his divine revelation added a layer of "Christianity-theory" - for lack of a better term - that the original witnesses to Jesus' life hadn't learned on their own.

I'm not a Biblical expert, but I was raised in the Catholic Church. We were taught that it took almost 100 years and probably 2 or 3 generations of early-Christian teachers to finally figure out Christ's message to humanity. Luckily the words and deeds of Jesus were written down while a few of the first witnesses were still living. There was no idea to establish a church or a new religion until much later, probably in the first century A.D.