Wouldn't you assume that the newly established Church would want its devotees to immerse themselves in the sanctioned New Testament, especially since the Church went to great lengths to eliminate competing Gospels?

Because there are so many gaps in Jesus' biography it is not surprising that pundits can spin almost any story about his personal life with shreds of "evidence" to support their views. But questions persist.

Apprehensive is an understatement. Walking into see "The Testament of Mary," I had no idea what to expect; however, there are not enough adjectives to describe the energy and beauty with which this one-woman monologue unfolds on the stage of the Walter Kerr Theatre.

While breaking the bread for communion, Medieval priests chanted in Latin, "Hoc est corpus" ("this is the body.") Confused churchgoers referred to the phrase as "hocus pocus." Ever since then, though perhaps much sooner, clergy talk has had an image problem.

Few have realized there are two substantially different Easter stories embedded in our texts. The alternative tradition has no appearances of Jesus following the discovery of an empty tomb.

The Gospels -- and several other passages of the New Testament -- state explicitly that God killed Jesus. God sacrificed his only son for the redemption of man according to Scripture:

No man of our time resembles Saint Stephen more than Stephen Colbert, a staunch Roman Catholic with a devoted following of young people deeply inspired by his eloquent advocacy of strictly conservative values and Christian faith.

With the goal of healing antagonisms and closing the longstanding divide between Christianity and Judaism, I set out to restore the Jewish foundation of Christianity -- a foundation that Christianity stands on.

Common folks within the church now read the Bible for themselves to decipher what is truth. The church was pushed out of the business of having the trademark of truth. The biggest challenge for the church now is postmodernism.

While the Pope may have a vested interest in attempting to validate the historical accuracy of the stories of Jesus' birth, I think we misunderstand their intent by doing so.

The long slow decline of religion in America has produced much hand wringing among Christians. Oddly enough, the very religion that bears Jesus' name has often built the biggest barriers to him and the life he promised.

Jesus makes it clear that emotional authenticity is the basis on which we build our spiritual relationship with God, because God knows our true identity inside and out. Jesus invites each of us to enter into this kind of integrated life.

It is difficult to sense the passion behind his words and deeds when reading the black and white texts in the Bible. But the Jesus we meet in the four Gospels is a man of sorrows, but also a man of joy.

The discovery of the lost parchment, along with the earlier documents that suggest that Jesus was married, resurrects a subject that demands reevaluation by the Catholic Church.

A chronological New Testament is different from and yet the same as the New Testament familiar to Christians. It contains the same 27 documents, but sequences them in the chronological order in which they were written.

What movement would make up a recent leader, executed by a Roman governor for treason, and then declare, "We're his followers"? If they wanted to commit suicide, there were simpler ways to do it.

Is Jesus inconsistent, or does Matthew have an agenda? Crossan, like most interpreters, says that Matthew 23 reflects not Jesus' own teaching but a conflict that emerged decades after Jesus' career.

Even as U.S. Christians have changed their views dramatically on issues such as same-sex marriage and women clergy, they have overwhelming held fast with the traditional view of the resurrection.

If we emphasize Jesus' death, cut out from the whole tapestry of his life, we reduce his crucifixion to perverse ritual rather than a direct consequence of his confrontation with the powers of his day.

I found myself thinking about an aspect of Dickens easily overshadowed.. I refer to his subtle use of biblical literature.

I'd like us to realize that keeping Christ in Christmas has nothing to do with what others choose to do, and everything to do with who we choose to be.

What is more important to me than the mechanics of Jesus' birth is that he was an historical figure who came to be viewed as "the Christ," the Messiah.