Prof. Rod Carruthers
If you are interested in knowing the Gospels better, or, if you are just curious about how much of what you know about the Gospels is actually true, this is a seminar that will be important for you. A lot of clutter has crept into the story of the birth of Jesus Christ that is not recorded in any of the four Gospels. Hollywood, television and those entrusted with providing us with the written word have added their own touches and have enhanced the Gospels for their own purposes.
Have you ever wondered why they left out of the Bible, Gospels written by St. Peter…and even Christ Himself, supposedly? There must be a dozen Gospels that are not included in today’s Bibles.
Are the Gospels, in fact, “the true Word of God?” If the hands of the writers of our four Gospels, as we know them, were guided by the hand of God, then we should be able to easily integrate the four separate accounts of the life and death of Jesus into one single story — all the facts and events and timelines should just fit together in perfect harmony. Their four versions of the story should mesh into a tight-fitting single account, God’s account, of why He sent us His Son, how His Son brought salvation to us all, and how He caused the planting of the Church of God in a pagan world!
I created this seminar so that I, too, would learn the truth about the veracity of the Gospels.
Scholars, for 2,000 years, have tried to integrate the Gospels into a single story solving contradictions, seeming disagreements, gaps and a host of other impediments that rendered the task impossible. None were successful…until the work of Jack Cheney, a bed-ridden Biblical scholar, emerged after 23 years of hard work to offer us an integrated Gospel he called, “The Life of Christ in Stereo.” He and modern scholars have asserted that the impossible task has been accomplished without adding or subtracting one syllable. Every word and thought written by the four Gospel writers is there and they harmonize “The Greatest Story” with amazing accuracy and consistency. Cheney died just five days before his work was published after he devoted most of his life to creating this uncompromising effort. You have to wonder if he was placed on earth for the purpose of accomplishing this work for us. “The Greatest Story,” our text for this class, contains all of Cheney’s work.
Join me on Friday, December 4 at 9:00 a.m. in Room One of the Education Building at the Sun Lakes United Methodist Church, 9248 E. Riggs Road, Sun Lakes. This seminar meets on Fridays and will conclude just after Easter. It starts with the birth of Christ and ends with His crucifixion and ascension. The audio/visual tools for this class include clips from Hollywood epics and television drama and a complete PowerPoint presentation. A notebook and text is provided for this seminar series for a small fee. The two-hour class includes a refreshment break. All members of the community are welcome. For more information or to register call the church office at 480-895-8766.
Rod Carruthers’ background includes teaching and heading industrial technology departments at four major universities; president of several companies; and international management consulting. He loves to create and teach courses that offer Christians “big picture” insight into religious topics they really care about. He has offered religious education at the Sun Lakes UMC for the past seven years, using the latest audio/visual techniques to inspire and strengthen his students’ faith.