Jesus and the Metaphysics of God: One Skeptic's Search for Truth

By Vince Procopio

About the Book
During my formative years, I realized that questions pertaining to God and Jesus were not merely abstract philosophical questions. These beliefs constitute the core of one's worldview. As such, their pervasive influence as to how we lead our lives is relevant and consequential. All my life I’ve been haunted by this burning question: Is physical reality all there is?
This book is an attempt to engage in a rational inquiry into the very heart of spirituality. To be sure, questions about Jesus and God are metaphysical in nature. And as such, science cannot enter this domain. Rather, as the great philosopher Immanuel Kant admonished, any individual pursuit must push to the epistemological limits of science. Any remaining gap is to be filled with faith. This is my journey! I welcome you, fellow traveler.

About the Author
Vince Procopio was born in a small village in Italy and came to the United States at the age of seven. By the age of thirteen, Vince began his life-long passion of weight lifting, which he continues to the present day.
He dropped out of high school to volunteer in the United States Marine Corps in 1968. After serving a one-year tour in Vietnam and under the auspices of the GI Bill, Vince became a full-time student through the summers from 1970-1983.
His greatest passion has been learning and trying to understand the miracle of life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Company
• Release date: Apr 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9798886839296

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The contents of this work, including, but not limited to, the accuracy of events, people, and places depicted; opinions expressed; permission to use previously published materials included; and any advice given or actions advocated are solely the responsibility of the author, who assumes all liability for said work and indemnifies the publisher against any claims stemming from publication of the work.

All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2023 by Vince Procopio

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, downloaded, distributed, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented without permission in writing from the publisher.

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PART I

Preface

The year is 1969. I’m a USMC grunt in Vietnam. I’m in a bunker taking a break from the madness of war. In my hands is a book entitled What is Philosophy-–a Barnes and Noble outline. All my life I was consumed by a raging philosophical fire that demanded to know the meaning of life- mine in particular. Finally, in my hands, there was a formal outline of the metaphysical topics which had haunted me for so long.

I must have been nine or ten years old when the thought occurred to me: What if there was no God? Then would there be nothing forever and ever? My good Catholic upbringing biased my thinking towards the presupposition that God created everything.

In later years as I became involved in graduate training in philosophy, I would rephrase the question as: Why is there something rather than nothing?

There were so many strands that ran through my thinking. Politically speaking, I am a Libertarian. A partial list of people that have been the most influential in my political thinking would include: Ayn Rand, Nathaniel Branden, Murray Rothbard, David Kelley, Charles Murray, Milton and David Friedman, and Doug Casey. Often accompanying that stream of thought was a belief in atheism.

Within religious context, I’m most sympathetic to the views of Buddhism. It is by far the most psychologically sophisticated of all the major religions.

In the history of religion, Judaism with its long and glorious history is very appealing.

What is my purpose in writing this book? First of all, I wanted this book to be a personal journey of my progress on the spiritual path. Accordingly, the book is written from first person perspective.

Secondly, I refer to myself as a seeker of truth. I am so saddened when I hear reports about a medium or religious figure in general living in luxury as a result of exploiting the spiritual. I’m so painfully reminded daily that we came into the world penniless and so will our inevitable exit be likewise. As corrupting as money can be, only the Truth can set us free.

Third, I am amazed how tribal we tend to be. For example, if I were a Christian and felt secure in my faith, the first book I would read would be on atheism. I think understanding the arguments proposed by atheists may strengthen the chosen faith of the believer. So often we become ensconced in our own little tribe. To tread outside its scope brings uncertainty. Familiarity is like a narcotic. It dulls the mind into accepting the familiar.

As I reflect upon my life, I think about how predictable–within broad parameters–life can be. We grow up with certain values and beliefs. As adults, we tend to reflect our parental upbringing, whether or not our parents were responsible role models. How many among us can forsake the powerful effects of our upbringing and come to a set of values that we have freely chosen? This is the road less- traveled.

Finally, as a child I was taught to believe in Jesus–Son of God. As a matter of faith, I implicitly respect anyone who professes a belief in Jesus. I must say that I am thoroughly impressed with the many testimonials from born-again Christians. Life-changing experiences are significant. We know that attitudes and beliefs are relatively permanent. When an experience is transformational, we must listen to what it may teach us.

My task in this book is to approach the subject of Jesus from a historical and empirical framework. If someone believes in Jesus Christ as a matter of faith, then the door is closed to any further inquiry. My intended reader is the skeptic and those with an insatiable curiosity to know more about the many unexamined, religious beliefs inculcated in us during our formative years. I have tried to synthesize the views of many authors from as many sides as I could find. For the past several years, my primary focus has been on the historical evidence for Jesus. All scholars were welcomed. From atheists to skeptics to religious fundamentalists, Christians, non-Christians, scientists, and philosophers. I have tried to sample each perspective. I feel humbled when I look at the many prodigious scholars that have spent a lifetime studying the topic of Jesus. I walk in their shadows. I stand on their shoulders to extend their reach.

For me, this book represents a culmination of a thirty-three year journey. After reviewing the search for Jesus, I wish to broaden the inquiry into the nature of God. I will examine some of the arguments and counterarguments on the existence of God.

Why should you read this book? I’m convinced that my journey has come full circle. As a child, my innocence led me to a strong belief that God created the universe and would balance the scales of justice. While growing up, my skepticism grew. Wisdom and understanding were always one book away. After reading thousands of books, I’m also convinced that the ultimate result of voracious reading is confusion. One doesn’t come to God through reason alone. I wish to respect the epistemological limits of reason to make room for faith. It isn’t my purpose to undermine faith, but to strengthen it.

I attempted to start this project several months ago. But then another book would come to my attention that I would absolutely have to read. And then another and another... Analogously, I’m reminded of my decision to postpone my purchase of a computer because prices would fall in due time. At some point, the decision had to be made and the first step taken.

Chapter One

Imagine that a group of fifty people report seeing the presence of a UFO. The individuals appear highly credible and sincere. Furthermore, they represent a cross-section of occupations.

Their stories appear incredibly uniform. A saucer-shaped object appeared in the hills at varying distances from where the individuals lived. They observed the spacecraft landing. Upon landing, the craft’s occupants were observed disembarking. The profile of their appearance was described as approximately four feet in height with disproportionately large heads. Further, a faint luminescence emanated from their bodies.

Question: How believable would such a story be? Let’s assume further that it was later discovered that the fifty diverse people who observed the reported UFO were also members of a UFO society. How credible would the story now be?

I use this admittedly crude analogy to show the limited and partisan nature of the Gospel accounts. Jesus was a Jew. The Gospels were written by fellow Jews–believers in the faith. It would serve the Christian Apologetic’s cause if he could address the proof of Jesus’s claims based upon non-Christian sources. Unfortunately, as A.N. Wilson points out, the totality of non-Christian sources would amount to a postcard.¹ Further compounding the problem is that of the two main non-Christian writers of the Common Era (CE), Josephus and Tacitus. Their writing, as passed down to us, may have been contaminated. In particular, Testimonium Flavianum in what is referred to as The Antiquities of the Jews, written in AD 93, Josephus writes, About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man [if indeed one ought to call him a man]. For he was one who brought surprising feats and was a teacher of such peoples as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. [He was the Messiah].² The bracketed paragraphs are in dispute. But even taken as authentic, I find the cursory reference to be unconvincing. When we look at all the miraculous feats that are mentioned in the Gospels and the impact of Jesus upon the Jewish society, quoting from Josephus is self-defeating if the aim is to bolster the divinity of Jesus.

Hence, we are left with the writings of Paul and the four Gospels as the primary source of material. Again, it must be mentioned that the aim of Christian Apologetics is to establish that Jesus is the Christ. This search is intrinsically flawed. We know today that the issue of experimental bias can contaminate any experiment. That is, double blind studies are employed where both the subject and the experimenter are blind to who is receiving the treatment.

I’m not just impressed with the historical evidence of young Jewish children reciting the Torah by memory as evidence of the reliability of the Gospels. The point is that if you are a believer in a faith, your writings will be distorted. It doesn’t make any difference how objective you try to be. We know the effect of the subconscious is subtle but real.

Many Christian believers try to evade this central issue of contamination by positing that the Gospel writers were inspired by God. That addendum, while satisfactory on one level, has its own set of problems. How can we account for the different and irreconcilable gospel accounts? My response to this is that before we invoke the metaphysical, we must first exhaust the natural or physical. It simply compounds the problem further to enlist God as the source of reliability. Furthermore, we must look at the Bible through Jewish eyes if we are to fully understand its meaning. In this regard, I am indebted to the writings of Bishop John Shelby Spong for the powerful impact he has had upon me. The Old Testament provides valuable clues of interpretation in understanding the Gospels.

Finally, I would say that I’m also profoundly influenced by the writings of Josh McDowell–the Christian Apologetic.³ There is little doubt that the transformation of the disciples from quarrelsome cowards to courageous martyrs after the resurrection of Jesus needs explaining. I don’t believe that we can dismiss the New Testament as a mere Christian concoction. This would constitute the opposite extreme of treating the Bible as the infallible word of God. It is in the middle path that I believe the truth will be found.

The Origins of the Gospels

I’m extremely suspicious when one faith claims a monopoly of truth. Even the use of the word Bible needs definition. We know that the Hebrew Bible is different than the Christian and different than the Protestant Bible. The Protestant Bible excludes a number of books from the Old Testament that have come to be called the Apocrypha.⁴

Burton Mack writes, It is, however, the New Testament part of the Bible that makes a Christian Bible, and it is the Christian Bible that has influenced our culture.⁵

When examining the Gospels, it should be noted that they were written anonymously.⁶  Burton Mack notes that, ...in the early period of collecting lore, interpreting teachings, and trying out new ideas fit for the novel groupings, many minds, voices and hands were in on the drafting of written materials. No one thought to take credit for writing down community property even though creativity is everywhere in evidence.⁷

It wasn’t until 180 CE that the names attached to the Gospels first appeared.⁸  Furthermore, the number of Gospels was more than four. The Christian hierarchy rendered one of many decisions as to which were authoritative, and which were apocryphal.

I concur with historian E.P. Sanders’ analysis that most of the Apocryphal Gospels that were dismissed had little relevance to the life of Jesus.⁹  My main point is to suggest that whatever the outcome, this was a church decision.

We know that the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans occurred around 70 CE. The only Gospel that is generally considered to have been written before that event was Mark. The general range is from 64 to 72 AD.¹⁰  Paul died in 64 CE. Hence, we can be sure that his writings are the earliest available testimony we have.

The last written Gospel  was John–somewhere in the 9th century CE. The Matthew and Luke historical sequence is a little bit more contentious, ranging between 75 CE and 85 CE. Bishop Spong dates Matthew between 80 and 82 CE- the best guess among scholars.¹¹  In addition, he dates Luke’s writings in the ninth decade.¹² However, as I shall shortly argue, it may be more consistent to reverse the order of Matthew and Luke. The historical sequence is more important than Christians believe. If one accepts this historical evolution as accurate, then we can immediately dismiss the commonly held notion that the New Testament  is  the inerrant Word of God. The reason that this dramatic conclusion is permitted is because we can compare the texts to show how each writer changed the story to accommodate his particular audience and circumstances. As I will show later, comparing and juxtaposing the different texts yields valuable clues in deciphering the mental state of the author.

Another way to ascertain the historical sequence of the Gospels is by examining the contents of each of the writers. The operating hypothesis is that as traditions developed, more embellishment would be added to the Gospel stories.

Of the 664 verses in Mark, Matthew includes 606 in his narrative.¹³  Hence, it would be difficult to believe that Matthew was writing independent of Mark. In addition, approximately one-half of the Book of Mark is incorporated into Luke.¹⁴

These three Gospels are referred to as the Synoptics. John is the most independent and original of the four.

Let’s take an example as to how tradition was embellished. Who did the women see at the tomb? According to Mark, it was a young man in a white robe. According to Matthew, it was an angel of the Lord. In Luke,