'Jesus came first'

Don't get all up in my grill on this one, but I am going to say a small word in defense of poor Sherri Shephard, who is the subject of a fresh round of ridicule over her reality-challenged worldview.



Obviously, her contention that "nothing predated Christians" is nonsense. It is as ridiculous as her suggestion in September that it is impossible to say definitively whether the world is round or flat.

I don't know the subject the ladies of The View were discussing in the clip above, or the time-frame of the events, but based on the context, I am assuming it was pre-Christian history.

Now, again, it is obvious nonsense for Shepherd to say that there have always been Christians. But I think I know what is informing her viewpoint. I think she is coming at this from the Christian belief that there has always been Christ.

The Gospel of John begins:

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 He was with God in the beginning.

[...]

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,[d] who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

To Bible-believing Christians, Jesus is eternal. He always has been, and He always will be. In fact,in the view of some believers, the Old Testament is one long prophecy of Christ. The Old and New testaments are regarded as one integrated Christian text. In that sense, a Biblical literalist might be forgiven for thinking that, within a certain historical time frame, there have always been Christians.

It is not by any means a correct understanding of history, but it could be charitably intepreted as an understandable error in the heat of a discussion.

And as I said at the beginning of this post, it is just my attempt to say a small word in her defense.