Science in Christian Perspective

Letter to the Editor

Schonfield's Contribution
James W. Gustafson 
Northern Essex Community College 
Haverhill, Massachusetts 01832

From: JASA 21 (September 1969): 92. 
I was interested in reading Mr. Yamauchi's review of the Passover Plot, (Journal ASA 21, 27 (1965)) since I just finished reading the book myself.

While the reviewer is correct in his assessment of the weaknesses of Schonfield's critical theories, he misses what seems to me the greatest contribution Schonfield makes.

Schonfield's whole argument is based on the remarkable fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies in the life of Jesus, so much so that the author is forced to choosing between the authenticity of divine prediction and a conscious, though human, attempt by Jesus to fulfill those predictions by a plot.

If Schonfield's plot theory is untenable, there remains a powerful witness, from the mouth of a nonChristian, of the uniqueness of Scripture as pointing in fine detail to the life of our Lord.