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EARLY HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY: A BRIEF LOOK 269

to accept him as a figure universally beloved by Christians - or at the least,
as a person whose morality they deem worthy of emulation.

A. CANON MONTEFIORE: WAS JESUS GAY?
Speaking ofJesus at the Modern Churchmen's conference at Oxford, 1967,
Canon Hugh Montefiore, Vicar of Great St. Mary, Cambridge, stated:

Women were his friends, but it is men he is said to have loved. The
striking fact was that he remained unmarried, and men who did not
marry usuallyhad one of three reasons: they could not afford it; there
were no girls, or they were homosexual in nature.17

B. MARTIN LUTHER: JESUS COMMITTED ADULTERY THRICE
Martin Luther also negates the image of a sinlessJesus. This is to be found
in Luther's 7ONe-70lk,18whose authenticity has never been challenged even
though the coarser passages are cause for embarrassment. Arnold Lunn
writes:

Weimer quoted a passage from the 'Table-'Talk in which Luther states
that Christ committed adultery three times, first with the woman at
the well,secondlywith Mary Magdalene, and thirdly with the woman
taken in adultery, "whom he let off so lightly. Thus even Christ who
was so holy had to commit adultery before he died."19

2.Jesus' Disciples

Let us discard these accusations now and look into the NT. It is perhaps
best to commence this discussion by reviewing some of the events leading
up to the fmal days ofJesus' life (as described in the four gospels). Being
works of faith, the gospels endeavour to portrayJesus' inner resilience in
the most shining light possible, as they necessarily must. Let us inspect these
scenes to ascertain not the traits ofJesus however, but that of his disciples
who bore the burden of propagatingJesus' message. Based on their portrayal
in the gospels we willhave a more concrete idea of how the NT views itself,
for these people are the nucleus through which Christianity bloomed.

17 The Times,july 28, 1967.
18 Weimaredition,ii:l07.
[9 ArnoldLunn, TheRevoltAgainstReason, Eyre& Spottiswoode (Publishers), London,
1950, p. 233.Here isthe original: "Christus adulter. Christus istam ersten einebrecher worden
]oh. 4, beidem brunn cummuliere, quiaillidicebant: Nemo sigrlificat, quidfacitcum ea? Itemcum
Magdalena, item cumadulteraJoan. 8, die ersoleicht dauon lies. Alsomusderftom Chnstus auch
am ersten ein ebrecher ioerden ehe erstarb."