Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

Twenty-five years ago, 30 scholars took up the challenge to find the truth about the historical Jesus and report their findings. The Jesus Seminar was the result. The group now consists of more than 200 Fellows and they meet twice a year to debate the latest research in the field. But it's not as dry as it sounds. At the end of debate on each agenda item, the Fellows vote using coloured beads to indicate what they feel is the authenticity of the words or deeds in question.

And it is not as ivory-towered as it sounds. On 21 and 22 April, the debate will move to Olathe, Kansas, where Bernard Brandon Scott and Perry Kea will discuss "Jesus in the 1st and 21st Centuries". Dan Brown might benefit from listening in on this:

"Who is the founder of Christianity: Jesus, Paul or the Roman Emperor Constantine? How did Jesus — a Galilean peasant, teller of parables, exorcist and healer — become the royal Son of God celebrated in the creed of Nicea? Brandon Scott explores the role of Jesus in early Christianity and the struggle of early Christians with and within the Roman Empire during the first three hundred years of the movement."

Oh, and this just in. Another conspiracy?