LONDON, Aug. 16 -- British academic and former prominent Conservative politician Enoch Powell has reinterpreted the gospel of Matthew to say Jesus Christ was stoned to death by 'the Jewish establisment' rather than crucified by Romans. The claims are made in the notes and preface to a new translation Powell has made of St. Matthew's gospel, which will be published next month, The Independent reported Tuesday. Religious experts dismissed the claims. 'If Mr. Powell is right, we're going to have to make a lot of changes to church architecture,' a spokesman for the Catholic media office told the Independent. Powell, who became a Professor of Greek at Sydney University in Australia at the age of 25, bases his theory on a belief that Matthew's was the first of the four gospels written after undergoing several revisions. In trying to unravel the original book he writes, 'It was a document consisting exclusively of the words and actions of Jesus and preoccupied with establishing and demonstrating his identity as the 'son of God,' he is explictly so born, and he is put to death by stoning, convicted by the Jewish establishment of the blasphemy of allowing himself to be called 'the son of God.' Dr. Tom Wright, one of the Church of England's leading scholars, said Powell's theory was wrong. 'The crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the most securely attested events in the ancient world,' Wright told The Independent. 'To attempt to overturn it on the basis of a hypothetical document which was suppressed 2,000 years ago and then allegedly recovered by someone reading the original text without the assistance of any other scholars simply beggars belief.'
Hyam Maccoby, an author of numerous works on Christian anti-Semitism, said Powell's conclusions could inflame old disputes and have anti- Semitic repercussions. 'If it is now said that the Romans did not do the executions, the Jews did, this intensifies the blame against the Jews even more,' he said. Powell stands by his view in the preface to his book when he says he tried to clear the mind of any possible preconceptions or conclusions made by others studying the subject. 'There is something to be said for starting again from scratch,' countered Wright. 'But the catty answer is that he has chosen to ignore everyone else, so he can't grumble if they return the compliment.'
