Historical Jesus
Messiah the holy warrior.
Over the last year or so I have become interested in Jesus’ messianic identity as it relates to the Holy Spirit. Now we have places where the Apostle Paul speaks of Jesus as the Spirit-Giver, especially as it relates to the resurrection of the saints (e.g. Romans 8.1-17; 1 Corinthians 15.42-49). The Gospel of John [...]
Book review: Anthony Le Donne’s Historical Jesus.
Anthony Le Donne. Historical Jesus: What Can We Know and How Can We Know It? Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2011. Kindle Edition. Anthony Le Donne’s Historical Jesus is one of the finest short works I’ve read on historical Jesus studies, human memory, and historiography. Le Donne positions himself as a “postmodern historian” whose task is not [...]
A “preserved” Jesus.
“The historian who continues to look for a “preserved” Jesus has no other recourse but skepticism. The historian who is intent to find “an objectively true picture” of Jesus has simply misunderstood the historian’s task to account for varying and evolving social memories and explain their most plausible relationship.” Anthony Le Donne. Historical Jesus: What [...]
Rethinking history with Keith Jenkins (Pt. 2).
In my previous engagement with Keith Jenkins’ Rethinking History (see part 1) I examine his assault on the idea that history = the past, that history is singular, and that history can be objectively understood. Today I ponder his arguments in Chapter Two: “On some questions and some answers”. These are the seven questions he [...]
In the Mail: Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? by Daniel Kirk
Yesterday I received a review copy of Daniel Kirk‘s Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? A Narrative Approach to the Problem of Pauline Christianity in the mail courtesy of Baker Academic (you can learn more about the book here). I will be part of a blog tour running from the 9th to the 20th of January [...]
N.T. Wright on the Jesus of Pope Benedict XVI, Maurice Casey, and Bruce N. Fisk.
N.T. Wright has written an article for The Times Literary Supplement reviewing Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection by Pope Benedict XVI; Jesus of Nazareth: An Independent Historian’s Account of His Life and Teaching by Maurice Casey; and A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus: Reading the Gospels on the Ground [...]
Anthony Le Donne on “the game of telephone”.
You may have heard some scholars compare the oral traditions of the early church to the “the game of telephone” wherein you gather a circle of children, tell the first one something, then watch as it morphs until it is barely recognizable when it has gone all the way around. This analogy is used to [...]
More of Anthony Le Donne’s historical Jesus.
Several days ago I posted some excerpts from Anthony Le Donne’s Historical Jesus: What Can We Know and How Can We Know It? (see here) Here are some more statements that caught my eye: “The first perceptions of Jesus were shaped by the external spurs and constraints unique to his historical context.” (p. 23). Kindle Edition. [...]
Book Review: The Stories of Jesus’ Birth by Edwin D. Freed.
Edwin D. Freed. The Stories of Jesus’ Birth: A Critical Introduction. New York: T&T Clark, 2001. (Amazon.com) Edwin D. Freed’s book on the Infancy Narratives of the Gospels is intended to function as an introduction to the subject. The author approaches the subject critically. It is a work that takes historiographical methodology seriously, though Freed [...]
Anthony Le Donne’s historical Jesus.
I am grateful to Nick Norelli who was adamant that I read Anthony Le Donne‘s Historical Jesus: What Can We Know and How Can We Know It? These are some excerpts from the early part of the book that have caught my attention: “…it must be said that there is no need to draw a line [...]
Simply Jesus: an interview with N.T. Wright.
N.T. Wright was interviewed about his new book Simply Jesus (HT: Kurt Willems):
Book Notice: The World of Jesus and the Early Church edited by Craig Evans.
I received word that a new book edited by Craig A. Evans titled The World of Jesus and the Early Church: Identity and Interpretation in the Early Communities of Faith is set to release next month. The blurb from the back of the book is as follows: Religious communities that possess sacred documents define themselves, at [...]
Interview with Craig Evans.
Brian Auten of Apologetics 315 has interviewed Dr. Craig A. Evans on a wide array of subjects related to historical Jesus scholarship here. This is part of the blurb: “He talks about his background and how he got into this area of scholarship (Jesus, the Gospels and Biblical manuscripts), what impresses him most about the [...]
Despite what Zeitgeist said, Jesus really did exist.
Guest Post: Greg Monette, Ph.D. student at the University of Wales/Oxford Centre for Mission Studies Did Jesus exist? At first blush this might seem a silly question. “Of course he existed,” you might say. However, movies like Zeitgeist, as well as authors Tom Harpur [1] and Robert Price, [2] seem to think that a minimalist position on [...]
Christian origins from a Cuban.
I’d like to point you to a blog written by a good friend of mine named Jesse Luke Richards. He has been blogging at “Christian Origins from a Cuban” which he tells me focuses upon what “the implications of Christian Origins means for the Cuban people and situation.” Soon he will begin doctoral work through [...]
Was Jesus an original thinker?
Guest Post: Dr. Craig A. Evans Read Question 1 here and Question 2 here. Question 3: Was Jesus an original thinker? How did he personally rework the cultural features that he inherited? What are the most original elements of his thought? Most of what Jesus proclaimed and did have precedent and was hardly controversial, from [...]
Jesus’ beatitudes: blessed are the merciful.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. (Mt 5.7) μακάριοι οἱ ἐλεήμονες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἐλεηθήσονται. __________ Blessed are the merciful, because they shall receive mercy. When I read this something leaps out of the text at me. What about those who are not merciful. Will they receive mercy? Is this similar to forgiving [...]
What can we say about Jesus’ Jewish background?
Guest Post: Dr. Craig A. Evans Read Question 1 from last week here. Question 2: What can we say about Jesus’ Jewish background? In what kind of Judaism did Jesus grow up? To what ideological stream did he belong? What kind of Jew was Jesus? There is nothing in the teaching and activities of Jesus [...]
Craig Evans on Jesus’ pedagogy.
Tomorrow we will have another post from Dr. Craig A. Evans available on this blog (read last week’s “The future of historical Jesus studies”). Today I thought I’d share a small excerpt from a paper that he presented at New Orleans Baptist Seminary in February titled “Can We Trust the NT?” In context, Evans is [...]
Book Review: The Resurrection of Jesus by Michael R. Licona
Licona, Michael R. (2010) The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic. (Buy from IVPress.com here) Note: I was going to attempt to blog through this book in multiple parts, but it became apparent that this was distracting and disinteresting to readers. Therefore, I have decided to provide one large overview. If you want to [...]
Jesus’ beatitudes: blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (Mt 5.6) ακάριοι οἱ πεινῶντες καὶ διψῶντες τὴν δικαιοσύνην, ὅτι αὐτοὶ χορτασθήσονται. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. (Lk 6.21a) μακάριοι οἱ πεινῶντες νῦν, ὅτι χορτασθήσεσθε. __________ Much like when the First Gospel says, “Blessed are [...]
Rembrandt and the Jewish Jesus
I just came across an interesting article written by Lloyd Dewitt on the Huffington Post (07.25.2011) about the art of Rembrandt van Rijn. It is titled “Rembrandt and the Jewish Jesus”. The gist of the article is that Rembrandt showed great innovation in painting a Jesus that he thought was more like the Jewish Jesus [...]
The future of historical Jesus studies.
Recently Prof. James Charlesworth of Princeton Theological Seminary asked several scholars this question: “What is the future of historical Jesus research?” We will be posting abbreviated versions of the answers given by Dr. Craig A. Evans (who was one of the scholars addressed) on this blog the next three Thursdays. __________ Guest Post: Dr. Craig [...]
Jesus beatitudes: the poor in spirit (Pt. 2)
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Mt 5.3) Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι, ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν. Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. (Lk 6.20b) Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοί, ὅτι ὑμετέρα ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ. __________ Last week [...]
Continued Quest for the Historical Jesus? The Same Old, or Going Forward?
Thanks to the live rankings Top 10 Articles on Biblioblog Reference Library (here), I found that over at Debunking Christianity, Tommy G. Baker wrote a helpful post about the continued quest for historical Jesus (here). I felt the content of the post was slightly dated, having mentioned only the Renewed and the Third Quests, along with [...]
Licona on the Resurrection (Pt. 8)
Licona, Michael R. (2010) The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic. (Buy from IVPress.com here) Michael Licona credits Gary Habermas with “three minimal facts that are regarded as indisputable by almost all scholars” writing on the fate of Jesus. (1) Jesus died by crucifixion. (2) Shortly thereafter some of Jesus’ disciples had experiences that [...]
Saturdays in Second Temple Judaism: Idealized martyrs
You may be aware that I have been reading/blogging through Michael R. Licona’s The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. One section that I found very interesting was his discussion on martyrdom (pp. 286-289). He compares stories of other Jewish martyrs with those of Jesus in order to display how authentically the gospels display [...]
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