Historical Jesus

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The term historical Jesus refers to the life and teachings of Jesus as interpreted through critical historical methods, in contrast to what are traditionally religious interpretations.[1][2] It also considers the historical and cultural contexts in which Jesus lived.[3][4][5][6]

Virtually all scholars of antiquity accept that Jesus was a historical figure, and the idea that Jesus was a mythical figure has been consistently rejected by the scholarly consensus as a fringe theory.[7][8][9][10][11] Scholars differ about the beliefs and teachings of Jesus as well as the accuracy of the biblical accounts, with only two events supported by nearly universal scholarly consensus: Jesus was baptized and Jesus was crucified.[12][13][14][15]

Reconstructions of the historical Jesus are based on the Pauline epistles and the gospels, while several non-biblical sources also support his historical existence.[16][17][18] Since the 18th century, three separate scholarly quests for the historical Jesus have taken place, each with distinct characteristics and developing new and different research criteria.[19][20] Historical Jesus scholars typically contend that he was a Galilean Jew and living in a time of messianic and apocalyptic expectations.[21] Some scholars credit the apocalyptic declarations of the gospels to him, while others portray his "Kingdom of God" as a moral one, and not apocalyptic in nature.[22]

The portraits of Jesus that have been constructed through history using these processes have often differed from each other, and from the image portrayed in the gospel accounts.[23] Such portraits include that of Jesus as an apocalyptic prophet, charismatic healer, Cynic philosopher, Jewish messiah, prophet of social change,[24][25][6] and rabbi.[26][27] There is little scholarly agreement on a single portrait, nor the methods needed to construct it,[23][28][29][3] but there are overlapping attributes among the various portraits, and scholars who differ on some attributes may agree on others.[24][25][30]

  1. ^ Cross, Frank Leslie; Livingstone, Elizabeth A. (2005). The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press. pp. 779–. ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3.
  2. ^ Crossley, James and Robert J. Myles (2023). Jesus: A Life in Class Conflict. Zer0 Books. ISBN 978-1-80341-082-1.
  3. ^ a b Amy-Jill Levine in The Historical Jesus in Context edited by Amy-Jill Levine et al. 2006 Princeton Univ Press ISBN 978-0-691-00992-6 pp. 1–2
  4. ^ Ehrman, Bart D. (1999), Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium ISBN 0195124731 Oxford University Press pp. ix–xi
  5. ^ Ehrman, Bart (2003). The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515462-2, chapters 13, 15
  6. ^ a b Webb, Robert; Bock, Darrell, eds. (13 March 2024). Key Events in the Life of the Historical Jesus: A Collaborative Exploration of Context and Coherence. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. pp. 1–3. ISBN 9783161501449.
  7. ^ Law, Stephen (2011). "Evidence, Miracles, and the Existence of Jesus". Faith and Philosophy. 28 (2): 129. doi:10.5840/faithphil20112821.: "The vast majority of Biblical historians believe there is evidence sufficient to place Jesus’ existence beyond reasonable doubt."
  8. ^ In a 2011 review of the state of modern scholarship, Bart Ehrman (a secular agnostic) wrote: "He certainly existed, as virtually every competent scholar of antiquity, Christian or non-Christian, agrees, based on certain and clear evidence." B. Ehrman, 2011 Forged: writing in the name of God ISBN 978-0-06-207863-6. pp. 256–257
  9. ^ Robert M. Price (an atheist who denies the existence of Jesus) agrees that this perspective runs against the views of the majority of scholars: Robert M. Price "Jesus at the Vanishing Point" in The Historical Jesus: Five Views edited by James K. Beilby & Paul Rhodes Eddy, 2009 InterVarsity, ISBN 028106329X p. 61
  10. ^ Michael Grant (a classicist) states that "In recent years, 'no serious scholar has ventured to postulate the non-historicity of Jesus' or at any rate very few, and they have not succeeded in disposing of the much stronger, indeed very abundant, evidence to the contrary." in Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels by Michael Grant (2004) ISBN 1898799881 p. 200
  11. ^ Burridge & Gould 2004, p. 34. "There are those who argue that Jesus is a figment of the Church’s imagination, that there never was a Jesus at all. I have to say that I do not know any respectable critical scholar who says that anymore."
  12. ^ Jesus Remembered by James D. G. Dunn 2003 ISBN 0-8028-3931-2 p. 339 states of baptism and crucifixion that these "two facts in the life of Jesus command almost universal assent".
  13. ^ Prophet and Teacher: An Introduction to the Historical Jesus by William R. Herzog (2005) ISBN 0664225284 pp. 1–6
  14. ^ Crossan, John Dominic (1995). Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography. HarperOne. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-06-061662-5. That he was crucified is as sure as anything historical can ever be, since both Josephus and Tacitus ... agree with the Christian accounts on at least that basic fact.
  15. ^ Powell, Mark Allan (1998). Jesus as a Figure in History: How Modern Historians View the Man from Galilee. Westminster John Knox Press. pp. 168–173. ISBN 978-0-664-25703-3.
  16. ^ Van Voorst, Robert E. (2000). Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence ISBN 0-8028-4368-9.
  17. ^ Bockmuehl, Markus N. A. (2001). The Cambridge Companion to Jesus. Cambridge University Press. pp. 121–125. ISBN 978-0521796781.
  18. ^ Chilton, Bruce; Evans, Craig A. (1998). Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of Current Research. BRILL. pp. 460–470. ISBN 978-9004111424.
  19. ^ Witherington III 1997, pp. 9–13.
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference AlanP19 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sanders93 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Theissen & Merz 1998.
  23. ^ a b Theissen & Winter 2002, p. 5.
  24. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Cradel124 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ a b Mitchell, Margaret M.; Young, Frances M., eds. (2006). The Cambridge History of Christianity. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-521-81239-9.
  26. ^ Pelikan, Jaroslav. "Jesus as Rabbi". PBS. Retrieved 3 March 2020. four Aramaic words appear as titles for Jesus: Rabbi, or teacher; Amen, or prophet; Messias, or Christ; and Mar, or Lord
  27. ^ Köstenberger, Andreas (1998). "Jesus as Rabbi in the Fourth Gospel". Bulletin for Biblical Research. 8: 97–128. doi:10.5325/bullbiblrese.8.1.0097. JSTOR 26422158. S2CID 203287514.
  28. ^ Charlesworth, James H.; Pokorny, Petr, eds. (2009). Jesus Research: An International Perspective (Princeton–Prague Symposia Series on the Historical Jesus). Wm. B. Eerdmans. pp. 1–2. ISBN 978-0-8028-6353-9.
  29. ^ Porter, Stanley E.; Hayes, Michael A.; Tombs, David (2004). Images of Christ (Academic Paperback). T&T Clark. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-567-04460-0.
  30. ^ McClymond, Michael James (2004). Familiar Stranger: An Introduction to Jesus of Nazareth. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. pp. 16–22. ISBN 978-0-8028-2680-0.
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