Quest for the Historical Jesus
Encyclopedia
The quest for the historical Jesus is the attempt to use historical rather than religious methods to construct a verifiable biography of Jesus
. As originally defined by Albert Schweitzer
, the quest began in the 18th century with Hermann Samuel Reimarus
, up to William Wrede
in the 19th century. The quest is commonly divided into stages, and it continues today among scholars such as the fellows of the Jesus Seminar
.
Reimarus composed a treatise rejecting miracles and accusing Bible authors of fraud, but he didn't publish his findings. Gotthold Lessing published Reimarus's conclusions in the Wolfenbuettel fragments. D.F. Strauss
's biography of Jesus set Gospel criticism on its modern course. Strauss explained gospel miracles as natural events misunderstood and misrepresented. Ernest Renan
was the first of many to portray Jesus simply as a human person. Albrecht Ritschl
had reservations about this project, but it became central to liberal Protestantism in Germany and to the Social Gospel movement in America.
Martin Kähler
protested, arguing that the true Christ is the one preached by the whole Bible, not a historical hypothesis. William Wrede
questioned the historical reliability of Mark. Albert Schweitzer
stated that the histories of Jesus had reflected the historians' bias. Karl Barth
and Rudolf Bultmann
repudiated the quest for historical Jesus, and although the introduction of The Five Gospels asserts this it suppressed any real interest in the topic from c 1920 to c 1970, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church says there was a brief New Quest movement in the 50s conducted by Bultmann's students, and the search continued without break outside of the Bultmann school.
These scholars of what today would be called the Quest for the Historical Jesus applied the historical methodologies of their day to distinguish the mythology from the history of Jesus. Reimarus pioneered "the search for the historical Jesus", applying the Rationalism
of the Enlightenment Era to claims about Jesus. Although Schweitzer was among the greatest contributors to this quest, he also ended the quest by noting how each scholar's version of Jesus often seemed to reflect the personal ideals of the scholar, an observation first stated by Johannes Weiss
in 1890, and which continues to be observed in Jesus research (as it does in other historical studies) even today.
Some recent scholars have reasserted Schweitzer's eschatological view of Jesus: see Dale Allison
in his 1998 work Jesus of Nazareth, Milenarian Prophet and Bart D. Ehrman
in 1999 work Jesus, Apolocyptic Prophet of the New Millennium. Conversely others, such as the Jesus Seminar
, have denied the authenticity of Jesus' eschatological message, describing Jesus as a wandering sage.
In the early 19th century, existentialist philosopher Søren Kierkegaard
cast doubt on the entire project, stating unequivocally: "It is infinitely beyond history’s capacity to demonstrate that God, the omnipresent One, lived here on earth as an individual human being. History can indeed richly communicate knowledge, but such knowledge annihilates Jesus Christ."
Boyd suggests four significant factors contributing to this malaise;
The most prominent figure from the period of "no quest" was Rudolf Bultmann
. He was intensely skeptical regarding the historical Jesus and argued that the only thing we can know about Jesus is the sheer "thatness" (German: Dass) of his historical existence, and very little else. He considered the Gospels conveyed the meaning of Jesus proclamation in the dress of a "mythical" first-century world-view and argued that the Gospels must be stripped of these mythical forms ("demythologised") in order that scientifically literate persons might encounter Jesus message. By appealing to Heidegger's existential philosophy, Bultmann was able to lay an emphasis upon response to Jesus message, whilst downplaying the significance of Jesus as a historical figure.
Through this period British scholars tended to be less radical than their German counterparts and retained some confidence in the possibility of "reaching assured knowledge of the historical personality of Jesus."
The New Quest was a brief movement in the 1950s to revive the quest for historical Jesus.
These scholars emphasized the "constraints of history", so that despite uncertainties there were historical data that were usable. Moreover they disputed claims of extreme lateness for the formation of the New Testament and generally accomplished a consensus of approximately year 70 AD, give-or-take a decade or two depending on a specific text. Likewise they emphasized how the redaction of the New Testament resulted from a process over time, so that the New Testament included early textual layers, around which later and later layers crystallized. The form of the Gospel of Thomas
was often argued to corroborate the existence of the Q Gospel, whose hypothetical form would resemble it.
Hypothesizing about the existence of original source texts became useful for data relevant to the Historical Jesus. These early texts continue to remain hypothetical unless future discoveries render proof of their existence.
As the Bultmann school faded, it became increasingly clear that the "new quest" was one-sided. Scholars of the new quest had a theological agenda, and they attempted to separate Jesus from Judaism and from the earliest Christian heresies. As such, they preferred orthodox sources. The "third quest" appeared first among English-speaking scholars, and sociological investigation replaced the theological orientation of the "new quest." There were, however, earlier important works by Jewish scholars such as Constantin Brunner
(Our Christ: The Revolt of the Mystical Genius, original in German, 1921) and Joseph Klausner
(Jesus of Nazareth, original in Hebrew, 1922). The three characteristics typical of the "third quest" are an interest in the social history, a Jewish context for Jesus (especially restoration eschatology), and attention paid to non-canonical sources. The "third quest" is split between those scholars who advocate a return to a non-eschatological picture Jesus and those who see him as leading a eschatological restoration movement.
, who strives to destabilize the economic status quo. Some scholars also rely on a critique of non-canonical texts for early textual layers that possibly evidence Jesus.
Notable scholars in this group include:
but non-apocalyptic
message. For these scholars, the Jewishness of Jesus is first and foremost, rather than any purported Greco-Roman influences. These scholars use the archeology of Israel and the analysis of formative Jewish literature, including the Mishna, Dead Sea Scrolls
, New Testament
(as a Jewish text) and Josephus
, to reconstruct the ancient worldviews of Jews in the 1st-century Roman provinces of Iudaea and Galilaea - and only afterward investigate how Jesus fits in. They tend to view Jesus as a proto-rabbi who announced the Kingdom of Heaven
. The focus on Jesus's social environment rather than on Jesus himself is an intentional methodology to increase the influence of verifiable scientific criteria for evaluating Jesus and to reduce the influence of personal subjective criteria.
Notable scholars in this group include:
Historical Jesus
The term historical Jesus refers to scholarly reconstructions of the 1st-century figure Jesus of Nazareth. These reconstructions are based upon historical methods including critical analysis of gospel texts as the primary source for his biography, along with consideration of the historical and...
. As originally defined by Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer OM was a German theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary. He was born in Kaysersberg in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, at that time part of the German Empire...
, the quest began in the 18th century with Hermann Samuel Reimarus
Hermann Samuel Reimarus
Hermann Samuel Reimarus , was a German philosopher and writer of the Enlightenment who is remembered for his Deism, the doctrine that human reason can arrive at a knowledge of God and ethics from a study of nature and our own internal reality, thus eliminating the need for religions based on...
, up to William Wrede
William Wrede
Georg Friedrich Eduard William Wrede was a German Lutheran theologian.Wrede was born at Bücken in Hannover. He became an associate professor at Breslau in 1893, and full professor in 1896. He died in office in 1906....
in the 19th century. The quest is commonly divided into stages, and it continues today among scholars such as the fellows of the Jesus Seminar
Jesus Seminar
The Jesus Seminar is a group of about 150 critical scholars and laymen founded in 1985 by Robert Funk under the auspices of the Westar Institute....
.
Reimarus composed a treatise rejecting miracles and accusing Bible authors of fraud, but he didn't publish his findings. Gotthold Lessing published Reimarus's conclusions in the Wolfenbuettel fragments. D.F. Strauss
David Strauss
David Friedrich Strauss was a German theologian and writer. He scandalized Christian Europe with his portrayal of the "historical Jesus," whose divine nature he denied...
's biography of Jesus set Gospel criticism on its modern course. Strauss explained gospel miracles as natural events misunderstood and misrepresented. Ernest Renan
Ernest Renan
Ernest Renan was a French expert of Middle East ancient languages and civilizations, philosopher and writer, devoted to his native province of Brittany...
was the first of many to portray Jesus simply as a human person. Albrecht Ritschl
Albrecht Ritschl
Albrecht Ritschl was a German theologian.Starting in 1852, Ritschl lectured on "Systematic Theology". According to this system, faith was understood to be irreducible to other experiences, beyond the scope of reason. Faith, he said, came not from facts but from value judgments...
had reservations about this project, but it became central to liberal Protestantism in Germany and to the Social Gospel movement in America.
Martin Kähler
Martin Kähler
Martin Kähler was a German theologian. He is best known for his short work Der sogenannte historische Jesus und der geschichtliche, biblische Christus .Kähler was born in Neuhausen near Königsberg and died in Freudenstadt....
protested, arguing that the true Christ is the one preached by the whole Bible, not a historical hypothesis. William Wrede
William Wrede
Georg Friedrich Eduard William Wrede was a German Lutheran theologian.Wrede was born at Bücken in Hannover. He became an associate professor at Breslau in 1893, and full professor in 1896. He died in office in 1906....
questioned the historical reliability of Mark. Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer OM was a German theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary. He was born in Kaysersberg in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, at that time part of the German Empire...
stated that the histories of Jesus had reflected the historians' bias. Karl Barth
Karl Barth
Karl Barth was a Swiss Reformed theologian whom critics hold to be among the most important Christian thinkers of the 20th century; Pope Pius XII described him as the most important theologian since Thomas Aquinas...
and Rudolf Bultmann
Rudolf Bultmann
Rudolf Karl Bultmann was a German theologian of Lutheran background, who was for three decades professor of New Testament studies at the University of Marburg...
repudiated the quest for historical Jesus, and although the introduction of The Five Gospels asserts this it suppressed any real interest in the topic from c 1920 to c 1970, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church says there was a brief New Quest movement in the 50s conducted by Bultmann's students, and the search continued without break outside of the Bultmann school.
The First Quest
As originally defined by Schweitzer, the quest began with Reimarus and ended with Wrede. This period saw increasing influence of historical Jesus as an academic and popular topic. Soon after Wrede's work, Karl Barth and Rudolf Bultmann denounced the whole effort, marking the end of the so-called first quest.These scholars of what today would be called the Quest for the Historical Jesus applied the historical methodologies of their day to distinguish the mythology from the history of Jesus. Reimarus pioneered "the search for the historical Jesus", applying the Rationalism
Rationalism
In epistemology and in its modern sense, rationalism is "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification" . In more technical terms, it is a method or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive"...
of the Enlightenment Era to claims about Jesus. Although Schweitzer was among the greatest contributors to this quest, he also ended the quest by noting how each scholar's version of Jesus often seemed to reflect the personal ideals of the scholar, an observation first stated by Johannes Weiss
Johannes Weiss
Johannes Weiss was a German theologian and Biblical exegete.-History:Weiss was born in Kiel, Germany. A perpetual scholar, he studied in the University of Marburg, the University of Berlin, the University of Göttingen, and the University of Breslau...
in 1890, and which continues to be observed in Jesus research (as it does in other historical studies) even today.
- Hermann Samuel ReimarusHermann Samuel ReimarusHermann Samuel Reimarus , was a German philosopher and writer of the Enlightenment who is remembered for his Deism, the doctrine that human reason can arrive at a knowledge of God and ethics from a study of nature and our own internal reality, thus eliminating the need for religions based on...
(1694–1768) - credited as the father of the Quest for the Historical Jesus - Thomas JeffersonThomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
(1743–1826) - a US president who considered Jesus' ethics superb and miracles ahistorical: Jefferson BibleJefferson BibleThe Jefferson Bible, or The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth as it is formally titled, was Thomas Jefferson's effort to extract the doctrine of Jesus by removing sections of the New Testament containing supernatural aspects as well as perceived misinterpretations he believed had been added by... - David Friedrich Strauss (1808–1874) - asserted that the supernatural elements of the gospels could be treated as myth.
- Ernest RenanErnest RenanErnest Renan was a French expert of Middle East ancient languages and civilizations, philosopher and writer, devoted to his native province of Brittany...
(1823–1892) - asserted that the biography of Jesus ought to be open to historical investigation just as is the biography of any other man. - William WredeWilliam WredeGeorg Friedrich Eduard William Wrede was a German Lutheran theologian.Wrede was born at Bücken in Hannover. He became an associate professor at Breslau in 1893, and full professor in 1896. He died in office in 1906....
(1859–1906) - wrote on the Messianic SecretMessianic SecretIn Biblical criticism, the Messianic Secret refers to a proposed motif primarily in the Gospel of Mark in which Jesus is portrayed as commanding his followers to silence about his Messianic mission...
theme in the Gospel of MarkGospel of MarkThe Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...
. He also wrote a crucial study of the Second Epistle to the ThessaloniansSecond Epistle to the ThessaloniansThe Second Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians, often referred to as Second Thessalonians and written 2 Thessalonians, is a book from the New Testament of the Christian Bible...
, which argued for its inauthenticity. - Albert SchweitzerAlbert SchweitzerAlbert Schweitzer OM was a German theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary. He was born in Kaysersberg in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, at that time part of the German Empire...
(1875–1965), The Quest of the Historical JesusThe Quest of the Historical JesusThe Quest of the Historical Jesus is a 1906 work of Biblical historical criticism written by Albert Schweitzer during the previous year, before he began to study for a medical degree....
(1906) - "Schweitzer saw Jesus' ethic as only an "interim ethic" (a way of life good only for the brief period before the cataclysmic end, the eschaton). As such he found it no longer relevant or valid. Acting on his own conclusion, in 1913 Schweitzer abandoned a brilliant career in theology, turned to medicine, and went out to Africa where he founded the famous hospital at Lambaréné out of respect for all forms of life."http://www.westarinstitute.org/Polebridge/Title/5Gospels/Seven_Pillars/seven_pillars.html - Rudolf BultmannRudolf BultmannRudolf Karl Bultmann was a German theologian of Lutheran background, who was for three decades professor of New Testament studies at the University of Marburg...
- identified the Signs gospelSigns GospelThe Signs Gospel is a hypothetical gospel account of the life of Jesus Christ. Some scholars believe it to be a primary source document for the Gospel of John. This theory has its basis in source criticism...
. - Martin DibeliusMartin DibeliusMartin Dibelius was a German theologian and a professor for the New Testament at the University of Heidelberg.Martin Dibelius was born in Dresden, Germany in 1883...
- advocated that form criticism be applied to the New Testament.http://www.giffordlectures.org/Author.asp?AuthorID=31
Some recent scholars have reasserted Schweitzer's eschatological view of Jesus: see Dale Allison
Dale Allison
Dale C. Allison is a Christian theologian who currently serves as Errett M. Grable Professor of New Testament Exegesis and Early Christianity at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Prior to joining Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1997, Allison served on the faculties of Texas Christian University...
in his 1998 work Jesus of Nazareth, Milenarian Prophet and Bart D. Ehrman
Bart D. Ehrman
Bart D. Ehrman is an American New Testament scholar, currently the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill....
in 1999 work Jesus, Apolocyptic Prophet of the New Millennium. Conversely others, such as the Jesus Seminar
Jesus Seminar
The Jesus Seminar is a group of about 150 critical scholars and laymen founded in 1985 by Robert Funk under the auspices of the Westar Institute....
, have denied the authenticity of Jesus' eschatological message, describing Jesus as a wandering sage.
In the early 19th century, existentialist philosopher Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard was a Danish Christian philosopher, theologian and religious author. He was a critic of idealist intellectuals and philosophers of his time, such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling and Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel...
cast doubt on the entire project, stating unequivocally: "It is infinitely beyond history’s capacity to demonstrate that God, the omnipresent One, lived here on earth as an individual human being. History can indeed richly communicate knowledge, but such knowledge annihilates Jesus Christ."
The Period of "No Quest"
Schweitzer's critique of historical Jesus research significantly undermined the two-century old attempt to discover a historical Jesus who conformed to the tenets of Enlightenment Era rationalism. This period lasted from the time of Schweitzer until the Ernst Käsemann's 1953 lecture "The Problem of the Historical Jesus.".Boyd suggests four significant factors contributing to this malaise;
- Schweizer's critique of the Old Quest "produced a Jesus that was unappealing to modern minds" whilst at the same time his emphasis on the nonhistorical motivations of the researcher undermined confidence in the idea that one could write an objective account of the historical Jesus.
- The Old Quest had relied heavily upon the purported reliability of Mark as a source document but confidence in this thesis was decisively undermined by Wrede's critical analysis of Mark's historicity in The Messianic Secret (first published as Das Messiasgeheimnis in den Evangelien: Zugleich ein Beitrag zum Verständnis des Markusevangeliums in 1901).
- The rise of form criticism, with its emphasis on oral transmission and development of Jesus traditions together with adherence to a naturalistic world-view, "served to place an apparently immovable wall of early Christian distortion between the Gospel texts and the historical Jesus".
- A new theological perspective on the importance of historical Jesus research. Following Martin Kähler, it was increasingly accepted that "the vicissitudes of historical research with their more or less probable results could never provide a foundation for faith." This led to the widely proclaimed distinction between "the Jesus of History" and "the Christ of Faith." (Evans, 1996)
The most prominent figure from the period of "no quest" was Rudolf Bultmann
Rudolf Bultmann
Rudolf Karl Bultmann was a German theologian of Lutheran background, who was for three decades professor of New Testament studies at the University of Marburg...
. He was intensely skeptical regarding the historical Jesus and argued that the only thing we can know about Jesus is the sheer "thatness" (German: Dass) of his historical existence, and very little else. He considered the Gospels conveyed the meaning of Jesus proclamation in the dress of a "mythical" first-century world-view and argued that the Gospels must be stripped of these mythical forms ("demythologised") in order that scientifically literate persons might encounter Jesus message. By appealing to Heidegger's existential philosophy, Bultmann was able to lay an emphasis upon response to Jesus message, whilst downplaying the significance of Jesus as a historical figure.
Through this period British scholars tended to be less radical than their German counterparts and retained some confidence in the possibility of "reaching assured knowledge of the historical personality of Jesus."
The New Quest
Also called the Second Quest.The New Quest was a brief movement in the 1950s to revive the quest for historical Jesus.
These scholars emphasized the "constraints of history", so that despite uncertainties there were historical data that were usable. Moreover they disputed claims of extreme lateness for the formation of the New Testament and generally accomplished a consensus of approximately year 70 AD, give-or-take a decade or two depending on a specific text. Likewise they emphasized how the redaction of the New Testament resulted from a process over time, so that the New Testament included early textual layers, around which later and later layers crystallized. The form of the Gospel of Thomas
Gospel of Thomas
The Gospel According to Thomas, commonly shortened to the Gospel of Thomas, is a well preserved early Christian, non-canonical sayings-gospel discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945, in one of a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library...
was often argued to corroborate the existence of the Q Gospel, whose hypothetical form would resemble it.
Hypothesizing about the existence of original source texts became useful for data relevant to the Historical Jesus. These early texts continue to remain hypothetical unless future discoveries render proof of their existence.
- Gunther BornkammGünther BornkammGünther Bornkamm was a German New Testament scholar and Professor of New Testament at the University of Heidelberg.He was a student of Rudolf Bultmann with Ernst Käsemann , Ernst Fuchs and Hans Conzelmann ....
- Ernst KäsemannErnst KäsemannErnst Käsemann, , was a Lutheran theologian and professor of New Testament in Mainz , Göttingen and Tübingen .-Study and work:...
- James M. RobinsonJames M. RobinsonJames McConkey Robinson is Professor Emeritus of Religion, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California. He is a member of the Jesus Seminar and arguably the most prominent Q and Nag Hammadi library scholar of the 20th century. He is also a major contributor to The International Q...
- John A. T. Robinson
- Edward SchillebeeckxEdward SchillebeeckxEdward Cornelis Florentius Alfonsus Schillebeeckx was a Belgian Roman Catholic theologian born in Antwerp. He taught at the Catholic University in Nijmegen. He then continued writing. In his nineties, he still wanted to finish a major book about the Sacraments.He was a member of the Dominican Order...
- Gerhard EbelingGerhard EbelingGerhard Ebeling was a student of Rudolf Bultmann at Zurich University. He was a prominent participant in the movement known as "the New Quest for the historical Jesus"...
Third quest
Research into historical Jesus is strong today, especially thanks to better knowledge of first-century Judaism, a rebirth of Roman Catholic biblical scholarship, broad acceptance of historical methods, sociological insights, and literary analysis.As the Bultmann school faded, it became increasingly clear that the "new quest" was one-sided. Scholars of the new quest had a theological agenda, and they attempted to separate Jesus from Judaism and from the earliest Christian heresies. As such, they preferred orthodox sources. The "third quest" appeared first among English-speaking scholars, and sociological investigation replaced the theological orientation of the "new quest." There were, however, earlier important works by Jewish scholars such as Constantin Brunner
Constantin Brunner
Constantin Brunner was the pen-name of the German Jewish philosopher Arjeh Yehuda Wertheimer . He was born in Altona . He came from a prominent Jewish family that had lived in the vicinity of Hamburg for generations; his grandfather, Akiba Wertheimer, was chief Rabbi of Altona and Schleswig-Holstein...
(Our Christ: The Revolt of the Mystical Genius, original in German, 1921) and Joseph Klausner
Joseph Klausner
Joseph Gedaliah Klausner , , was a Jewish historian and professor of Hebrew Literature. He was the chief redactor of The Hebrew Encyclopedia...
(Jesus of Nazareth, original in Hebrew, 1922). The three characteristics typical of the "third quest" are an interest in the social history, a Jewish context for Jesus (especially restoration eschatology), and attention paid to non-canonical sources. The "third quest" is split between those scholars who advocate a return to a non-eschatological picture Jesus and those who see him as leading a eschatological restoration movement.
Non-eschatological Jesus
One group in the "third quest" contends that Jesus of Nazareth was a Jewish sage. These scholars tend to focus on the early textual layers of the New Testament for data to reconstruct a biography for the Historical Jesus. Many of these scholars rely on a redactive critique of the hypothetical Q Gospel and on a Greco-Roman "Mediterranean" milieu as opposed to a Jewish milieu and tend to view Jesus as a radical philosopher of Wisdom literatureWisdom literature
Wisdom literature is the genre of literature common in the Ancient Near East. This genre is characterized by sayings of wisdom intended to teach about divinity and about virtue...
, who strives to destabilize the economic status quo. Some scholars also rely on a critique of non-canonical texts for early textual layers that possibly evidence Jesus.
Notable scholars in this group include:
- Marcus BorgMarcus BorgMarcus J. Borg is an American Biblical scholar and author. He is a fellow of the Jesus Seminar, holds a DPhil degree from Oxford University and is Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture, an endowed chair, at Oregon State University, from which he retired in 2007...
- John Dominic CrossanJohn Dominic CrossanJohn Dominic Crossan is an Irish-American religious scholar and former Catholic priest known for co-founding the Jesus Seminar. Crossan is a major figure in the fields of biblical archaeology, anthropology and New Testament textual and higher criticism. He is also a lecturer who has appeared in...
- Alvar Ellegård
- Robert Funk
- Burton Mack
- Morton SmithMorton SmithMorton Smith was an American professor of ancient history at Columbia University. He is best known for his controversial discovery of the Mar Saba letter, a letter attributed to Clement of Alexandria containing excerpts from a Secret Gospel of Mark, during a visit to the monastery at Mar Saba in...
Jesus as eschatological prophet
The other group in the "third quest" argues that Jesus was an itinerant prophet proclaiming an eschatologicalEschatology
Eschatology is a part of theology, philosophy, and futurology concerned with what are believed to be the final events in history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, commonly referred to as the end of the world or the World to Come...
but non-apocalyptic
Apocalypse
An Apocalypse is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted. The Apocalypse of John is the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament...
message. For these scholars, the Jewishness of Jesus is first and foremost, rather than any purported Greco-Roman influences. These scholars use the archeology of Israel and the analysis of formative Jewish literature, including the Mishna, Dead Sea Scrolls
Dead Sea scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name...
, New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
(as a Jewish text) and Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
, to reconstruct the ancient worldviews of Jews in the 1st-century Roman provinces of Iudaea and Galilaea - and only afterward investigate how Jesus fits in. They tend to view Jesus as a proto-rabbi who announced the Kingdom of Heaven
Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...
. The focus on Jesus's social environment rather than on Jesus himself is an intentional methodology to increase the influence of verifiable scientific criteria for evaluating Jesus and to reduce the influence of personal subjective criteria.
Notable scholars in this group include:
- David BivinDavid BivinDavid Bivin is a biblical scholar, member of the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research and author of New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus: Insights from His Jewish Context...
- Roy Blizzard
- Raymond E. BrownRaymond E. BrownThe Reverend Raymond Edward Brown, S.S. , was an American Roman Catholic priest, a member of the Sulpician Fathers and a major Biblical scholar of his era...
- Bruce ChiltonBruce ChiltonBruce Chilton is a scholar of early Christianity and Judaism, now Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Religion at Bard College, and formerly Lillian Claus Professor of New Testament at Yale University. He holds a degree in New Testament from Cambridge University...
- Haim Cohn
- James H. CharlesworthJames H. CharlesworthJames H. Charlesworth is the George L. Collord Professor of New Testament Language and Literature and director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Project at Princeton Theological Seminary. He is noted for his research in Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, the Dead Sea Scrolls,...
- W.D. Davies
- James D. G. Dunn
- Robert EisenmanRobert EisenmanRobert Eisenman is an American Biblical scholar, theoretical writer, historian, archaeologist, and "road" poet. He is currently Professor of Middle East Religions, Archaeology, and Islamic Law and director of the Institute for the Study of...
- Harvey Falk
- David FlusserDavid FlusserDavid Flusser was a professor of Early Christianity and Judaism of the Second Temple Period at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.- Biography :...
- Paula FredriksenPaula FredriksenPaula Fredriksen is a historian and a scholar of religious studies. She held the position of William Goodwin Aurelio Professor of the Appreciation of Scripture at Boston University through 2010 and is now the William Goodwin Aurelio Chair Emerita of the Appreciation of Scripture.She earned a Ph.D...
- Joachim JeremiasJoachim JeremiasJoachim Jeremias was a German Lutheran theologian, scholar of Near Eastern Studies and university professor for New Testament studies. He was abbot of Bursfelde, 1968–1971....
- Ray Vander Laan
- Robert Lisle LindseyRobert Lisle LindseyRobert Lisle Lindsey, also known as Bob Lindsey , founded together with David Flusser the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research.He spend most of his adult life as pastor in the Holy Land. He is especially known for pastoring the Narkis Street Baptist Church in Jerusalem...
- John P. MeierJohn P. MeierJohn Paul Meier is a Biblical scholar and Catholic priest. He attended St. Joseph's Seminary and College , Gregorian University [Rome] , and the Biblical Institute [Rome]...
- Ron Moseley
- Jacob NeusnerJacob NeusnerJacob Neusner is an American academic scholar of Judaism who lives in Rhinebeck, New York.-Biography:Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Neusner was educated at Harvard University, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America , the University of Oxford, and Columbia University.Neusner is often celebrated...
- Peter Pokorny
- Ray A. Pritz
- Dwight A. Pryor
- E.P. Sanders
- Shmuel SafraiShmuel SafraiShmuel Safrai was Professor Emeritus of History of the Jewish People at Hebrew University. Safrai authored over eighty articles and twelve books.-Awards:In 1986, Safrai received the Jerusalem Prize....
- David H. SternDavid H. SternDr. David Harold Stern is an Israel-based theologian. He is the third son of Harold Stern and Marion Levi Stern.Stern's major work is the Complete Jewish Bible, his English translation of the Tanakh and New Testament...
- Geza VermesGeza VermesGéza Vermes or Vermès is a British scholar of Jewish Hungarian origin and writer on religious history, particularly Jewish and Christian. He is a noted authority on the Dead Sea Scrolls and other ancient works in Aramaic, and on the life and religion of Jesus...
- Marvin R. WilsonMarvin R. WilsonMarvin R. Wilson is an American evangelical Biblical scholar, and Harold J. Ockenga Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts.-Education:...
- Ben Witherington
- N. T. Wright
- Brad H. YoungBradford Humes YoungBradford Humes Young, also known as Brad Young is a Professor of Biblical Literature in Judeao Christian Studies at the Graduate Department of Oral Roberts University. He is also founder and President of the Gospel Research Foundation, Inc....
- Members of the Jerusalem School (a consortium of Israeli Christian and Jewish scholars: periodical Jerusalem Perspective)
See also
- Cultural and historical background of JesusCultural and historical background of JesusMost scholars who study the Historical Jesus and Early Christianity believe that the Canonical Gospels and life of Jesus must be viewed as firmly placed within his historical and cultural context, rather than purely in terms of Christian orthodoxy...
- Historical JesusHistorical JesusThe term historical Jesus refers to scholarly reconstructions of the 1st-century figure Jesus of Nazareth. These reconstructions are based upon historical methods including critical analysis of gospel texts as the primary source for his biography, along with consideration of the historical and...
- Historicity of JesusHistoricity of JesusThe historicity of Jesus concerns how much of what is written about Jesus of Nazareth is historically reliable, and whether the evidence supports the existence of such an historical figure...
- Jesus as mythJesus as mythThe term Jesus myth theory in its broadest context refers to the idea that the person named Jesus referred in the Gospels is a myth....