Whose Historical Jesus?

Description

The figure of Jesus has fascinated Western civilization for centuries. As the year 2000 approaches, eliciting connections with Jesus’ birth and return, excitement grows — as does the number of studies about Jesus. Cutting through this mass of material, Whose Historical Jesus? provides a collection of penetrating, jargon-free, intelligently organized essays that convey well both the centrality and the complexity of deciphering the historical Jesus.

Contributors include such eminent scholars as John Dominic Crossan, Burton L. Mack, Seán Freyne and Peter Richardson. Essays range from traditional to modern and postmodern and address both recent and enduring concerns. Introductions and reflections augment these lucid essays, provide context and help the reader focus on the issues at stake. Whose Historical Jesus? will be of interest to all who wish to understand the current controversies and historical debates, who want insightful critiques of those views or who would like guidance on the direction of future studies.

Sujets

• Religión
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
• Date de parution: 30 octobre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780889203846
• Langue: English

Extrait

Studies in Christianity and Judaism / Études sur le christianisme et le juda sme: 7
Studies in Christianity and Judaism/ Études sur le christianisme et le juda sme
Studies in Christianity and Judaism / Études sur le christianisme et le juda sme publishes monographs on Christianity and Judaism in the last two centuries before the common era and the first six centuries of the common era, with a special interest in studies of their interrelationship or the cultural and social context in which they developed. GENERAL EDITOR: Peter Richardson University of Toronto EDITORIAL BOARD: Paula Fredriksen Boston University John Gager Princeton University Olivette Genest Universit de Montr al Paul-Hubert Poirier Universit Laval Adele Reinhartz McMaster University Stephen G. Wilson Carleton University Lyle Eslinger (ex officio) Canadian Society of Biblical Studies
STUDIES IN CHRISTIANITY AND JUDAISM
Number 7
WHOSE HISTORICAL JESUS?
Edited by William E. Arnal and Michel Desjardins
Published for the Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion / Corporation Canadienne des Sciences Religieuses by Wilfrid Laurier University Press 1997
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
Whose historical Jesus?
(Studies in Christianity and Judaism = Études sur le christianisme et le judaisme ESCJ ; v. 7) Edited papers presented at the annual meetings of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies on June 8-9, 1993 and June 6,1994. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-88920-295-8
1. Jesus Christ - Historicity. I. Arnal, William E. (William Edward), 1967- . II. Desjardins, Michel Robert, 1951- . III. Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion. IV. Series.
BT303.2.W46 1997 232.9 08 C97-930748-1

1997 Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion / Corporation Canadienne des Sciences Religieuses
Cover design by Leslie Macredie
Whose Historical Jesus? has been produced from a manuscript supplied in camera-ready form by the author.
All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyrights hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means-graphic, electronic or mechanical-without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any request for photocopying, recording, taping or reproducing in information storage and retrieval systems of any part of this book shall be directed in writing to the Canadian Reprography Collective, 214 King Street West, Suite 312, Toronto, Ontario M5H 3S6.
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Wilfrid Laurier University Press Wilfrid Laurier University Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3C5 Printed in Canada
CONTENTS
PREFACE
Michel Desjardins
PART ONE: RECENT CONCERNS
The Mediterranean Jesus
1. The Mediterranean Jesus: Context
William Klassen
2. Itinerants and Householders in the Earliest Jesus Movement
John Dominic Crossan
3. Q and a Cynic-Like Jesus
Burton L. Mack
4. The Gospel of Thomas and the Cynic Jesus
John W. Marshall
The Galilean Jewish Jesus
5. The Galilean Jewish Jesus: Context
William E. Arnal
6. Galilean Questions to Crossan s Mediterranean Jesus
Se n Freyne
Socio-Rhetorical Interests
7. Socio-Rhetorical Interests: Context
Willi Braun
8. The Rhetoric of the Historical Jesus
L. Gregory Bloomquist
9. Cosmology and the Jesus Miracles
Wendy Cotter
10. The Theological Importance of the Third Quest for the Historical Jesus
Halvor Moxnes
Academic Engagement
11. Academic Engagement: Context
Sandra Walker-Ramisch
12. A Feminist Experience of Historical-Jesus Scholarship
Jane Schaberg
13. The Historical Jesus and African New Testament Scholarship
Grant LeMarquand
Recent Concerns: Closing Thoughts
14. Recent Concerns: The Scholar as Engag
Leif E. Vaage
PART TWO: ENDURING CONCERNS
Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls
15. Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls: Context
Terence L. Donaldson
16. The Historical Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Wayne O. McCreadyy
Apocalypticism
17. Apocalypticism: Context
Dietmar Neufeld
18. Will the Reader Understand? Apocalypse as Veil or Vision in Recent Historical-Jesus Research
Edith M. Humphrey
The Christ of Faith
19. The Christ of Faith: Context
Stephen Westerholm
20. Is the Historical Jesus a Christological Construct?
Barry W. Henaut
Continuing Historical-Jesus Studies
21. Continuing Historical-Jesus Studies: Context
Robert L. Webb
22. A Taxonomy of Recent Historical-Jesus Work
Larry W. Hurtado
Enduring Concerns: Closing Thoughts
23. Enduring Concerns: Desiderata for Future Historical-Jesus Research
Peter Richardson
CONCLUSION
24. Making and Re-Making the Jesus Sign: Contemporary Markings on the Body of Christ
William E. Arnal
CONTRIBUTORS
INDICES
Subject Index
Modern Authors Index
Ancient Sources Index
PREFACE Michel Desjardins
The 1980s and 1990s have witnessed a breath-taking revival of historical-Jesus studies. Recovering the first-century Jesus matters more to Christian Origins scholars now than it has for over a century. Particularly in North America, the Jesus Seminar has reflected and enhanced this modern quest; 1 so too have several major studies, most notably E. P. Sanders Jesus and Judaism 2 and John Dominic Crossan s The Historical Jesus. 3 The approach of the millenium-the year 2000, after all, elicits connections with Jesus birth and return-ensures that this revival has not yet run its course.
Anniversaries also form the matrix of this book, which emerges from two successive years of discussions held at the annual meetings of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies on June 8-9, 1993 and June 6, 1994. The year 1993 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the Canadian Learneds, the regular venue for members of the CSBS. It also marked, as some of us whimsically observed after our 1992 meeting, a more likely two-thousandth anniversary of Jesus birth, a fitting occasion to address the burgeoning field of historical-Jesus studies.
This synchronicity led to plans for a special CSBS seminar on the historical Jesus at the 1993 Carleton University Learneds in Ottawa, highlighting some of the major theorists in the field, and for a second round of assessments and analyses at the University of Calgary Learneds the following year. Peter Richardson and I assumed organizational responsibility for these meetings. We were delighted to gain the participation of some of the most exciting historical-Jesus scholars from outside the country, as well as an exceptionally wide range of gifted Canadian academics. The 1993 session revolved around presentations by John Dominic Crossan (Chicago), Burton Mack (Claremont), Jane Schaberg (Detroit), Se n Freyne (Dublin) and Halvor Moxnes (Oslo)-with closing remarks by Paula Fredriksen (Boston). 4 Other participants (some joining a round-table discussion, some also responding formally to the papers) included Sandra Walker-Ramisch (Montr al), Willi Braun (Toronto), William Arnal (Toronto), Edith Humphrey (Montr al), Gregory Bloomquist (Ottawa), Margaret MacDonald (Ottawa), Lloyd Gaston (Vancouver), Leif Vaage (Toronto) and Stephen Wilson (Ottawa). The 1994 session highlighted papers by Wendy Cotter (Chicago), Gregory Bloomquist (Ottawa), Robert Cousland (Calgary), John Marshall (Princeton), Wayne McCready (Calgary), Grant LeMarquand (Toronto), Edith Humphrey (Montr al), Larry Hurtado (Winnipeg) and Barry Henaut (Ottawa). Responding were Daniel Fraikin (Kingston), Willi Braun (Toronto), Dietmar Neufeld (Vancouver), Terence Donaldson (Saskatoon), William Klassen (Waterloo), Stephen Westerholm (Hamilton) and Robert Webb (Regina). Both sessions attracted broad audiences (scholars in the field and in related fields, graduate students, non-academics). They were distinguished by their serious conversations and collegial tone.
This book captures the remarkable spirit of these meetings. It includes the major papers, 5 edited to reflect their new setting, fresh introductions by original respondents and section conclusions by Leif Vaage and Peter Richardson. 6 Readers will find here a representative sample of current academic perspectives on Jesus-with the occasional surprise (e.g., Schaberg, LeMarquand) and plea for change (e.g., Cotter, Bloomquist). Readers will also hear more Canadian voices on this issue than ever before collected in a single volume. The combination is as noteworthy as the revival of historical-Jesus studies in our own time; it brings to mind the 1993 program s closing words: gaudeamus igitur.
Bill and I are deeply thankful for the help we have received in preparing this book. Most notable have been the grants from Wilfrid Laurier University s Office of Research and from the Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion, as well as the support of Sandra Woolfrey, Director of Wilfrid Laurier University Press. Most importantly, without Peter Richardson s initiative and expert guidance, this book would never have seen the light of day.
1 The Jesus Seminar was established by Robert Funk in March 1985 to examine the parables and aphorisms attributed to Jesus, in order to separate what Jesus might have really said from what the early Christian communities ascribed to him. The Seminar s voting practice (scholars dropping red, pink, grey and black beads into boxes to reflect their assessment of the historical reliability of each saying) and frequent engagements with the media have given it a measure of notoriety. Some important publications to emerge from the context of this seminar include: