Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus recent issues

List of Contributors

2007-09-12

Editorial Foreword

Webb, R. L. — 2007-09-12

Jesus the Israelite Was Neither a `Jew' Nor a `Christian': On Correcting Misleading Nomenclature

Elliott, J. H. — 2007-09-12

Distinguishing between insider and outsider groups and their differing nomenclatures is essential for accurate interpretation and translation. Jesus and his earliest followers, evidence demonstrates, were called `Israelites', `Galileans' or `Nazoreans' by their fellow Israelites. `Israel', `Israelites' were the preferred terms of self-designation among members of the house of Israel when addressing other members—not `'Ioo', `Jew' or `Judaism'. Modern interpreters and translators of the Bible, it is argued, should respect and follow this insider preference. 'Ioo , an outsider coinage, is best rendered `Judaean', not `Jew', to reflect the explicit or implied connection with Judaea. It was employed by Israelites when addressing outsiders as an accommodation to outsider usage. The concepts `Jew', `Jewish' and `Christian' as understood today are shaped more by fourth century rather than first-century CE realities and hence should be avoided as anachronistic designations for first-century persons or groups. Use of `Christian' is best restricted to its three NT appearances. The use of appropriate nomenclature is crucial for minimizing historical and social inaccuracies and misunderstandings.

The Coming Son of Man Revisited

Kazen, T. — 2007-09-12

The interpretation of the synoptic Son of Man is still a formidable swamp with no consensus emerging. Unfortunately, one of the most interesting suggestions, the collective interpretation of Manson, Moule and Gaston, has been somehow left by the wayside. It has certain advantages, however, in respecting both the basic `generic' sense of an underlying Semitic expression and the Danielic kingdom imagery, without denying this expression for the historical Jesus. The present article focuses on the coming Son of Man sayings and demonstrates the plausibility of applying a collective interpretation to them. The result is an eschatology, focusing not on an individual redeemer figure, but on the manifestation of the Kingdom in community practice. Some suggestions are offered for how such an eschatology, based on a collective interpretation of the coming Son of Man, could `mutate' so quickly into the idea of a second coming of Christ.

Did the Historical Jesus Prohibit All Oaths?: Part 1

Meier, J. P. — 2007-09-12

The total prohibition of oaths (Mt. 5.34-37) come from the historical Jesus. The criterion of discontinuity argues that there is no parallel to Jesus' total prohibition of oaths in the Jewish Scriptures, the intertestamental literature prior to 70 CE, or the New Testament. The Jewish Scriptures take oaths for granted and impose them in a few cases. Apart from Jas 5.12, the New Tetsament knows of no prohibition; Paul uses oaths with abandon. The criterion of multiple attestation argues that Jas 5.12 represents an independent tradition of the prohibition; Jas 5.12 is parallel to Mt. 5.34-37 in both content and structure; James has other examples of Jesus' sayings woven into his epistle without attribution; and Jas 5.12 is at odds with James's treatment of the Law in the rest of his epistle. Hence Jas 5.12 qualifies as an independent witness to an isolated stream of oral tradition preserving Jesus' prohibition. This is Part 1 of a two-part essay.

Book List: Books on the Historical Jesus

Webb, R. L. — 2007-09-12

Books Received

2007-09-12

List of Contributors

2006-12-15

Editorial Foreword

Webb, R. L. — 2006-12-15

Herod Antipas in Galilee: Friend or Foe of the Historical Jesus?

Jensen, M. H. — 2006-12-15

The quest for the secrets of first-century Galilee has recently attracted much intense interest, fuelling not least the occasionally heated debate about the cultural and socio-economic setting of the historical Jesus. Interest centres in particular on Herod Antipas’ impact on the region’s socio-economic stability. Was he good or bad news for the ordinary rural peasant population, and did his urbanization pro-gramme critically impact on Jesus and his movement? No consensus has been reached regarding this and similar questions, and Antipas is presently promoted as the key figure in conflicting views of first-century Galilee as either enjoying good and stable conditions, or subject to heavy economic pressure aggravating indebt-edness and tenancy. Surprisingly, the reign of Antipas has only been treated cur-sorily, with Harold Hoehner’s dissertation from 1972 being the one exception, since when intense archaeological activity has produced much new insight on ancient Galilee. Building on a larger study, this article therefore explores the sources, both literary and archaeological, of Antipas’ reign with a view to deter-mining its socio-economic consequences. It will be argued that Antipas’ impact on early first-century Galilee was probably more moderate than often assumed by scholars of the historical Jesus.

Fictionalizing Jesus: Story and History in Two Recent Jesus Novels

Crook, Z. — 2006-12-15

From canonical and extra-canonical gospels to the modern phenomenon of the ‘Jesus novel’, people have been fictionalizing Jesus by filling in gaps in the historical and narrative record. This essay inaugurates a field of inquiry by contrasting two recent novels, Norman Mailer’s The Gospel According to the Son (1997) and Nino Ricci’s Testament (2002). In particular it examines how each of the novels depicts the role and character of Judas Iscariot, the question of Jesus’ performance of miracles, as well as how each novel depicts Jesus. In all, the remarkable historical plausibility of these novels, or parts of them, raises the very interesting issue of the relationship between story and history, between fiction and history.

Jesus as The High Priestly Messiah: Part 2

Fletcher-Louis, C. H.T. — 2006-12-15

Recent study of the priesthood in Second Temple life and thought invites a reconsideration of Jesus’ self- understanding. The appeal to Psalm 110 and Dan. 7.13 indicates that Jesus thought that, although not of priestly lineage, nevertheless he would ultimately be the nation’s king and priest after the order of Melchizedek. Mark 1-6 contains a programmatic statement of Jesus’ claim to a high priestly identity as the ‘holy one of God’ (1.24), with a high priestly contagious holiness (1.40-45; 5.25-34; 5.35-43), freedom to forgive sins (2.1-12) and the embodiment of divine presence in a Galilean cornfield (2.23-28). As true high priest he makes divine presence ‘draw near’ to God’s people (1.15), where before they had to ‘draw near’ to the Jerusalem temple. The hypothesis that Jesus thought he was Israel’s long awaited eschatological high priest resolves otherwise intractable problems in historical Jesus scholarship. This is Part 2 of a two-part essay.

Was Jesus Illegitimate? The Evidence of His Social Interactions

McGrath, J. F. — 2006-12-15

This article examines the social status of the historical Jesus in relation to recent studies that place Jesus into the social category of an illegitimate child. After surveying the evidence with respect to the situation of such individuals in first-century Mediterranean and Jewish society, we shall proceed to examine whether Jesus’ implied social status (as evidenced by accounts of his adult social interactions) coheres with what one would expect in the case of someone who bore the stigma of that status. Our study suggests that the scandal caused by Jesus’ association with the marginalized clearly implies that he did not himself fall into that category.

Book Review: Books on the Historical Jesus: The Historical Jesus in Recent Research

Webb, R. L. — 2006-12-15

Book Review: Prophet and Teacher: An Introduction to the Historical Jesus

Webb, R. L. — 2006-12-15

Book Review: Jesus and His Death: Historiography, the Historical Jesus, and Atonement Theory

Webb, R. L. — 2006-12-15

Book Review: Jesus and Politics: Confronting the Powers

Webb, R. L. — 2006-12-15

Book Review: Books on Subjects Related to the Historical Jesus: Resurrecting Jesus: The Earliest Christian Tradition and Its Interpreters

Webb, R. L. — 2006-12-15

Book Review: The Symbolic Jesus: Historical Scholarship, Judaism and the Construction of Contemporary Identity

Webb, R. L. — 2006-12-15

Book Review: The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament

Webb, R. L. — 2006-12-15

Book Review: Mark's Other Gospel: Rethinking Morton Smith's Controversial Discovery

Webb, R. L. — 2006-12-15

Book Review: The Gospel Hoax: Morton Smith's Invention of Secret Mark

Webb, R. L. — 2006-12-15

Book Review: A New Perspective on Jesus: What the Quest for the Historical Jesus Missed

Webb, R. L. — 2006-12-15

Book Review: Is Jesus the Only Savior?

Webb, R. L. — 2006-12-15

Book Review: Das Petrusevangelium und die Petrusapokalypse. Die griechischen Fragmente mid deutscher und englischer Ubersetzung, vol. I of Neutestamentliche Apokryphen

Webb, R. L. — 2006-12-15

Book Review: An Introduction to Jesus and the Gospels

Webb, R. L. — 2006-12-15

Book Review: Jesus' Last Week, Vol. I of Jerusalem Studies in the Synoptic Gospels

Webb, R. L. — 2006-12-15

Book Review: Building Jewish in the Roman East

Webb, R. L. — 2006-12-15

Book Review: Resurrection of the Body in Early Judaism and Early Christianity: Doctrine, Community, and Self-Definition

Webb, R. L. — 2006-12-15

Book Received

2006-12-15

List of Contributors

2006-04-27

Editorial Foreword

Webb, R. L. — 2006-04-27

Seeing What is There in Spite of Ourselves: George Tyrrell, John Dominic Crossan, and Robert Frost on Faces in Deep Wells

Poirier, J. C. — 2006-04-27

John Dominic Crossan recently used Robert Frost's poem ‘For Once, Then, Something’ to illustrate (and partially refute) the familiar charge that historical Jesus scholars have seen a reflection of their own faces looking down into the depths of a well rather than any sort of purchase on the historical Jesus. In so doing, Crossan has misunderstood both Frost's poem and the intention behind the original wellgazer metaphor as coined by George Tyrrell. Although there is little indication that Crossan has applied his newly honed ‘interactivism’ at any point in his work, the problems with the epistemology that he renders are too great to ignore. This article also notes problems with epistemologies advanced by other historical Jesus scholars.

The Hermeneutics of Fictional Black and Factual Red: the Markan Simon of Cyrene and the Quest for the Historical Jesus

Lyons, W. J. — 2006-04-27

This article notes the polarized nature of scholarship on Simon of Cyrene (Mark 15.21) and reviews the evidence used to support both the view that he is a fictional character and the view that he is a historical figure. This falls into four categories: competing traditions, homiletic function, absence of Christian witnesses, and the significance of Alexander and Rufus. Concluding that the evidence invoked cannot account for these divergent views, I propose that the decisive factor in scholarly choice is hermeneutical in origin; it is the influence of the matrix of presuppositions that each scholar brings to this text. Until such time as we have investigated these matrices more fully, I suggest that any agreement on texts like Mark 15.21 will remain strictly limited. By way of conclusion, my personal view of Simon is outlined and deemed less than adequate in the light of this study.

Jesus as the High Priestly Messiah:: Part 1

Fletcher-Louis, C. H. T. — 2006-04-27

Recent study of the priesthood in Second Temple life and thought invites a reconsideration of Jesus’ self-understanding. The appeal to Psalm 110 and Daniel 7.13 indicates that Jesus thought that, although not of priestly lineage, nevertheless he would ultimately be the nation's king and priest after the order of Melchizedek. Mark 1–6 contains a programmatic statement of Jesus’ claim to a high priestly identity as the ‘holy one of God’ (1.24), with a high priestly contagious holiness (1.40-45; 5.25-34; 5.35-43), freedom to forgive sins (2.1-12) and the embodiment of divine presence in a Galilean cornfield (2.23-28). As true high priest he makes divine presence ‘draw near’ to God's people (1.15), where before they had to ‘draw near’ to the Jerusalem temple. The hypothesis that Jesus thought he was Israel's long-awaited eschatological high priest resolves otherwise intractable problems in historical Jesus scholarship. This is Part 1 of a two-part essay.

Jesus Heals a Leper: Mark 1.40-45 and Egerton Gospel 35-47

Webb, R. L. — 2006-04-27

While recent historical Jesus studies often appreciate the role played by Jesus’ characteristic activities, debate continues over the historicity of specific examples of such activities. This essay examines the story of Jesus healing a leper as a specific example of Jesus’ activity of healing. In particular it shows the contribution to be made by analyzing the account in the Egerton Gospel 35–47 alongside Mark 1.40-45. The nature of leprosy in the ancient Mediterranean world and the sociocultural realities of a frst-century Jewish context contribute to this analysis. The essay concludes that within the bounds of historical probability Jesus healed a leper (not Hansen's disease but a flaking skin condition). Jesus responded to the man's request by anticipating the priestly declaration that he would be clean and making this possible by curing the man's disease (i.e., his bio-medical condition) by means of verbal command and probably also through touch. Jesus instructed the man to seek a priest's declaration of cleanness in order to heal his illness (i.e., his socio-cultural condition) which Jesus had anticipated would be the result of his response.

Holtzmann's Life of Jesus According to the 'A' Source: Part 2

Kloppenborg, J. S. — 2006-04-27

H.J. Holtzmann's Die synoptischen Evangelien(1863) is not only regarded as having established Markan priority and the basic contours of the Two Source hypothesis; it also offered a sketch of the life of Jesus based on a Mark-like source that represents a starting point for the so-called ‘Liberal Lives of Jesus’ which prevailed from 1863 until the early 1900s. Holtzmann's ‘Life’ portrayed Jesus as an exemplary personality, and posited psychological development in seven stages in the career of Jesus. This essay discusses the intellectual context leading to Holtzmann's book and then offers an annotated English translation of Holtzmann's ‘Life of Jesus’. This is Part 2 of a two-part essay.

Book List

2006-04-27

Books Received

2006-04-27

Editorial Foreword

Webb, R. L. — 2006-01-17

Educating Jesus: The Search for a Plausible Context

Foster, P. — 2006-01-17

Many reconstructions of the life of the historical Jesus have tended to portray him as being born into illiterate peasant stock. By so doing, significant statements in the Gospels, both canonical and non-canonical, are ignored. While much caution is needed, since there is a tendency to valorize the young Jesus in early Christian literature and to heighten miraculous events surrounding his childhood, nonetheless there are indicators that Jesus' background did not reflect the lowest echelons of Galilean peasantry. Instead, it is suggested that internal Gospel evidence and knowledge of aspects of the social milieu of first-century Judaism give weight to seeing Jesus as a person with what would now be classified as functional on basic literacy levels.

Assessing Progress in the Third Quest of the Historical Jesus

Evans, C. A. — 2006-01-17

Although historical-Jesus research in the last three decades has produced a great deal of divergent results, one is able to discern several important areas of progress. Perhaps the most important gain is in a renewed appreciation of the Judaic character of Jesus, his mission, and his world. New source material and more nuanced, contextual methodology have sharpened Jesus' profile as a Galilean Jew, standing in the tradition of Israel's redemption and restoration.

The Criterion of Greek Language and Context: A response to Stanley E. Porter

Bird, M. F. — 2006-01-17

This essay examines Stanley E. Porter's proposed new criterion of authenticity, the criterion of Greek language and context. This criterion attempts to recover the Greek words of Jesus embedded in the Gospels. Porter presents a robust case for a multilingual Palestinian environment and highlights the value of language tools for historical-Jesus study. Despite this, Porter's proposed new criterion is questionable for several reasons. (1) The character of the Jesus tradition is not conducive to a recovery of the purported Greek words of Jesus; (2) the extent that Greek was spoken in Galilee remains debatable; (3) Porter risks the fallacy of moving from the general to the particular; (4) the Greek-speaking background of Jesus’ dialogue partners does not require that conversations transpired in Greek; and (5) Porter remains dependent upon additional criteria to establish the authenticity of a given logion or pericope.

The Criterion of Greek Language and its Context: A Further Response

Porter, S. E. — 2006-01-17

This essay responds to Michael Bird's critique of my criterion of Greek language and its context, put forward especially in my The Criteria for Authenticity in Historical-Jesus Research: Previous Discussion and New Proposals(JSNTSup, 191; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000), pp. 126-80. I clarify the nature of the criterion by noting that Bird several times seems not to clearly understand that it tries to establish probability criteria for proposing that Jesus may have spoken Greek on particular occasions.

Holtzmann's Life of Jesus according to the 'A' Source: Part 1

Kloppenborg, J. S. — 2006-01-17

Book List

RLW, — 2006-01-17

Books Received

2006-01-17