Tania Oldenhage
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195150520
- eISBN:
- 9780199834549
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019515052X.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Introduces Joachim Jeremias's book The Parables of Jesus, which was first published in 1947 and strongly shaped the postwar scholarly discourse on New Testament parables. Oldenhage clarifies how the ...
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Introduces Joachim Jeremias's book The Parables of Jesus, which was first published in 1947 and strongly shaped the postwar scholarly discourse on New Testament parables. Oldenhage clarifies how the assumptions of historical criticism led to Jeremias's search for the parables’ first historical setting. In the second part of the chapter, Oldenhage discusses recent critical responses to the anti‐Judaism that is a part of the Jeremias's scholarly rhetoric. New research on the historical Jesus seeks to integrate Jesus within his Jewish context and seeks to understand Jesus’ parables as part of the tradition of Judaism.Less
Introduces Joachim Jeremias's book The Parables of Jesus, which was first published in 1947 and strongly shaped the postwar scholarly discourse on New Testament parables. Oldenhage clarifies how the assumptions of historical criticism led to Jeremias's search for the parables’ first historical setting. In the second part of the chapter, Oldenhage discusses recent critical responses to the anti‐Judaism that is a part of the Jeremias's scholarly rhetoric. New research on the historical Jesus seeks to integrate Jesus within his Jewish context and seeks to understand Jesus’ parables as part of the tradition of Judaism.
Adele Reinhartz
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195146967
- eISBN:
- 9780199785469
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195146967.003.0013
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter describes the progression from “Jesus of Nazareth” to “Jesus of Hollywood”, and summarizes the main conclusions of the previous chapters. If the historical Jesus of Nazareth was the ...
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This chapter describes the progression from “Jesus of Nazareth” to “Jesus of Hollywood”, and summarizes the main conclusions of the previous chapters. If the historical Jesus of Nazareth was the unique and only Son of God as the Gospels proclaim, then Jesus of Hollywood is his opposite — multiple, diverse, and born of many parents. These include not only the directors of the Jesus biopics over the course of a century, but the numerous others professionals, including screenwriters, producers, camera operators, and costume and set designers, whose creative and technical work is essential for the production of any film. As the products of multiple authors, the biopic Jesuses have more in common with the main character of the Gospel narratives, who varies somewhat from text to text. Yet while some of the movie Saviors' actions and words resemble those attributed to Jesus in the Gospels, it is unlikely that the Evangelists would recognize their own particular Jesus in any of the films that have been discussed.Less
This chapter describes the progression from “Jesus of Nazareth” to “Jesus of Hollywood”, and summarizes the main conclusions of the previous chapters. If the historical Jesus of Nazareth was the unique and only Son of God as the Gospels proclaim, then Jesus of Hollywood is his opposite — multiple, diverse, and born of many parents. These include not only the directors of the Jesus biopics over the course of a century, but the numerous others professionals, including screenwriters, producers, camera operators, and costume and set designers, whose creative and technical work is essential for the production of any film. As the products of multiple authors, the biopic Jesuses have more in common with the main character of the Gospel narratives, who varies somewhat from text to text. Yet while some of the movie Saviors' actions and words resemble those attributed to Jesus in the Gospels, it is unlikely that the Evangelists would recognize their own particular Jesus in any of the films that have been discussed.
Sarah Coakley
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198263746
- eISBN:
- 9780191682643
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198263746.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter examines the mature Christology of the Glaubenslehre. This Christology can be conveniently considered under two headings. The discussion concentrates first on the place that the ...
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This chapter examines the mature Christology of the Glaubenslehre. This Christology can be conveniently considered under two headings. The discussion concentrates first on the place that the historical Jesus holds in Troeltsch's position, and gives predominant place to reflection on the 1911 lecture ‘The Significance of the Historical Existence of Jesus for Faith’. It is characteristic of Troeltsch's mature Christology to insist that the historical Jesus is indeed of some importance for faith, and this reveals the ‘realist’ streak in his Christology, his demand that Christology be in some sense grounded, at least, in verifiable facts about Jesus of Nazareth.Less
This chapter examines the mature Christology of the Glaubenslehre. This Christology can be conveniently considered under two headings. The discussion concentrates first on the place that the historical Jesus holds in Troeltsch's position, and gives predominant place to reflection on the 1911 lecture ‘The Significance of the Historical Existence of Jesus for Faith’. It is characteristic of Troeltsch's mature Christology to insist that the historical Jesus is indeed of some importance for faith, and this reveals the ‘realist’ streak in his Christology, his demand that Christology be in some sense grounded, at least, in verifiable facts about Jesus of Nazareth.
Carnley Peter
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198267560
- eISBN:
- 9780191683299
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198267560.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter discusses the third possibility and approach to the resurrection belief. While the previous chapters tackled the resurrection of Jesus as assimilable to other events of the human past ...
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This chapter discusses the third possibility and approach to the resurrection belief. While the previous chapters tackled the resurrection of Jesus as assimilable to other events of the human past and as an eschatological event, the present chapter looks at resurrection as not to be understood as a response to a post-mortem event in any sense at all. Rather, it argues that faith is founded upon the completed life of the historical Jesus, which means that faith is based on the birth and crucifixion of Christ. The story of the resurrection is then held to be a way of expressing this faith; it is the product of faith rather than the grounds of it, myth rather than a record of fact. Included in the chapter are the views of Willi Marxsen, a German New Testament scholar, and Don Cupitt, a contemporary British philosophical theologian. Both scholars achieved identical conclusions on the basic structure of Christian faith, despite approaching it through different routes.Less
This chapter discusses the third possibility and approach to the resurrection belief. While the previous chapters tackled the resurrection of Jesus as assimilable to other events of the human past and as an eschatological event, the present chapter looks at resurrection as not to be understood as a response to a post-mortem event in any sense at all. Rather, it argues that faith is founded upon the completed life of the historical Jesus, which means that faith is based on the birth and crucifixion of Christ. The story of the resurrection is then held to be a way of expressing this faith; it is the product of faith rather than the grounds of it, myth rather than a record of fact. Included in the chapter are the views of Willi Marxsen, a German New Testament scholar, and Don Cupitt, a contemporary British philosophical theologian. Both scholars achieved identical conclusions on the basic structure of Christian faith, despite approaching it through different routes.
Philip Clayton and Steven Knapp
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199695270
- eISBN:
- 9780191731945
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199695270.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion, Religion and Society
What reason is there to think that something of enduring religious importance happened in the case of Jesus? In the Christian tradition, the most striking claim for Jesus’ importance is that he was ...
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What reason is there to think that something of enduring religious importance happened in the case of Jesus? In the Christian tradition, the most striking claim for Jesus’ importance is that he was “raised” from the dead. But although belief in Jesus’ resurrection has always been central to Christian belief, it turns out that the resurrection claim can mean many different things. This chapter begins with two minimalistic accounts of resurrection, the symbolic theory and the exemplary theory. A stronger claim, the participatory theory, claims that the resurrection established a new mode of divine-human relationship. Only this last approach allows one to speak of an ongoing influence of “the Spirit of Christ” beyond the first century. Yet, although this claim is much stronger than the first two options, it remains consistent with the constraints on divine action established in earlier chapters.Less
What reason is there to think that something of enduring religious importance happened in the case of Jesus? In the Christian tradition, the most striking claim for Jesus’ importance is that he was “raised” from the dead. But although belief in Jesus’ resurrection has always been central to Christian belief, it turns out that the resurrection claim can mean many different things. This chapter begins with two minimalistic accounts of resurrection, the symbolic theory and the exemplary theory. A stronger claim, the participatory theory, claims that the resurrection established a new mode of divine-human relationship. Only this last approach allows one to speak of an ongoing influence of “the Spirit of Christ” beyond the first century. Yet, although this claim is much stronger than the first two options, it remains consistent with the constraints on divine action established in earlier chapters.
Dale B. Martin
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780300222838
- eISBN:
- 9780300227918
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300222838.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
A view of the nature of Jesus Christ that rises to the level of full Christian orthodoxy, as expressed in such creeds and definitions as the Apostles’ Creed, and the statements of Nicea, and ...
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A view of the nature of Jesus Christ that rises to the level of full Christian orthodoxy, as expressed in such creeds and definitions as the Apostles’ Creed, and the statements of Nicea, and Chalcedon, cannot be responsibly derived from the New Testament if the constraints of modern historical criticism are obeyed. But robust and faithful views of the nature of Christ may be read from the New Testament, and even from the Old Testament, when the text is interpreted via lenses of creative, Christian interpretation, led by the holy spirit, and interpreted with the guidance of love. Moreover, though constructions of “the historical Jesus” may be used for theological reflection, the Jesus of Christian faith is the Christ of Christian creed and confessions, not the Jesus of modern historical research and construction.Less
A view of the nature of Jesus Christ that rises to the level of full Christian orthodoxy, as expressed in such creeds and definitions as the Apostles’ Creed, and the statements of Nicea, and Chalcedon, cannot be responsibly derived from the New Testament if the constraints of modern historical criticism are obeyed. But robust and faithful views of the nature of Christ may be read from the New Testament, and even from the Old Testament, when the text is interpreted via lenses of creative, Christian interpretation, led by the holy spirit, and interpreted with the guidance of love. Moreover, though constructions of “the historical Jesus” may be used for theological reflection, the Jesus of Christian faith is the Christ of Christian creed and confessions, not the Jesus of modern historical research and construction.
Jerome Murphy-O'Connor
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- November 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199266531
- eISBN:
- 9780191601583
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199266530.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Paul’s encounter with Jesus transformed the knowledge he had of the founder of Christianity that he had gained as a persecutor. A very brief mission in Arabia was followed by three years in Damascus ...
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Paul’s encounter with Jesus transformed the knowledge he had of the founder of Christianity that he had gained as a persecutor. A very brief mission in Arabia was followed by three years in Damascus during which period he became a tentmaker. From Peter in Jerusalem, Paul learnt about the historical Jesus. His probing of the mystery of a Messiah who should not have died is at the root of his unique stress on the fact that Jesus died by crucifixion.Less
Paul’s encounter with Jesus transformed the knowledge he had of the founder of Christianity that he had gained as a persecutor. A very brief mission in Arabia was followed by three years in Damascus during which period he became a tentmaker. From Peter in Jerusalem, Paul learnt about the historical Jesus. His probing of the mystery of a Messiah who should not have died is at the root of his unique stress on the fact that Jesus died by crucifixion.
Brian E. Daley
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199248452
- eISBN:
- 9780191600524
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199248451.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Daley observes how contemporary theologians are often puzzled by the language and concepts of later patristic discussions about the person of Christ, especially by the Council of Chalcedon's teaching ...
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Daley observes how contemporary theologians are often puzzled by the language and concepts of later patristic discussions about the person of Christ, especially by the Council of Chalcedon's teaching that he is one hypostasis or persona subsisting ‘in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation’. This chapter looks again at the significance of this classical christological vocabulary, in the light of an assertion made by the sixth‐century Leontius of Byzantium and echoed by Maximus Confessor and John of Damascus in the centuries that followed: that it is ‘the mode of union, rather than the intelligible structure of nature, which contains the great Mystery of our religion’. After sketching the background and apparent implications of the ancient language of ‘modality’ and of ‘union’, the paper looks more closely at the Christology of these three post‐Chalcedonian writers. It argues that for classical Greek Christology in its later stages, the unity and distinctiveness of Christ as a person, who is at once human and divine, are grounded in the unique way in which the divine and human realities condition and express each other in the historical Jesus of Nazareth. In the light of this ‘relational’ or ‘modal’ Christology, these late patristic authors also present human salvation as the beginning of a new mode of our own natural existence, and a new relationship with the triune that God modelled on that of God the Son.Less
Daley observes how contemporary theologians are often puzzled by the language and concepts of later patristic discussions about the person of Christ, especially by the Council of Chalcedon's teaching that he is one hypostasis or persona subsisting ‘in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation’. This chapter looks again at the significance of this classical christological vocabulary, in the light of an assertion made by the sixth‐century Leontius of Byzantium and echoed by Maximus Confessor and John of Damascus in the centuries that followed: that it is ‘the mode of union, rather than the intelligible structure of nature, which contains the great Mystery of our religion’. After sketching the background and apparent implications of the ancient language of ‘modality’ and of ‘union’, the paper looks more closely at the Christology of these three post‐Chalcedonian writers. It argues that for classical Greek Christology in its later stages, the unity and distinctiveness of Christ as a person, who is at once human and divine, are grounded in the unique way in which the divine and human realities condition and express each other in the historical Jesus of Nazareth. In the light of this ‘relational’ or ‘modal’ Christology, these late patristic authors also present human salvation as the beginning of a new mode of our own natural existence, and a new relationship with the triune that God modelled on that of God the Son.
David A. deSilva
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780195329001
- eISBN:
- 9780199979073
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195329001.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The problems associated with recovering the teachings of the historical Jesus from the written records of the same are examined. The various criteria that have been used to build a case for or ...
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The problems associated with recovering the teachings of the historical Jesus from the written records of the same are examined. The various criteria that have been used to build a case for or against probable authenticity are individually described and evaluated, with special attention being given to the problems associated with the application of the criterion of double dissimilarity. The use of this criterion as a negative test, or the privileging of the positive results of applying this criterion, contribute to the de-Judaizing of Jesus. Gerd Theissen and Dagmar Winter's criterion of historical plausibility is preferred. The chapter also examines evidence for and against the general reliability of the apostolic tradition, particularly the absence of evidence of invention of Jesus sayings to answer obvious challenges arising within the early church, concluding that scholars have generally exhibited a skepticism beyond what the sources merit.Less
The problems associated with recovering the teachings of the historical Jesus from the written records of the same are examined. The various criteria that have been used to build a case for or against probable authenticity are individually described and evaluated, with special attention being given to the problems associated with the application of the criterion of double dissimilarity. The use of this criterion as a negative test, or the privileging of the positive results of applying this criterion, contribute to the de-Judaizing of Jesus. Gerd Theissen and Dagmar Winter's criterion of historical plausibility is preferred. The chapter also examines evidence for and against the general reliability of the apostolic tradition, particularly the absence of evidence of invention of Jesus sayings to answer obvious challenges arising within the early church, concluding that scholars have generally exhibited a skepticism beyond what the sources merit.
Robert D. Priest
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198728757
- eISBN:
- 9780191795534
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198728757.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, History of Religion
This chapter offers a new interpretation of the text of Vie de Jésus, situating the book in the wide range of contexts and debates that it sought to address. As well as comparing Renan’s ...
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This chapter offers a new interpretation of the text of Vie de Jésus, situating the book in the wide range of contexts and debates that it sought to address. As well as comparing Renan’s interpretation of the Gospels to that of contemporary Protestant biblical critics such as David Friedrich Strauss, it considers how the book’s use of ‘divination and conjecture’ grew out of a tradition of French historical writing, associated particularly with Augustin Thierry. The chapter considers Renan’s view on central issues such as miracles, revolutions, and the degree of Judeo-Christian harmony. It also provides an analysis of Renan’s use of racial and geographical determinism, and offers a new interpretation of the gender politics of his representation of Jesus and early Christianity.Less
This chapter offers a new interpretation of the text of Vie de Jésus, situating the book in the wide range of contexts and debates that it sought to address. As well as comparing Renan’s interpretation of the Gospels to that of contemporary Protestant biblical critics such as David Friedrich Strauss, it considers how the book’s use of ‘divination and conjecture’ grew out of a tradition of French historical writing, associated particularly with Augustin Thierry. The chapter considers Renan’s view on central issues such as miracles, revolutions, and the degree of Judeo-Christian harmony. It also provides an analysis of Renan’s use of racial and geographical determinism, and offers a new interpretation of the gender politics of his representation of Jesus and early Christianity.
James G. Crossley
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- April 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199570577
- eISBN:
- 9780191785733
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199570577.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity, Early Christian Studies
This chapter looks at arguments concerning the ‘Jewishness’ of Jesus, the Otherness of his ‘background’, the apparently radical Jesuses, and the idea of Jesus the Great Man. It suggests that such ...
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This chapter looks at arguments concerning the ‘Jewishness’ of Jesus, the Otherness of his ‘background’, the apparently radical Jesuses, and the idea of Jesus the Great Man. It suggests that such arguments are typical of the rhetoric of contemporary liberal multiculturalism and liberal capitalism while masking a range of reasons for historical change. This chapter suggests alternative ways of approaching the quest for the historical Jesus/earliest Palestinian tradition. It develops ideas of how perceptions of socio-economic changes can generate protest movements which mimic and replicate power structures. This chapter looks at how the perceptions of socio-economic change in Galilee and Judea contributed to the rise of a ‘protest’, anti-imperial, or even ‘revolutionary’ movement while simultaneously reinscribing the language of empire and dominance. It looks at how ideas generated in contexts of social upheaval can be ignored, embraced, remain dormant, misinterpreted, or reapplied in a range of contexts.Less
This chapter looks at arguments concerning the ‘Jewishness’ of Jesus, the Otherness of his ‘background’, the apparently radical Jesuses, and the idea of Jesus the Great Man. It suggests that such arguments are typical of the rhetoric of contemporary liberal multiculturalism and liberal capitalism while masking a range of reasons for historical change. This chapter suggests alternative ways of approaching the quest for the historical Jesus/earliest Palestinian tradition. It develops ideas of how perceptions of socio-economic changes can generate protest movements which mimic and replicate power structures. This chapter looks at how the perceptions of socio-economic change in Galilee and Judea contributed to the rise of a ‘protest’, anti-imperial, or even ‘revolutionary’ movement while simultaneously reinscribing the language of empire and dominance. It looks at how ideas generated in contexts of social upheaval can be ignored, embraced, remain dormant, misinterpreted, or reapplied in a range of contexts.
Matthew W. Bates
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- April 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198729563
- eISBN:
- 9780191796432
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198729563.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies, Biblical Studies
Early Christians believed that Old Testament prophets could slip into an alternative character (prosopon) through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. As such, the Spirit was the ultimate author of ...
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Early Christians believed that Old Testament prophets could slip into an alternative character (prosopon) through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. As such, the Spirit was the ultimate author of the script spoken by the prophet, yet various characters, such as the Father and the Son, could be inhabited. For the earliest Christians, before the stars, the sun, and the moon were set in place, the Father and Son spoke to one another through the Spirit. Featured here are interpretations of Psalm 2 (“You are my Son, today I have begotten you”) and Psalm 110 (“Sit at my right hand”) as portrayed in the Synoptic Gospels and as refracted in the later imagination of the first- and second-century church. Methodological discussion centers on the role of reception history (or Wirkungsgeschichte) and diachronic intertextuality in assessing the plausibility of the historical Jesus’ self-appropriation of a begotten-Son Christology (rather than adoption).Less
Early Christians believed that Old Testament prophets could slip into an alternative character (prosopon) through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. As such, the Spirit was the ultimate author of the script spoken by the prophet, yet various characters, such as the Father and the Son, could be inhabited. For the earliest Christians, before the stars, the sun, and the moon were set in place, the Father and Son spoke to one another through the Spirit. Featured here are interpretations of Psalm 2 (“You are my Son, today I have begotten you”) and Psalm 110 (“Sit at my right hand”) as portrayed in the Synoptic Gospels and as refracted in the later imagination of the first- and second-century church. Methodological discussion centers on the role of reception history (or Wirkungsgeschichte) and diachronic intertextuality in assessing the plausibility of the historical Jesus’ self-appropriation of a begotten-Son Christology (rather than adoption).
David A. deSilva
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780195329001
- eISBN:
- 9780199979073
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195329001.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Jews have sometimes been reluctant to claim Jesus as one of their own; Christians have often been reluctant to acknowledge the degree to which Jesus' message and mission were at home amidst, and ...
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Jews have sometimes been reluctant to claim Jesus as one of their own; Christians have often been reluctant to acknowledge the degree to which Jesus' message and mission were at home amidst, and shaped by, the Judaism(s) of the Second Temple Period. This book introduces readers to the ancient Jewish writings known as the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha and examines their formative impact on the teachings and mission of Jesus and his half-brothers, James and Jude. Knowledge of this literature bridges the perceived gap between Jesus and Judaism. Where our understanding of early Judaism is limited to the religion reflected in the Hebrew Bible, Jesus will appear more as an outsider speaking “against” Judaism and introducing more that is novel. Where our understanding of early Judaism is also informed by the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, Jesus and his half-brothers appear more fully at home within Judaism, and giving us a more precise understanding of what is essential, as well as distinctive, in their proclamation. This study engages several critical issues. How can we recover the voices of Jesus, James, and Jude? How can we assess a particular text's influence on Jews in early first-century Palestine? The result is a portrait of Jesus that is fully at home in Roman Judea and Galilee, and perhaps an explanation for why these extra-biblical Jewish texts continued to be preserved in Christian circles.Less
Jews have sometimes been reluctant to claim Jesus as one of their own; Christians have often been reluctant to acknowledge the degree to which Jesus' message and mission were at home amidst, and shaped by, the Judaism(s) of the Second Temple Period. This book introduces readers to the ancient Jewish writings known as the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha and examines their formative impact on the teachings and mission of Jesus and his half-brothers, James and Jude. Knowledge of this literature bridges the perceived gap between Jesus and Judaism. Where our understanding of early Judaism is limited to the religion reflected in the Hebrew Bible, Jesus will appear more as an outsider speaking “against” Judaism and introducing more that is novel. Where our understanding of early Judaism is also informed by the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, Jesus and his half-brothers appear more fully at home within Judaism, and giving us a more precise understanding of what is essential, as well as distinctive, in their proclamation. This study engages several critical issues. How can we recover the voices of Jesus, James, and Jude? How can we assess a particular text's influence on Jews in early first-century Palestine? The result is a portrait of Jesus that is fully at home in Roman Judea and Galilee, and perhaps an explanation for why these extra-biblical Jewish texts continued to be preserved in Christian circles.
M. David Litwa
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780300242638
- eISBN:
- 9780300249484
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300242638.003.0017
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Despite the demonstrated historiographical tropes of the gospels, today they are perceived to convey a bevy of myths. Myths can still be true despite being unhistorical. Sometimes Christian ...
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Despite the demonstrated historiographical tropes of the gospels, today they are perceived to convey a bevy of myths. Myths can still be true despite being unhistorical. Sometimes Christian apologists defend the historicity of gospel myths to uphold their truth value. This is a modern technique of rationalization, the attempt to update Christian myths by making them seem more plausible. In reality, historicality does not demonstrate truth. So to study Jesus seriously, less investment in the so-called historical Jesus and increased attention to the mythological Jesus is a desideratum. Only by integrating gospel studies into myth studies can the former find a place in Humanities programs of modern public universities.Less
Despite the demonstrated historiographical tropes of the gospels, today they are perceived to convey a bevy of myths. Myths can still be true despite being unhistorical. Sometimes Christian apologists defend the historicity of gospel myths to uphold their truth value. This is a modern technique of rationalization, the attempt to update Christian myths by making them seem more plausible. In reality, historicality does not demonstrate truth. So to study Jesus seriously, less investment in the so-called historical Jesus and increased attention to the mythological Jesus is a desideratum. Only by integrating gospel studies into myth studies can the former find a place in Humanities programs of modern public universities.
Robert D. Priest
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198728757
- eISBN:
- 9780191795534
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198728757.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, History of Religion
This chapter explores the popular reception of Vie de Jésus. After an analysis of the differences between the two editions of the book (scholarly and popular), the bulk of the chapter uses new ...
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This chapter explores the popular reception of Vie de Jésus. After an analysis of the differences between the two editions of the book (scholarly and popular), the bulk of the chapter uses new manuscript sources to demonstrate the range of positions that contemporary readers took on Renan’s book. On the one hand, it shows that many insult letters redeployed the scathing and satirical language of Catholic populists against Renan. On the other hand, it demonstrates that many readers were less concerned with such political issues than with using the book reflecting on their personal religious ideas and relationships with the figure of Jesus.Less
This chapter explores the popular reception of Vie de Jésus. After an analysis of the differences between the two editions of the book (scholarly and popular), the bulk of the chapter uses new manuscript sources to demonstrate the range of positions that contemporary readers took on Renan’s book. On the one hand, it shows that many insult letters redeployed the scathing and satirical language of Catholic populists against Renan. On the other hand, it demonstrates that many readers were less concerned with such political issues than with using the book reflecting on their personal religious ideas and relationships with the figure of Jesus.
Robert D. Priest
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198728757
- eISBN:
- 9780191795534
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198728757.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, History of Religion
This book provides a new and holistic interpretation of one of the non-fiction sensations of the nineteenth century: Ernest Renan’s Vie de Jésus. Published in 1863, Renan’s book aroused enormous ...
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This book provides a new and holistic interpretation of one of the non-fiction sensations of the nineteenth century: Ernest Renan’s Vie de Jésus. Published in 1863, Renan’s book aroused enormous controversy through its claim to provide a historically accurate biography of Jesus. While Vie de Jésus provoked the ire of the Catholic Church in hundreds of sermons and pamphlets, it also sold hundreds of thousands of copies, making a fortune for its author and his publisher. Based on research into a huge range of print and manuscript sources, this book demonstrates how Renan’s work intervened in a remarkable range of debates in nineteenth-century French cultural life. These extended far beyond questions of religion, touching on debates from the role of individuals in history to the meaning and significance of ‘race’. Through an engaging reconstruction of Renan’s intellectual formation, Priest shows how Renan’s ideas grew out of the context of Parisian intellectual life after his loss of faith in the 1840s. Going beyond a traditional intellectual history, this book uses a wide range of new manuscript sources, many of which have never been examined by modern historians, in order to reconstruct the ways that ordinary French men and women engaged with one of the great religious debates of their age. By tracing the legacy of Vie de Jésus into the early years of the twentieth century, the book finally shows how Renan’s work found new political meaning in the heated debates over secularization that divided French society in the young Third Republic.Less
This book provides a new and holistic interpretation of one of the non-fiction sensations of the nineteenth century: Ernest Renan’s Vie de Jésus. Published in 1863, Renan’s book aroused enormous controversy through its claim to provide a historically accurate biography of Jesus. While Vie de Jésus provoked the ire of the Catholic Church in hundreds of sermons and pamphlets, it also sold hundreds of thousands of copies, making a fortune for its author and his publisher. Based on research into a huge range of print and manuscript sources, this book demonstrates how Renan’s work intervened in a remarkable range of debates in nineteenth-century French cultural life. These extended far beyond questions of religion, touching on debates from the role of individuals in history to the meaning and significance of ‘race’. Through an engaging reconstruction of Renan’s intellectual formation, Priest shows how Renan’s ideas grew out of the context of Parisian intellectual life after his loss of faith in the 1840s. Going beyond a traditional intellectual history, this book uses a wide range of new manuscript sources, many of which have never been examined by modern historians, in order to reconstruct the ways that ordinary French men and women engaged with one of the great religious debates of their age. By tracing the legacy of Vie de Jésus into the early years of the twentieth century, the book finally shows how Renan’s work found new political meaning in the heated debates over secularization that divided French society in the young Third Republic.
Nils Ole Oermann
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198784227
- eISBN:
- 9780191827020
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198784227.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter describes the formative years of Schweitzer’s childhood and school years and his time as a student. He was born and raised in French Alsace in a family of pastors and musicians, where at ...
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This chapter describes the formative years of Schweitzer’s childhood and school years and his time as a student. He was born and raised in French Alsace in a family of pastors and musicians, where at a young age he learned to play the organ. A sensitive child, he was acutely conscious of both the privileges of his social rank and the misfortunes of others. At school and at university he was an ambitious but mediocre student, studying theology and philosophy. He decided against a career in philosophy and in favour of training to become a pastor. During this time he received master lessons in the organ in Paris, while in Berlin he made the acquaintance of numerous intellectuals. He wrote his major theological work, The Quest of the Historical Jesus, and discovered the concept that would be the cornerstone of his future ethical precept of Reverence for Life.Less
This chapter describes the formative years of Schweitzer’s childhood and school years and his time as a student. He was born and raised in French Alsace in a family of pastors and musicians, where at a young age he learned to play the organ. A sensitive child, he was acutely conscious of both the privileges of his social rank and the misfortunes of others. At school and at university he was an ambitious but mediocre student, studying theology and philosophy. He decided against a career in philosophy and in favour of training to become a pastor. During this time he received master lessons in the organ in Paris, while in Berlin he made the acquaintance of numerous intellectuals. He wrote his major theological work, The Quest of the Historical Jesus, and discovered the concept that would be the cornerstone of his future ethical precept of Reverence for Life.
Risto Uro
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199661176
- eISBN:
- 9780191793455
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199661176.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies, Religious Studies
This chapter argues that a ritual approach to Jesus’ healing is a meaningful project: the topic converges with many issues that anthropologists of shamanism and spirit possession have discussed under ...
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This chapter argues that a ritual approach to Jesus’ healing is a meaningful project: the topic converges with many issues that anthropologists of shamanism and spirit possession have discussed under the general rubric of ‘ritual healing’. Insights and theories from such studies shed light on Jesus’ healing activity, as well as on the rites of healing and exorcism in the early Church. The chapter takes issue with certain social-scientific interpretations of Jesus as a spirit-possessed healer (which show a bias toward cultural relativism), and make use of recent cognitive research into spirit possession. Jesus’ healings, spirit possession, and more institutionalized forms of ritual healing cannot be lumped together under a single theory of ritual, but the cognitive analysis is helpful in pointing out aspects of ritual healing that have not been recognized in earlier studies.Less
This chapter argues that a ritual approach to Jesus’ healing is a meaningful project: the topic converges with many issues that anthropologists of shamanism and spirit possession have discussed under the general rubric of ‘ritual healing’. Insights and theories from such studies shed light on Jesus’ healing activity, as well as on the rites of healing and exorcism in the early Church. The chapter takes issue with certain social-scientific interpretations of Jesus as a spirit-possessed healer (which show a bias toward cultural relativism), and make use of recent cognitive research into spirit possession. Jesus’ healings, spirit possession, and more institutionalized forms of ritual healing cannot be lumped together under a single theory of ritual, but the cognitive analysis is helpful in pointing out aspects of ritual healing that have not been recognized in earlier studies.
David Fergusson
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- December 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198759355
- eISBN:
- 9780191819902
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198759355.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity, Theology
Three Scottish theologians contributed major works on Christology during the twentieth century. H. R. Mackintosh, Donald M. Baillie, and John Macquarrie belong to an Enlightenment tradition that was ...
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Three Scottish theologians contributed major works on Christology during the twentieth century. H. R. Mackintosh, Donald M. Baillie, and John Macquarrie belong to an Enlightenment tradition that was critical of Chalcedonianism while resolutely seeking to re-express its governing intention. While remaining in contact with the catholic traditions of the church, each sought to reinterpret these under the conditions of modernity. In doing so, their work manifests an intense devotional commitment to Jesus while simultaneously wrestling with problems that continue to beset contemporary articulations of Christ’s person and work. This chapter traces their work in context as it tackles problems of metaphysical entanglement, historical criticism of the gospels, and religious pluralism. Similarities and differences are considered, and the critical reception of their work is assessed.Less
Three Scottish theologians contributed major works on Christology during the twentieth century. H. R. Mackintosh, Donald M. Baillie, and John Macquarrie belong to an Enlightenment tradition that was critical of Chalcedonianism while resolutely seeking to re-express its governing intention. While remaining in contact with the catholic traditions of the church, each sought to reinterpret these under the conditions of modernity. In doing so, their work manifests an intense devotional commitment to Jesus while simultaneously wrestling with problems that continue to beset contemporary articulations of Christ’s person and work. This chapter traces their work in context as it tackles problems of metaphysical entanglement, historical criticism of the gospels, and religious pluralism. Similarities and differences are considered, and the critical reception of their work is assessed.
Runar M. Thorsteinsson
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- June 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198815228
- eISBN:
- 9780191852992
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198815228.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
The Introduction presents the purpose and aim of the study, and describes its structure and content (under the heading ‘The Purpose and Aim of the Study’). It is explained exactly what is addressed ...
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The Introduction presents the purpose and aim of the study, and describes its structure and content (under the heading ‘The Purpose and Aim of the Study’). It is explained exactly what is addressed in the study and what is not: the study addresses the Synoptic Gospels’ characterization of Jesus, but not that of the Gospel of John; it addresses the characterization of Jesus as it is presented in the Synoptic Gospels, but it is not concerned with the so-called historical Jesus (‘What Is Addressed and What Is Not? Jesus of the Gospels and the Historical Jesus’). Finally, the chapter describes classical virtue theory and explains how it relates to the subject under discussion (‘Moral Character, Classical Virtue Theory, and Early Christianity’).Less
The Introduction presents the purpose and aim of the study, and describes its structure and content (under the heading ‘The Purpose and Aim of the Study’). It is explained exactly what is addressed in the study and what is not: the study addresses the Synoptic Gospels’ characterization of Jesus, but not that of the Gospel of John; it addresses the characterization of Jesus as it is presented in the Synoptic Gospels, but it is not concerned with the so-called historical Jesus (‘What Is Addressed and What Is Not? Jesus of the Gospels and the Historical Jesus’). Finally, the chapter describes classical virtue theory and explains how it relates to the subject under discussion (‘Moral Character, Classical Virtue Theory, and Early Christianity’).
