Download or read book Beyond the Quest for the Historical Jesus written by Thomas L. Brodie and published by Sheffield Phoenix Press Limited. This book was released on 2012 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the past forty years, while historical-critical studies were seeking with renewed intensity to reconstruct events behind the biblical texts, not least the life of Jesus, two branches of literary studies were finally reaching maturity. First, researchers were recognizing that many biblical texts are rewritings or transformations of older texts that still exist, thus giving a clearer sense of where the biblical texts came from; and second, studies in the ancient art of composition clarified the biblical texts' unity and purpose, that is to say, where biblical texts were headed. The work of tracing literary indebtedness and art is far from finished but it is already possible and necessary to draw a conclusion: it is that, bluntly, Jesus did not exist as a historical individual. This is not as negative as may at first appear. In a deeply personal coda, Brodie begins to develop a new vision of Jesus as an icon of God's presence in the world and in human history.
Download or read book The Quest of the Historical Jesus written by Albert Schweitzer and published by . This book was released on 1911 with total page 430 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1910.
Download or read book Proving History written by Richard C. Carrier and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2012-04-03 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This in-depth discussion of New Testament scholarship and the challenges of history as a whole proposes Bayes’s Theorem, which deals with probabilities under conditions of uncertainty, as a solution to the problem of establishing reliable historical criteria. The author demonstrates that valid historical methods—not only in the study of Christian origins but in any historical study—can be described by, and reduced to, the logic of Bayes’s Theorem. Conversely, he argues that any method that cannot be reduced to this theorem is invalid and should be abandoned. Writing with thoroughness and clarity, the author explains Bayes’s Theorem in terms that are easily understandable to professional historians and laypeople alike, employing nothing more than well-known primary school math. He then explores precisely how the theorem can be applied to history and addresses numerous challenges to and criticisms of its use in testing or justifying the conclusions that historians make about the important persons and events of the past. The traditional and established methods of historians are analyzed using the theorem, as well as all the major "historicity criteria" employed in the latest quest to establish the historicity of Jesus. The author demonstrates not only the deficiencies of these approaches but also ways to rehabilitate them using Bayes’s Theorem. Anyone with an interest in historical methods, how historical knowledge can be justified, new applications of Bayes’s Theorem, or the study of the historical Jesus will find this book to be essential reading.
Download or read book The Historical Jesus A Guide for the Perplexed written by Helen K. Bond and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2012-03-29 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The introduction to this new guide sets out the sources (Graeco-Roman, Jewish and Christian), noting the problems connected with them, paying particular attention to the nature of the gospels, and the Synoptic versus the Johannine tradition. A substantial section will discuss scholarship on Jesus from the nineteenth century to the explosion of works in the present day, introducing and explaining the three different 'quests' for the historical Jesus. Subsequent chapters will analyse key themes in historical Jesus research: Jesus' Galilean origins; the scope of his ministry and models of 'holy men', particularly that of prophet; Jesus' teaching and healing; his trial and crucifixion; the highly contentious question of his resurrection; and finally an exploration of the links between the Jesus movement and the early church. Throughout, the (often opposing) positions of a variety of key scholars will be explained and discussed (eg. Sanders, Crossan, Dunn, Wright, Brown).
Download or read book Quest for the Historical Apostles written by W. Brian Shelton and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2018-04-17 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The stories and contributions of the apostles provide an important entrée into church history. This comprehensive historical and literary introduction uncovers their lives and legacies, underscoring the apostles' impact on the growth of the early church. The author collects and distills the histories, legends, symbols, and iconography of the original twelve and locates figures such as Paul, Peter, and John in the broader context of the history of the apostles. He also explores the continuing story of the gospel mission and the twelve disciples beyond the New Testament.
Download or read book Did Jesus Exist written by G. A. Wells and published by . This book was released on 1987-02 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Professor Wells argues that there was no historical Jesus, and in thus arguing he deals with the many recent writers who have interpreted the historical Jesus as some kind of political figure in the struggle against Rome, and calls in evidence the many contemporary theologians who agree with some of his arguments about early Christianity. The question at issue is what all the evidence adds up to. Does it establish that Jesus did or did not exist? Professor Wells concludes that the latter is the more likely hypothesis. This challenge to received thinking by both Christians and non-Christians is supported by much documentary evidence, and Professor Wells carefully examines all the relevant problems and answers all the relevant questions. He deliberately avoids polemic and speculation, and sticks so far as possible to the known facts and to rational inferences from the facts.
Download or read book Jesus Outside the New Testament written by Robert Van Voorst and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2000-04-13 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents evidence and information, aside from the Christian scriptures, on the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. Features excerpts in Roman correspondence and the early Christian writings known as the "New Testament Apocrypha.".
Download or read book The Historical Jesus of the Gospels written by Craig S. Keener and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2012-04-13 with total page 870 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The earliest substantive sources available for historical Jesus research are in the Gospels themselves; when interpreted in their early Jewish setting, their picture of Jesus is more coherent and plausible than are the competing theories offered by many modern scholars. So argues Craig Keener in The Historical Jesus of the Gospels. In exploring the depth and riches of the material found in the Synoptic Gospels, Keener shows how many works on the historical Jesus emphasize just one aspect of the Jesus tradition against others, but a much wider range of material in the Jesus tradition makes sense in an ancient Jewish setting. Keener masterfully uses a broad range of evidence from the early Jesus traditions and early Judaism to reconstruct a fuller portrait of the Jesus who lived in history.
Download or read book The Historical Jesus in Context written by Amy-Jill Levine and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2009-01-10 with total page 455 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Historical Jesus in Context is a landmark collection that places the gospel narratives in their full literary, social, and archaeological context. More than twenty-five internationally recognized experts offer new translations and descriptions of a broad range of texts that shed new light on the Jesus of history, including pagan prayers and private inscriptions, miracle tales and martyrdoms, parables and fables, divorce decrees and imperial propaganda. The translated materials--from Christian, Coptic, and Jewish as well as Greek, Roman, and Egyptian texts--extend beyond single phrases to encompass the full context, thus allowing readers to locate Jesus in a broader cultural setting than is usually made available. This book demonstrates that only by knowing the world in which Jesus lived and taught can we fully understand him, his message, and the spread of the Gospel. Gathering in one place material that was previously available only in disparate sources, this formidable book provides innovative insight into matters no less grand than first-century Jewish and Gentile life, the composition of the Gospels, and Jesus himself.
Download or read book What are They Saying about the Historical Jesus written by David B. Gowler and published by Paulist Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book summarizes, analyzes, and critiques current influential portraits of Jesus. It concludes that any portrait of the historical Jesus must come to terms with Jesus as both an apocalyptic prophet and a prophet of social and economic justice for an oppressed people."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book Jesus Criteria and the Demise of Authenticity written by Chris Keith and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2012-08-30 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume discusses the new approaches regarding the criteria of authenticity and their relevance in the quest for the historical Jesus studies.
Download or read book The Historical Figure of Jesus written by E. Sanders and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 1995-11-30 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A biography of the historical figure of Jesus. The book studies the relationship between Judaism and Christianity, distinguishing the certain from the improbable, and assessing the historical and religious context of Christ's time. The spread of Christianity is also discussed.
Download or read book Historical Jesus written by Anthony Le Donne and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2011 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historical Jesus asks two primary questions: What does historical mean? and How should we apply this to Jesus? Anthony Le Donne begins with the unusual step of considering human perception how sensory data from sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell are interpreted from the very beginning by what we expect, what we ve learned, and how we categorize the world. In this way Le Donne shows how historical memories are initially formed. He continues with the nature of human memory and how it interacts with group memories. Finally, he offers a philosophy of history and uses it to outline three dimensions from the life of Jesus: his dysfunctional family, his politics, and his final confrontation in Jerusalem. This little book is ideal for those with no background in religious studies even those with no faith who wish to better understand who Jesus was and how we can know what we do know about him.
Download or read book Studying the Historical Jesus written by Darrell L. Bock and published by Baker Academic. This book was released on 2002-07 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An informed, scholarly approach to the study of the historical Jesus that takes the Gospels seriously as a source of historical information.
Download or read book Seeing through Christianity written by Bill Zuersher and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2014-06-20 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The only book you'll ever need to read about Christianity. This remarkable book provides a critical overview of Christian beliefs and the evidence for them. Where did these beliefs come from? Are there good reasons to believe Christianity is true? Bill Zuersher clearly explains each of Christianity's major beliefs. He then proceeds to demonstrate significant difficulties with each of them. The book tackles these beliefs in a logical order, beginning with the problems at the root of virtually all religions, suffering and death, and culminating in their supposed resolution through Jesus. Mr. Zuersher also examines the evidence for Christianity, namely religious writings and the historical fact of the early Jesus movement. He makes the case that this evidence does not support the religion's claims and he provides naturalistic alternative explanations for how its core beliefs arose. In these pages we see the coalescence of Jewish and Zoroastrian religious ideas with those of Greek philosophy and mystery cults, to form the belief system we recognize as Christianity today. The result, Mr. Zuersher argues, is not revealed truth, but rather a human patchwork which contains unwarranted assumptions and logical flaws, all founded upon questionable evidence. Entertaining throughout, it is must-reading for skeptics, apologists, and anyone interested the world's largest religion or the culture wars behind today's politics -- an invaluable resource for students and teachers, writers and debaters.
Download or read book The Jesus Quest written by Ben Witherington III and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 1997-05-08 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ben Witherington III offers a comprehensive assessment of what scholars such as John Dominic Crossan, Marcus Borg, Burton Mack and the Jesus Seminar are really saying about Jesus.
Download or read book Jesus and His Death written by Scot McKnight and published by Baylor University Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent scholarship on the historical Jesus has rightly focused upon how Jesus understood his own mission. But no scholarly effort to understand the mission of Jesus can rest content without exploring the historical possibility that Jesus envisioned his own death. In this careful and far-reaching study, Scot McKnight contends that Jesus did in fact anticipate his own death, that Jesus understood his death as an atoning sacrifice, and that his death as an atoning sacrifice stood at the heart of Jesus' own mission to protect his own followers from the judgment of God.
