Historical Jesus BIST10042

First Semester 2013/14 Monday 9-11 a.m. Course Manager: Dr Helen K. Bond (h.bond@ed.ac.uk; 0131 650 8923)

Course Description Studies on the Historical Jesus have proliferated at an incredible rate over the last few decades and have captured both popular and academic imagination. This course will look at some of the most disputed areas and attempt to see what we can say about the Jewish man from Nazareth. Course Outcomes The course will help students to gain 1) an appreciation of the historical difficulties in reconstructing the life of Jesus 2) an ability to handle primary sources and distinguish between historicity, rhetoric, and theology 3) an awareness of the relative values of canonical and non-canonical texts 4) a sound understanding of the contributions of modern scholars in this area 5) an appreciation of the way in which scholars' own social, political and cultural contexts have shaped their interpretation of Jesus over the last century The course will be taught through a combination of short lectures, student presentations, debates, and group discussion.

Content The course will focus on the following themes: (* indicates that the material is available electronically on WebCT).

Week 1: Introduction - Quests for the Historical Jesus Bond, Helen K., The Historical Jesus: A Guide for the Perplexed (London: Continuum, 2012) copy on WebCT; chapter 1. * Hurtado, Larry W., A Taxonomy of Recent Historical-Jesus Work in W. A. Arnal and M. Desjardins, Whose Historical Jesus? (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1997), 272-95. Carleton Paget, James, Quests for the Historical Jesus. In Markus Bockmuehl (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Jesus (Cambridge: CUP, 2001), 138-155. du Toit, David S., Redefining Jesus: Current Trends in Jesus Research. In Michael Labahn and Andreas Schmidt (eds.), Jesus, Mark and Q: The Teaching of Jesus and its Earliest Records (Sheffield Academic Press, 2001), 82-124. Evans, Craig A., Assessing Progress in the Third Quest of the Historical Jesus Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 4 (1997) 35-54. Marsh, Clive, Quests of the Historical Jesus in New Historicist Perspective Biblical Interpretation 5 (1997), 403-37. Head, Peter M.,The Nazi Quest for an Aryan Jesus Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 2 (2004), 55-89. Heschel, Susannah, The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologies and the Bible in Nazi Germany (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008). Week 2: Sources for a Life of Jesus Bond, Helen K., The Historical Jesus, Chapter 2. Tuckett, Chris, Sources and Methods in Markus Bockmuehl (ed.), Cambridge Companion to Jesus (Cambridge: CUP, 2001), 121-37. * Patterson, S.J., (1990) The Gospel of Thomas: Introduction from John S. Kloppenborg et al., Q-Thomas Reader (Sonoma, Calif.: Polebridge Press, 1990), 77-123. _____ The Gospel of Thomas and Jesus (Sonoma, CA: Polebridge, 1993). Brown, R. E., The GosPet and Canonical Gospel Priority New Testament Studies 33 (1987), 321-43 Crossan, J. D. The Cross that Spoke: the Origins of the Passion Narrative (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988) Vermes, Geza, The Jesus Notice of Josephus Re-examined Journal of Jewish Studies 38 (1987), 1-10. Meier, J. P., Jesus in Josephus: A Modest Proposal Catholic Biblical Quarterly 52 (1990), 76-103 van Voorst, R. E., Jesus outside the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000) Mason, S. Josephus and the New Testament (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1992) Carleton Paget, J., Some Observations on Josephus and Christianity Journal of Theological Studies 52 (2001), 539-624. Brown, R. E., The Babylonian Talmud on the Execution of Jesus New Testament Studies 43 (1997), 158-9 Kloppenborg, John S., The Formation of Q: Trajectories in Ancient Wisdom Collections (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1987). Tuckett, Chris, A Cynic Q? Biblica 70 (1989), 349-76

Week 3: Bandits, Prophets and Messiahs Bond, Helen K., The Historical Jesus, Chapter 3. * Barnett, P. The Jewish Sign Prophets in James D.G. Dunn and Scot McKnight (eds), The Historical Jesus in Recent Research (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2005) 444462 * Vermes, Geza, Jewish Charismatics in Vermes, Geza, Jesus the Jew : a historian's reading of the Gospels (London: Collins, 1976), 69-80,239-243. * de Jonge, M., Messiah in David Noel Freedman (editor-in-chief), The Anchor BibleDictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 4: 777-88. Schurer, E. (rev.), History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1973-86) Horsley, Richard A., Jesus and the Spiral of Violence: Popular Jewish Resistance in Roman Palestine (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987) ______ and John S. Hanson, Bandits, Prophets and Messiahs: Popular Movements in the Time of Jesus (London: Harper & Row, 1988). Grey, Rebecca, Prophetic Figures in Late Second Temple Jewish Palestine (Oxford: OUP, 1993). Week 4: Galilee Jewish or Gentile? Early Life and John the Baptist Bond, Helen K., The Historical Jesus, Chapters 4-6. * Dunn, James D. G., Did Jesus Attend the Synagogue? in J. H. Charlesworth (ed.), Jesus and Archaeology (Grand Rapids: Eeerdmans, 2006), 206-222. * Reed, Jonathan L. Archaeology and the Galilean Jesus: A Re-Examination of the Evidence (Harrisburg: Trinity Press International, 2000), 23-61. Horsley, Richard A. Galilee: History, Politics, People (Valley Forge: Trinity Press International, 1995). Chancey, Mark A., The Myth of a Gentile Galilee (Cambridge: CUP, 2002). Freyne, Sean, Galilee, Jesus and the Gospels: Literary Approaches and Historical Investigation (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1988). Jensen, Morten Horning Herod Antipas in Galilee: The Literary and Archaeological Sources on the Reign of Herod Antipas and its Socio-Economic Impact on Galilee (Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006). Mack, Burton L., Q and a Cynic-Like Jesus in W. A. Arnal and M. Desjardins, Whose Historical Jesus? (1997), 25-36. Marshall, J. W., The Gospel of Thomas and the Cynic Jesus in W. A. Arnal and M. Desjardins (eds.), Whose Historical Jesus? (1997), 37-43 [NB: this is the first half of the article]. J. S. Kloppenborg, The Theodotus Synagogue Inscription and the Problem of FirstCentury Synagogue Buildings in J. H. Charlesworth (ed.), Jesus and Archaeology (Grand Rapids: Eeerdmans, 2006), 236-282.

Week 5: Ministry I: Message and Miracle

Bond, Helen K., The Historical Jesus, Chapters 8-9. *Stanton, G., Message and Miracles from Markus Bockmuehl (ed), The Cambridge companion to Jesus (Cambridge: CUP, 2001), 56-71. Crossan, J. D., The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant (Harper Collins, 1991). Magic in ABD Miracle in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels Eve, E., The Jewish Context of Jesus Miracles (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2002). Dodd, C. H. The Parables of the Kingdom (London: Nisbet, 1935) Snodgrass, K., Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008).

Week 6: Ministry II: Apocalyptic a debate Bond, Helen K., The Historical Jesus, Chapter 7. * Levine, A-J., The Earth Moved: Jesus, Sex and Eschatology in John S. Kloppenborg (ed), Apocalypticism, Anti-semitism and the Historical Jesus : Subtexts in Criticism ( London: T & T Clark International, 2005), 83-97. * Miller, R., Introduction in Dale C. Allison et al.; Robert J. Miller (ed), The Apocalyptic Jesus : a debate (Santa Rosa: Polebridge Press, 2001), 1-13. Allison, Dale C. Jesus of Nazareth: Millenarian Prophet (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1998). Borg, Marcus J., Reflections on a Discipline: A North American Perspective. In Bruce Chilton and Craig A. Evans (eds.), Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of Current Research (Leiden: Brill, 1994, 9-31). Ehrman, Bart, Jesus, Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium (New York: OUP, 1999). E. M. Humphrey, Will the Reader Understand? Apocalypse as Veil or Vision in Recent historical-Jesus Studies in W. A. Arnal and M. Desjardins, Whose Historical Jesus? (1997), 215-237. Week 7: Opposition - Pharisees and Chief Priests Bond, Helen K., The Historical Jesus, Chapters 10-11. G. Theissen and A. Merz, The Historical Jesus On the Pharisees: E. P. Sanders, Judaism: Practice and Belief, 63 BCE - 66 CE (London. SCM, 1992) J. Neusner and B. Chilton (eds.), In Quest of the Historical Pharisees (Waco, Baylor, 2007) J. Klawans, Moral and Ritual Purity in A. J. Levine, D. C. Allison and J. D. Crossan (eds.), The Historical Jesus in Context, 266-84. On Jesus and Pharisees: J. D. G. Dunn, Pharisees, Sinners and Jesus in J. Neusner et al (eds.), The Social World of Formative Christianity and Judaism (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988), 264-89 M. A. Powell, Was Jesus a Friend of Unrepentant Sinners? Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 7 (2009), 286-310.

On the Temple incident and Chief Priests: C. A. Evans, Jesus Actions in the Temple: Cleansing or Portent of Destruction? in B. Chilton and C. A. Evans (eds.), Jesus in Context (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1997), 395439. H. K. Bond, Caiaphas: Friend of Rome and Judge of Jesus? (Louisville: WJK, 2004).

Week 8: Trial and Crucifixion Bond, Helen K., The Historical Jesus, Chapters 11-12 . * Crossan, J. D., The Trial from Who killed Jesus? : exposing the Roots of Antisemitism in the Gospel Story of the Death of Jesus, (New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1996), 108-117. * Evans, C.A. and Wright, N.T., The crucifixion of Jesus from Jesus, the Final Days : What Really Happened (Louisville, Ky.: 2009), 28-32. * Borg, M.J. and Crossan, J.D., Thursday from The last week : What the Gospels Really Teach about Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem (London: SPCK, 2008), 109-120. Crossan, J. D., Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1994) Wright, H. T., Jesus and the Victory of God (London: SPCK, 1996) Millar, F. G. B., Reflections on the Trial of Jesus in P.R. Davies and R.T. White (eds.), A Tribute to Geza Vermes: Essays on Jewish and Christian Literature and History (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1990) Brown, R. E., The Death of the Messiah (New York: Doubleday, 1994), 2 vols. Juel, D., Messiah and Temple: The Trial of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark (Missoula: Scholars Press, 1977) Bond, H. K., Caiaphas: Friend of Rome and Judge of Jesus? (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2004) ______ Pontius Pilate in History and Interpretation (Cambridge: CUP, 1998). ______ on www2.evansville.edu/ecoleweb/articles/pilate.html (on Pilate) Week 9: On the Third Day . . . Bond, Helen K., The Historical Jesus, Chapter 13. * Dunn, James D. G. (2003). Jesus Remembered. Volume 1 of Christianity in the Making. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003), 825-79. * Myllykoski, M., (2002) What happended to the body of Jesus? from Ismo Dunderberg, Christopher Tuckett, and Kari Syreeni (eds), Fair play : diversity and conflicts in early Christianity: essays in honour of Heikki Raisanen (Leiden ; Boston: Brill, 2002), 43-82. Collins, A. Y., Mark: A Commentary Minneapolis: Fortress, 2007), on Mark 16.1-8. Crossan, J. D., Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1994) Wright, N. T., The Resurrection of the Son of God (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2003).

Week 10: Book Studies (a) Sanders, E. P., The Historical Figure of Jesus (Allen Lane, 1993) (b) Crossan, J. D., The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant (Harper Collins, 1991) Week 11: No Class Week 12: Revision

Wider Bibliography: Sanders, E. P., Judaism: Practice and Belief: 63 BCE - 66 CE (1992) Schurer, E. (rev.), The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (1973-87) Chilton, B. & C. A. Evans (ed.), Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of Current Research (1994). Borg, Marcus J., Conflict, Holiness, and Politics in the Teachings of Jesus. (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1998) Corley, Kathleen E., Women and the Historical Jesus: Feminist Myths of Christian Origins (Santa Rosa: Polebridge, 2002). Dunn, James D. G., A New Perspective on Jesus: What the Quest for the Historical Jesus Missed (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005). Flusser, David, with R. Steven Notley, The Sage from Galilee: Rediscovering Jesus Genius (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007). Fredriksen, Paula, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews: A Jewish Life and the Emergence of Christianity (New York: Knopf, 1999) Johnson, Luke T., The Real Jesus: The Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus and the Truth of the Traditional Gospels (New York: Harper Collins, 1995) Sanders, E. P., Jesus and Judaism (London: SCM, 1985). Meier, J. P., A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus (London: Doubleday, 1991-2009), 4 vols. Schssler Fiorenza, Elisabeth, In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins (London: SCM, 1983). Telford, W. R., Major Trends in Interpretive Issues in the Study of Jesus in Bruce Chilton and Craig A. Evans (eds.), Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of Current Research (Leiden: Brill, 1994), 33-74. Theissen, G., and D. Winter, The Quest for the Plausible Jesus: The Question of Criteria (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2002). Theissen, G. and A. Merz, The Historical Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide (London: SCM, 1998) Wright, N. T. (1996). Jesus and the Victory of God. London: SPCK.

Useful Websites: http://ntgateway.com maintained by Mark Goodacre (Birmingham/Duke). This is an excellent site with many useful links.

http://www.bibleinterp.com/ - maintained by Mark Elliott, Bible and Interpretation. Some useful essays on historical Jesus. http://historicaljesusresearch.blogspot.co.uk/ Blog devoted to the historical Jesus, by Anthony LeDonne and Chris Keith. Assessment In line with standard Divinity assessment, students will be assessed as follows: 10% class participation 30% essay (see below) 60% degree examination Essay Either: It is the day after Jesus crucifixion. You are a staff writer on the Jerusalem Scroll (a daily newspaper with a moderate circulation) and have been asked to write an obituary of 2000 words. In line with the genre, you should not use footnotes, though you will need to add a bibliography and your work should show familiarity with the major debates in life of Jesus research. (Look at obituaries in some of the quality newspapers The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph etc. You can write from a particular viewpoint Pharisaic, priestly etc or adopt a more neutral tone). Or: Write a book review of one of the following books: * Fredriksen, Paula, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews: A Jewish Life and the Emergence of Christianity (New York: Knopf, 1999) * Borg, Marcus J., Conflict, Holiness, and Politics in the Teachings of Jesus. (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1988). Look at reviews in major journals to give you ideas on structure, content, tone etc (eg Journal of Theological Studies, Theology, Catholic Biblical Quarterly). ** All essays should be submitted by 2 p.m. on the Tuesday of week 9, ie 12th November 2013.