The historical Jesus is the figure of the first-century Jesus of Nazareth as reconstructed by scholars using historical methods that include critical analysis of gospel texts as the primary source for his biography, and non-biblical sources for the historical and cultural context in which he lived. Use of the term "the historical Jesus" implies that the figure thus reconstructed may differ from that presented in the teaching of the ecumenical councils ("the dogmatic Christ") and in other Christian accounts ("the Christ of faith").
Though the reconstructions vary, they generally include these basic points: Jesus was a Jewish teacher who attracted a small following of Galileans and, after a period of preaching, was crucified by the Romans in Iudaea Province during the governorship of Pontius Pilate.
The historical Jesus was a Galilean Jew living in a time of messianic and apocalyptic expectations. He was baptized by John the Baptist, and after John was executed, Jesus began his own movement in Galilee. He preached the Kingdom of God, using pithy parables with startling imagery and was renowned as a teacher and a healer. Many scholars credit the apocalyptic declarations that the gospels attribute to him, while others portray his Kingdom of God as a moral one, and not apocalyptic in nature. He sent his apostles out to heal and to preach the Kingdom of God. Later, he traveled to Jerusalem in Judea, where he caused a disturbance at the Temple. It was the time of Passover, when political and religious tensions were high in Jerusalem. Apparently the temple guards (believed to be Sadducees) arrested him and turned him over to Pontius Pilate for execution. The movement he had started survived his death and was carried on by his brother James the Just and the other apostles. It developed into Early Christianity, see also List of events in early Christianity.
The quest for the historical Jesus began with the work of Hermann Samuel Reimarus.
This box: view • talk • edit Scholarly Methods
Historians and Bible scholars analyze the Canonical Gospels, Talmud, Gospel according to the Hebrews, Gnostic Gospels, Josephus, and other early documents attempting find the Historical Jesus. They try to separate reliable historical data from that which is not. A number of methods have been developed to critically analyze these sources:
Since the early 1980s scholars associated with the "Third Quest for the Historical Jesus" - including Géza Vermes, Ben Meyer, John Riches, Anthony Harvey, Marcus Borg, E.P. Sanders, and N.T. Wright - have argued that these authenticy criteria are far too stringent.
Criterion of dissimilarity
Criterion of multiple attestation
Cultural congruency
Linguistic criteria
Author's Agenda
Theories of the historical Jesus
Scholars see the historical Jesus as the founder and leader of a restoration movement within Judaism. They identify a continuity between the movement that Jesus started and the religion that would eventually define itself as the Christian Church.
Current scholarship is in the so-called "third quest" of the historical Jesus. Important representatives of the third quest are E.P. Sanders, Geza Vermes, Gerd Theissen, and John Dominic Crossan. Scholarship has split into different trends, with the main point of contention over whether Jesus saw the Kingdom of God as an imminent apocalyptic, earthly victory undertaken by God or as something internal, enacted by believers. The latter, non-apocalyptic view was dominant in North American scholarship. However, work by Bart Eherman has argued that Jesus was an apocalyptic Jew. This view is now considered widely in North America.
Apocalyptic prophet
The gospels portray Jesus as an apocalyptic prophet, described by himself and by others as the Son of Man - translated as the Son of Humanity - and hailing the restoration of Israel. Jesus himself, as the Son of God, a description also used by himself and others for him, was to rule this kingdom as lord of the Twelve Apostles, the judges of the twelve tribes.
Albert Schweitzer emphasized that Jesus was an apocalyptic prophet, preparing his fellow Jews for the imminent end of the world. In fact, Schweitzer saw Jesus as a failed, would-be Messiah whose ethic was suitable only for the short interim before the apocalypse. Many historians concur that Jesus was an apocalyptic prophet, most notably Paula Fredriksen, Bart Ehrman, and John P. Meier. E. P. Sanders portrays Jesus as expecting to assume the "viceroy" position in God's kingdom, above the Twelve Disciples, who would judge the twelve tribes, but below God. He concludes, however, that Jesus seems to have rejected the title Messiah, and he contends that the evidence is uncertain to whether Jesus meant himself when he referred to the Son of Man coming on the clouds as a divine judge (see also Daniel's Vision of Chapter 7), and further states that biblical references to the Son of Man as a suffering figure are not genuine.
Wisdom sage
In North American scholarship, the view that Jesus did not prophesy an imminent apocalypse is common.
Historians associated with the Jesus Seminar, such as John Dominic Crossan, are often associated with this view. They reject the view that Jesus was apocalyptic, but that the kingdom was present and accessible for all Jews. Crossan emphasizes that Jesus' movement did not have a head, as John the Baptist's movement had taken John as their leader. For Crossan, Jesus called people to emulate him, and travel as itinerant preachers. Jesus' eschatology is one of personal action and social transformation, like Gandhi's, rather than apocalyptic. These scholars also explain Jesus' apocalyptic statements as later, Christian additions to the biblical narrative, likely introduced by followers of John the Baptist (who did prophecy an imminent apocalypse) who later joined Jesus' movement.
In fact, three-fifths to three-fourths of North American scholars no longer accept the apocalyptic viewpoint. The new consensus in current theological literature is that Jesus did not see the Kingdom of God as a future apocalyptic event, but as a movement toward an ethical eschatology that had not been fully completed.
Son of God
Some scholars, most notably N. T. Wright (Bishop of Durham) and Luke Timothy Johnson, defend the historicity of traditional views of Jesus as the Son of God who died for our sins (see Atonement). They demand that scholars be more cautious about what we can claim to know about the ancient period, and see no problem in accepting traditional accounts when miraculous events, such as the resurrection, are beyond the historical method to either prove or disprove.
Other Views
There are many other interpretations of Jesus. More notable ones are that of revolutionary, prophet of social change, and mystical spirit-person, e.g., Marcus Borg. In fact, one criticism of the quest for the Historical Jesus has been that each generation perceives Jesus according to the moral sentiments of its era.
Jewish background
See also: Cultural and historical background of JesusJesus preached in Galilee and Judea (modern-day Israel, Palestinian territories, and Jordan) for one to three years in the first half of the first century.
Following the fall of earlier Jewish kingdoms, the partially-Hellenized territory was under Roman imperial rule, but there were ongoing hopes of a revival of independent sovereignty. The Roman Prefect’s first duty to Rome was to maintain order, but although the land was mostly peaceful (notably between 7 and 26), there were continued risks of rebellion, riots, banditry, and violent resistance (see also Zealotry). Four decades after Jesus’ death, the tensions caused by Jewish hopes for a restoration of the kingdom of David culminated in the first Jewish-Roman War and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.
In the Judaic religion of Jesus' day, the Pharisees were a powerful party, espousing (like the first Christians) belief in the resurrection of the dead, retribution in the next world, angels, human freedom, and Divine Providence. The more conservative Sadducees held power in the Temple. The Essenes lived ascetically and looked for an imminent apocalypse. According to scholars such as Geza Vermes and E.P. Sanders, Jesus does not seem to have belonged to any particular party or movement.
Jesus' repeated declarations that the kingdom of God was at hand echoed popular apocalyptic views. According to Geza Vermes and others, the use of the terms "messiah" and "son of God" by Jesus' followers indicate that they believed he would assume the monarchy upon the restoration of the kingdom (see Names and titles of Jesus).
Personal Background
Birth
Most historians consider that Jesus was born around 4 BCE or slightly earlier, and probably in Nazareth. Critical scholars view the different accounts of Jesus' birth given in the Gospel of Luke and th
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