The Historical Jesus

I. Introduction: The Scholarly Study of Jesus

A. What is meant by 'the historical Jesus'?

B. Methods of study and sources of information

C. A bare minimum of sayings and deeds/events

II. Survey of key scholars and their approaches

III. The world of Jesus

A. Context and background: General information on the world of Jesus

B. Influences on the historical Jesus

1) Family and upbringing, social status, education

2) Galilee, Sepphoris, synagogues

3) John the Baptist

C. Jesus and his contemporaries: Pharisees, Scribes, Sadducees, Essenes, etc.

IV. The birth narratives

A. History: Luke's Gospel, the census under Quirinius, and the date of Jesus' birth

B. Culture: The cultural background of the birth narrative in Luke

C. Theology: Jesus as a 'New Moses' in the early chapters of Matthew's Gospel.

D. Concluding thoughts on the accounts of Jesus' birth

V. The start of Jesus' public ministry

A. John the Baptist and Jesus' baptism

B. The message and emphases of Jesus

1) The Kingdom of God is at hand

2) Touching the unclean and eating with sinners

3) Jesus' audience: Israel and/or non-Jews?

C. The Twelve Apostles

VI. Jesus as Miracle-Worker and Exorcist

A. Healings

B. Exorcisms

C. 'Nature Miracles'

VII. Jesus as Teacher

A. The character of Jesus' teaching (especially counter-cultural elements and images)

B. The Parables

C. Ethical teaching

D. The Lord's Prayer

E. The Kingdom of God and the coming judgment: further thoughts

VIII. Jesus as Leader

A. Categories into which Jesus might be placed

B. Jesus as charismatic/prophet

C. Jesus as sage/wisdom teacher

D. Jesus as rabbi/interpreter of the Law

E. Did Jesus claim to be the Messiah?

F. Who is this 'Son of Man'?

G. Did Jesus claim to be God?

IX. Jesus and the Temple

A. The apocalyptic discourse (Mark 13 and parallels)

B. The 'cleansing of the Temple'

C. "Destroy this Temple and in three days I will rebuild it"

X. The Death of Jesus

A. Did Jesus say anything beforehand about his death and resurrection?

B. The Last Supper

C. The betrayal [cross-reference document on the Twelve disciples]

D. Jesus on trial?

E. The details of the crucifixion

F. Jesus' dishonorable burial

XI. The resurrection

A. What can a historian hope to say about the resurrection?

B. What is the evidence and what does it suggest?

XII. Historical and modern images of Jesus

            A. The creeds and the development of Christian doctrine

B. Scholarly/theological images 

C. Popular images

D. Media images

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND GENERAL WEB LINKS:

TEXTBOOKS:

James D. G. Dunn, Jesus Remembered (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003).

A contemporary translation of the Bible will also be needed.

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A few general web links (see various pages linked above for more): 

Markus Bockmuehl (editor), Companion to Jesus

Steven M. Bryan, Jesus and Israel's Tradition of Judgment and Restoration

Mark Goodacre’s New Testament Gateway http://www.ntgateway.org

    and his on-line class notes at http://www.bham.ac.uk/theology/goodacre/jesus/index.htm

PBS Frontline Special http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/

Jerry Truex’s Site http://www.ntworld.org

Historical Jesus Studies http://www.faithfutures.org/Jesus.html

and http://www.faithfutures.org/HJstudies.html

Historical Jesus FAQ http://www.robotwisdom.com/science/jesus.html

Jesus Archive [if that doesn't work try here]

The Jesus Institute

Robert Kraft’s class materials:  gopher://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/11/courses/rels/435 

Prof. Barry D. Smith, The Life of Jesus

Study Guide on the Life of Jesus

The Real Jesus?

A Plain Guide to the Historical Jesus: Is Jesus History?

The Jubilee of the Words of Jesus?

Jesus, Judaism and History

Schweitzer, Albert, The Quest of the Historical Jesus, New York: Macmillan, 1968 (reprint). [The classic survey of 19^th century studies of Jesus, whose criticism thereof not only shook the whole enterprise to a standstill but also determines Jesus research right down to the present day. It is available on-line at http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/schweitzer/]

ADDITIONAL COURSE INFORMATION

Assignments

In-class presentation: Each student will make an in-class presentation of approximately 5 minutes on a topic related to that class period.

Written assignments: This semester, rather than give one long term paper, there will be 5 shorter papers (approximately 3 pages) due at various points over the course of the semester. The topics and due-dates are as follows:

1)      Assess the usefulness for the study of the historical Jesus of any one of the following extracanonical sources: Josephus, Tacitus, The Gospel of Thomas. [Due Sept.5^th]

2)      What did Jesus mean when he spoke about the “Kingdom of God”? [Due Sept.21^st] Recommended source: Graham Stanton, The Gospels and Jesus, ch.12, available on NetLibrary.

3)      How distinctive was Jesus’ use of the Aramaic abba in reference to God? [Due Oct.3^rd] Recommended sources: Robert H. Stein, The Method and Message of Jesus’ Teaching, ch.5; Marianne Meye Thompson, The Promise of the Father, both available on NetLibrary.

4)      From the perspective of historical inquiry, why was Jesus crucified? [Due Nov.14^th] Recommended source: Graham Stanton, The Gospels and Jesus, ch.16, available on NetLibrary.

5)      What if anything can historians say about the resurrection of Jesus? [Due Nov.30] Recommended sources: Graham Stanton, The Gospels and Jesus, ch.16; Gerd Lüdemann, What Really Happened To Jesus?, both available on NetLibrary; one of the articles by Craig, Herrick or McDowell.

The final grade will be made up of the following percentages:

15%  In-class presentation

35%  Participation in classroom discussions, debates, and activities

50%  Written assignments [10% each]

 Provisional class schedule

The following points represent key things that will be looked for in all your work:

1) Intellectual honesty: All written work must be your own. If you use someone else's words, there must be quotation marks and a footnote indicating this (see the links I have provided on my home page at http://blue.butler.edu/~jfmcgrat/plagiarism.htm). Simply changing a few words is not good enough. You must put ideas in your own words; and even then, if the idea is someone else's, you must still provide a footnote or other reference. If you plagiarize you will fail the class, and the dean of student services as well as the dean of your college will be informed so that there will a record of the offense so that it can be clear if you are a repeat offender. If you do not adequately reference your sources you will either fail, or be required to redo the paper, or at the very least get a lower grade than you might otherwise have received on that assignment, depending on the nature and severity of the case. Intellectual honesty is of more fundamental importance than anything you will learn by taking this class.

2) Critical thinking: How you think is infinitely more important to me than what you think. You will gain no points by agreeing with me, and lose none by disagreeing. What matters is how you argue your case, and that you examine critically not only the views of others, but also your own views. Coupled with the need for critical thinking is a need for:

3) Fairness: You must understand the views of others, even if you disagree with them. Treat their views the way you would like your own viewpoints to be treated. Again, whether you agree or disagree with an author's viewpoint is completely up to you. But you must understand what he or she says, and not merely in a superficial manner. Recent (postmodern) thought may emphasize that none of us can claim to be objective: we all have a viewpoint, and we all have assumptions and biases. But this need not mean that we are incapable of interacting with the views of others in a manner that is fair.

4) Breadth of reading, reflection, and interaction with scholarly writings: Your view and opinion are important; in fact, your ability to evaluate different viewpoints and then draw your own conclusions will make the difference between B+ or A- work and A work. On the other hand, a university essay is not simply your reflections. You must find out what others have to say, and relate your conclusions to theirs. To simply reference one or two books or articles (or worse, one or two web pages) will not be adequate. The best research papers will combine in-depth research with creativity and originality. Please also note that, although I have sought to make available to you the highest quality of online resources via the course web page, online reading is rarely if ever sufficient for writing a college-level paper. Unless you are certain you have access to complete online articles and books by authors who deal with topics in a scholarly manner, you should use web-based resources with caution.

5) Although it should not be necessary to specify this, all work submitted must be typed and must be in appropriate English (i.e. correct spelling and punctuation, no IM abbreviations). What you are trying to say is important, but it will not count for much if your ideas are not communicated clearly and intelligibly. A good idea might be to have a study partner or other individual who can proofread your work, in some form of reciprocal arrangement. Getting critical feedback prior to handing work in will also very likely contribute to you receiving a higher grade.

For more information about religion and the Liberal Arts at Butler, visit http://www.butler.edu/las/ReligionSy.aspx. On the value of a Liberal Arts education at Butler University, visit http://www.butler.edu/las/ValuestatementGregory.aspx.

[Note: This web page was designed to be followed sequentially in connection with the course (RL307) taught by Dr. James F. McGrath at Butler University, and with the reading of the assigned textbook. While it is hoped that these resources will be useful to others as well, it is not impossible that certain points, approaches, or arguments may be misunderstood if the material is not followed in order and in connection with other assigned readings. All information provided below regarding this course is provisional and subject to amendment or modification]

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