Topic 2 Quests for the Historical Jesus A.Pre-Quest (before 1778) 1. 1.Pre-critical period: No quest – no problem Produced “harmonies” of the gospels (e.g., Tatian’s). B. B.“Old Quest” ( ) 1. 1.H. S. Reimarus (d. 1768) a. a.First attempt at strictly historical reconstruction (1778). b. b.Distinguished the teaching of the Jewish Jesus from the later Christian doctrine of the apostles and church fathers. c. c.Jesus taught coming K of G with himself as political messiah; expected popular uprising; died in failure Rationalism ( ) a. a.Wanted a rational religion compatible with scientific worldview. b. b.Eliminated supernatural elements; contrived rational explanations for miracles.

B. B.“Old Quest” (cont.) 3.D. F. Strauss (1835) a. a.Supernatural elements must not be discarded but interpreted “mythologically” – symbolic of spiritual truth. b. b.First to insist that Synoptics, not John, are primary sources for historical Jesus. (Showed that Jn. is more “mythologically” developed.) 4. 4.“Liberal Lives of Jesus” movement ( ) a. a.Numerous reconstructions; most popular was E. Renan’s The Life of Jesus (1863); known as the first “biography” of Jesus. b. b.Sought to put Christianity on firm historical foundation c. c.Used “two-source” theory as basis for “reliable” account (cf. Holtzmann). d. d.Divided Jesus’ ministry into periods and showed chronological development (“chronologizing”). e. e.Saw development in Jesus’ own “messianic self- consciousness” (“psychologizing”). f. f.Jesus’ teaching mirrors “Liberal Protestant” theology: universal Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man; etc. g. g.Viewed Kingdom of God as inward, spiritual, ethical kingdom; attained through cultural progress.

C. C.“End” of the Quest ( ) A period of “no quest” was initiated by A. Schweitzer and consolidated by R. Bultmann (along with a supporting cast) Johannes Weiss (1892) – Showed that “Kingdom of God” is a concept of Jewish apocalyptic eschatology W. Wrede (1901) – Showed that “messianic secret” motif is not historical but a literary device of Mark; led to historical skepticism A. Schweitzer (The Quest of the Historical Jesus, 1906) a. a.Detailed critique of “the quest,” showing how scholars had “modernized” Jesus (found in Jesus their own theology). b. b.Confirmed Weiss’ placement of Jesus in context of Jewish apocalyptic eschatology. c. c.Produced a “thoroughgoing eschatological” account of Jesus: 1) 1)Preached imminent K of G; kept secret that he will be messiah. 2) 2)Turning point: failure of K to appear after mission of 12. 3) 3)Went to Jerusalem to die and force K to come – failed. d. d.Often credited with bringing an end to the historical quest. 1) 1)Historically reconstructed Jesus cannot be object of faith. 2) 2)Sure foundation of Christianity is the “living spirit of Jesus.”

C. C.“End” of the Quest ( ) – cont. 4.M. Kähler (The So-Called Historical Jesus and the Historic Biblical Christ, 1892) – evangelical scholar who anticipated Bultmann a. a.Sources inadequate for historical reconstruction: 1) 1)Gospels are not Historie (bare facts), 2) 2)but Geschichte (meaning/ significance of an event). b. b.Faith has no interest in a historically reconstructed Jesus.

C. C.“End” of the Quest ( ) – cont R. Bultmann – Most influential NT scholar of 20 th cent.; greatest advocate of the “no quest” position. a. a.Historical quest is methodologically impossible. 1) 1)Sources do not permit us to write a biography of Jesus. 2) 2)Form criticism (1921) shows creativity of church, fragmentary nature of traditions, etc. 3) 3)Wrote a book on Jesus’ message (Jesus and the Word). b. b.Historical quest is theologically unnecessary (illegitimate). 1) 1)Faith arises in response to the kerygma (“preaching”). 2) 2)Faith does not need to be verified by historical research (historical quest amounts to seeking false security). 3) 3)Kerygma of early church was a response to the death & resurrection of Jesus, not to teaching of historical Jesus. 4) 4)Drew sharp distinction between the message of Jesus and the preaching of the early church. a) a)A decisive “shift” took place at Easter. b) b)“The Proclaimer became the Proclaimed.”

D. D.“New Quest” ( ) 1. 1.Leading figures – mostly pupils of Bultmann who took new direction. a. a.E. Käsemann (1953) – Opened the “new quest” with lecture calling for resumption of historical quest. b. b.G. Bornkamm, Jesus of Nazareth (1956) – first book on Jesus from this perspective. c. c.J. Robinson, A New Quest of the Historical Jesus (1959) – gave name to new movement; analyzed rationale.

D. D.“New Quest” ( ) – cont. 2.Key positions: a. a.Historical quest is methodologically possible. 1) 1)Confident in identifying sufficient authentic material to produce a coherent picture. 2) 2)Still can’t write a “biography.” b. b.Historical quest is theologically necessary. 1) 1)The risen Lord proclaimed by the church is none other than Jesus of Nazareth. 2) 2)Otherwise, Christian faith dissolves into timeless myth. 3) 3)By combining proclamation of faith with historical memory of Jesus, the gospels demand inquiry into historical Jesus. c. c.Emphasized continuity between message of Jesus and faith of early church. 1) 1)The “shift” at Easter largely made explicit what was already implicit before Easter. 2) 2)Jesus never explicitly claimed to be Messiah, but he acted with messianic authority (“implicit Christology”). 3) 3)After Easter, this became explicit when church applied titles.

E. E.Recent trends (after 1985) 1. 1.The Jesus Seminar: “New Quest Renewed” a. a.Leading scholars: 1) 1)Robert W. Funk – founder 2) 2)John Dominic Crossan – co-chair 3) 3)Marcus Borg b. b.Characteristic features: 1) 1)High public profile ( press releases; voting on authenticity with colored beads; color-coded edition of The Five Gospels ). 2) 2)Tendency to credit Thomas as independent, early witness. 3) 3)Reconstructs history of Q, separating into earlier and later layers. 4) 4)Minimalist approach to authenticity (Wredebahn). 5) 5)Reconstructs a non-eschatological Jesus. 6) 6)Tendency to view Jesus less in context of Jewish eschatology and more of Cynic philosophy. 7) 7)John Dominic Crossan: Jesus as peasant Jewish Cynic; radical social critic; advocated radically egalitarian society. 8) 8)Marcus Borg: Jesus as Jewish mystic/healer, wisdom teacher, and social prophet.

E. E.Recent trends (after 1985) – cont “Third Quest” (counting “Old Quest” and “New Quest” as first two) a. a.Leading scholars 1) 1)N. T. Wright – coined term “Third Quest” 2) 2)E. P. Sanders 3) 3)John Meier 4) 4)Ben Witherington b. b.Characteristic features: 1) 1)Views Jesus in context of 1 st -century Judaism. 2) 2)Views Jesus as eschatological (Schweitzerstrasse). 3) 3)Takes narrative material more seriously. 4) 4)More confident of producing a historically plausible account of Jesus’ agenda. 5) 5)E. P. Sanders: Jesus as eschatological prophet; imminent Kingdom of God will bring the restoration of Israel, a new Temple, and a reign of peace and justice. 6) 6)N. T. Wright: Jesus as eschatological prophet/Messiah; announces end of exile, forgiveness of sins, and restoration of Israel; dies as Israel’s representative, taking Israel’s fate upon himself.