1. Quest for the historical Jesus
A Benefit or Detriment to the Church?

2. First Quest
1778–1906
The Questioning of Established Authorities

3. Herman Samuel Reimarus
The Aims of Jesus and His Disciples (1778)
Jesus was political messiah whose disciples changed his message to one of eternal salvation

4. David friedrich strauss
The Life of Jesus Critically Examined (1835)
Jesus was a person who symbolized divine-human unity
Evangelists shaped his story in the mold of the Old Testament prophets

5. Ernst Renan Life of Jesus (1862) Teacher of Love Miracle Worker
Tragic Martyr

6. Albert Schweitzer Quest for the Historical Jesus (1906)
Eschatological and Apocalyptic Jesus
Tried to bring in the Kingdom of God

7. Period of no quest
1906 –1953
Encountering Jesus without History

8. Karl Barth Historically we know that Jesus lived and died
Focus on Theology

9. Rudolf Bultmann
Existential encounter

10. Second Quest
1953–1970
Don’t Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater

11. Ernst Kasemann “The Problem of the Historical Jesus”
Don’t lose all connection to history
Employ better principles

12. Third Quest 1980-Present Jewish Jesus
Jesus Seminar - Robert Funk, John Dominic Crossan
Orthodox Scholars - Ben Witherington, E. P. Sanders

13. McKnight and his respondents
creating Jesus in our own image
Bad criteria
Stance is over and against the Bible
Bock, Keener, Wright
Better criteria
Engaged in culture
Context for faith