For those engaged in the quest for the historical Jesus, what is it about for you?
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For me its about understanding Jesus within his historical context. Understanding his words, actions, and intentions and how they were likely recieved by his contemporaries. For others it may be getting behind the sources to get back to the real Jesus. Or perhaps to authenticate Jesus' words and actions, vindicating the canonical gospel portraits in light of critical questioning?
Another interesting question to ponder is what you think the public perception of the quest is. How about in your church? What are the attitudes of students on your University or Seminary campus towards it?. I remember when the quest was mentioned once in a lecture. It was virtually dismissed through a not so flattering poke at how the Jesus seminar use marbles to decide whether or not a saying of Jesus was authentic. I knew their method, and the characteture was somewhat misleading. This incident just shows how one sided the quest is often seen to be.
For those who know little about it (or who are perhaps put off by what they have heard about it) but are interested, Jesus and the Quest by Tom Wright is a good place to start. It offers a concise introduction to its history and its possible future aswell as pointing out its importance for the Christian faith.
Another interesting question to ponder is what you think the public perception of the quest is. How about in your church? What are the attitudes of students on your University or Seminary campus towards it?. I remember when the quest was mentioned once in a lecture. It was virtually dismissed through a not so flattering poke at how the Jesus seminar use marbles to decide whether or not a saying of Jesus was authentic. I knew their method, and the characteture was somewhat misleading. This incident just shows how one sided the quest is often seen to be.
For those who know little about it (or who are perhaps put off by what they have heard about it) but are interested, Jesus and the Quest by Tom Wright is a good place to start. It offers a concise introduction to its history and its possible future aswell as pointing out its importance for the Christian faith.
come now, share...
2 comments:
Good comments. I would probably answer yes, with qualification, to all three. My article in Themelios "Should Evangelicals Participate in the Third Quest" touches upon the topic too.
Thnx Mike.
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