May 11th, 2012
The First Search for the Historical Jesus (1778-1906)
- Distinction between Christ of faith and Jesus of History
- Accepted Gospel stories in general but rationalized or rejected miracle stories and claims to divinity
- Jesus as moral example
- Source criticism; Two document theory
- Ends with claim we can no nothing of historical Jesus
The Period of No Quest for the Historical Jesus (1906-1953)
- Nothing can be known of historical Jesus and not ultimately important; Living Christ of Faith is what matters
- Form Criticism
- Mark Displaced
- Bultmann: Need to demythologize Gospels and get to kerygma; Authentic existence
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May 10th, 2012
Though there is no set date (considered to be the late 1970s to present day), the third quest for the historical Jesus began as a reaction against the second search. Theological assumptions were controlling historical investigation. It attempts to do history apart from theological presuppositions, which yielded two results. First, there were many divergent positions from evangelical scholars to liberal theologians. Second, the third search, in general, is much more open to the supernatural. Miracles are not ruled out a priori.
There are a few major characteristics unique to the third search. There was an emphasis and concentration on understanding Jesus as a first century Jew–the social and religious climate becomes paramount. A rejection of strict attachment to the “criteria” of the second search, especially the criteria of double dissimilarity. There was a high view of the accuracy of the oral tradition.
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May 8th, 2012
After the first search for the historical Jesus ended in 1906 the next search, or better said, the period of no quest, began and lasted until 1953. At this point there was little optimism for finding the “historical Jesus.” Karl Barth (1886-1968) was the key figure during this time. He claimed that the Jesus of history has little to do with theology–the Christ of faith is more important. Barth ushered in Neo-Orthodoxy–an emphasis on sin, sovereignty, grace, and faith. This was a de-emphasis on what actually happened.
This led to form criticism: An analysis of the forms in which the narratives of the gospels come down to us. Not literary, but their pre-literary oral forms. The idea was that different kinds of stories have distinctive kinds of forms that effect how they should be interpreted: miracle stories, healing stories, apothegms, etc.
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May 7th, 2012
There are three main reasons why the search for the historical Jesus began (of three searches). The first is the problems raised in the Gospels such as consistency, apparent contradictions, historical accuracy, etc. Then there was the problem posed by the Reformation in completely changing the perspective on the Bible and Jesus. Finally, there was the current worldview of modernity. This led many to believe that the Gospels do not give an accurate portrayal of the real Jesus, which caused the need to search through all the sources to find the historical Jesus.
The first search was from 1778-1906. Rationalism and deism became the dominant epistemology and worldviews in the eighteenth century. In 1778 Hermann Reimarus wrote On the Intention of Jesus and the Disciples and was the first to make the distinction between the Christ of faith and the Jesus of history. A gap began to form between history and faith.
Numerous other fictions “lives” of Jesus were written throughout the late eighteenth and into the nineteenth century. These writers included K.F. Bardht (1792), K.H. Venturini (1809), and Heinrich Paulus (1828).
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April 29th, 2012
The Birth of Christ
Announcement made to the shepherds (Luke 2.8-20)
- Shepherds considered unclean
- Shepherds not educated
- God revealed His glory
- Not to priests but shepherds
- Not in the temple but in a field
- God gave a sign
- A baby in a manger
- Wrapped in cloth
- In a manger not a palace
- Wrapped in cloth not luxurious
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April 28th, 2012
The claim is that all religions have their miracles, so what makes Christianity’s miracles true and other religions’ false?
- Not all religious teach miracles and the Jewish-Christian religions are the only traditions that claim to prove its teachings through miracles.
- In all cases of miracles, no miracles have the historical evidence like the gospel miracles.
- Christianity’s miracles are religiously significant. Jesus’ miracles occurred at the climax of his unparalleled life.
- Religio-historical context distinguishes miracles from physical anomalies. When a scientific anomaly occurs it is usually assumed that some unknown natural factors are interfering, so that the law is neither violated nor revised.
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April 27th, 2012
I’ve provided a list of alleged contradictions in the New Testament from a file I’ve found floating around the internet. This is so you know what someone is talking about when this comes up in discussion. Some of them had explanations that were blatantly obvious and weren’t problematic at all but I’ve saved some interesting one’s for your consideration. Even so, some of these are a bit easy to harmonize. However, don’t be so quick to lay down a Christian trump card. Carefully consider what’s going on and work through it. I do affirm biblical inerrancy and I would recommend several books to address the issues of such alleged contradictions:
Mike Licona’s The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach
Ed Komoszewski, M. James Sawyer, and Dan Wallace’s Reinventing Jesus
Craig Blomberg’s The Historical Reliability of the Gospels
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April 6th, 2012
The Purpose Fallacy
- The purpose and nature of the pagan mystery religions is completely different than the purpose and form of Christianity
- MR are cyclical: cycle of birth – death – rebirth following the vegetative – harvest cycle.
- MR involve secrecy – only members can participate; had to go through secret initiation rites; secret knowledge
- MR: Doctrine and beliefs were unimportant, emphasis was on mystical experience
- MR was not interested in historicity of its myth and often acknowledged myths as non-historical
Pagan Copycat Theory: The story of Jesus Christ as presented in the gospels is a myth incorporating various aspects of other ancient pagan religions.
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April 5th, 2012
The Source Fallacy
- Need to discover the specific source of the alleged parallel
- Is it found in the actual sacred texts of the religion which predate Christianity or is it found in a later source?
- Primary or secondary?
- Can they quote the specific source: book, volume, verse?
- Many ancient religions evolved over time and there is no one authoritative source or narrative of their myths
- Most copycat theorists simply do not know the source of their claims.
- Most often when you look at the original source it does not come close to what copycats claim.
Pagan Copycat Theory: The story of Jesus Christ as presented in the gospels is a myth incorporating various aspects of other ancient pagan religions.
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April 5th, 2012
The Dependency Fallacy
- Two kinds of dependency: weak and strong
- Weak: Use of accommodating language or appeals to similar beliefs (Paul’s “Mars Hill” speech in Acts 17)
- Strong: A concept originated first in pagan religion and then was brought into Christianity
- There is no evidence of any strong dependency of Christian beliefs on pagan religions
- No evidence of pagan mystery religions in first century Palestine
- While mystery religions are highly syncretic that is not the case for Judaism and Christianity – they are both highly exclusivistic.
Pagan Copycat Theory: The story of Jesus Christ as presented in the gospels is a myth incorporating various aspects of other ancient pagan religions.
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