Darrell L. Bock - Studying the Historical Jesus: A Guide to Sources and Methods

Studying the
Historical Jesus

Studying the
Historical Jesus

A Guide to Sources and Methods

Darrell L. Bock

2002 by Darrell L. Bock

Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Book House Company
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

and

Apollos (an imprint of Inter-Varsity Press)
38 De Montfort Street
Leicester LE1 7GP England
email: ivp@uccf.org.uk
web site: www.ivpbooks.com

Printed in the United States of America

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bock, Darrell L.
Studying the historical Jesus : a guide to sources and methods / Darrell L. Bock.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-8010-2451-X (pbk.)
1. Jesus ChristHistoricityStudy and teaching. 2. Jesus ChristBiography Study and teaching. I. Title.
BT303.2 .B53 2002
232.9'08'071dc21 2002001510

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Apollos ISBN 0-85111-273-0

For information about Baker Academic, visit our web site:
www.bakeracademic.com

Contents

Maps

Tables and Graphs

As a student of the Gospels who has long appreciated what detailed study of Jesus can yield, I have yearned to write such a book for my students. What I have desired is a work that briefly goes over the background to the Gospels and the critical study of the Gospels that reflects both the value and limitations of these elements. I wanted to supply a basic introduction to these areas that was brief enough for students to digest and that had enough guidance for students to encourage further independent study. Only time will tell if I have succeeded. Much of the material here has been used in one form or another in classes on New Testament Introduction and on Jesus, as well as in a class I teach with my colleague W. Hall Harris on introduction to exegesis in Gospel narrative. I submit the material knowing that it has helped many students get an initial grasp on many controversial themes associated with the study of the Gospels. They have urged me to make it more widely available. This work is intentionally not technical. It is a primer. My audience is the beginning student of the Gospels who desires to start to dig deeper into its depths.

Special thanks go to Baker Book House: to Jim Weaver, who originally pursued the development of the work; to Jim Kinney, who shepherded it through to its current configuration; and to Wells Turner, who edited it with care and patience. In addition, thanks go particularly to three students who read the manuscript with care, making comments on how it would be received: Greg Herrick, Carol Kahil, and especially Jim Samra, who read through it all and commented in detail. Thanks to Katie Gay, my administrative assistant, for deciphering my handwriting and turning it into typescript. Finally, I would like to thank my daughter, Elisa Bock, who is training at Northwesterns Me- dill School of Journalism to become an editor. She also read through the whole with an editors eye, helping me immensely with expression. To my wife, Sally, and my other children, Lara and Stephen, goes gratitude for understanding why another few hours were required at my Mac.

I dedicate this work to students at Dallas Theological Seminary and Talbot Theological Seminary, whose need created the desire to write this work and whose response has been so gracious. To all of them go my wishes for a fruitful walk with the Lord and refreshing times of study and growth gained from a careful interaction with the Gospels.

Darrell L. Bock

Bibliographic

Scripture
Old Testament

Gen. Genesis

Exod. Exodus

Lev. Leviticus

Num. Numbers

Deut. Deuteronomy

Josh. Joshua

Judg. Judges

Ruth Ruth

12 Sam. 12 Samuel

12 Kings 12 Kings

12 Chron. 12 Chronicles

Ezra Ezra

Neh. Nehemiah

Esth. Esther

Job Job

Ps. Psalms

Prov. Proverbs

Eccles. Ecclesiastes

Song Song of Songs

Isa. Isaiah

Jer. Jeremiah

Lam. Lamentations

Ezek. Ezekiel

Dan. Daniel

Hos. Hosea

Joel Joel

Amos Amos

Obad. Obadiah

Jon. Jonah

Mic. Micah

Nah. Nahum

Hab. Habakkuk

Zeph. Zephaniah

Hag. Haggai

Zech. Zechariah

Mal. Malachi

Old Testament Apocrypha

14 Macc. 14 Maccabees

Sirach Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach

Wisdom Wisdom of Solomon

New Testament

Matt. Matthew

Mark Mark

Luke Luke

John John

Acts Acts

Rom. Romans

12 Cor. 12 Corinthians

Gal. Galatians

Eph. Ephesians

Phil. Philippians

Col. Colossians

12 Thess. 12 Thessalonians

12 Tim. 12 Timothy

Titus Titus

Philem. Philemon

Heb. Hebrews

James James

12 Pet. 12 Peter

13 John 13 John

Jude Jude

Rev. Revelation

Introduction
Sources of Our Knowledge

The evangelists, I have argued, did not write for specific churches they knew or knew about, not even for a very large number of such churches. Rather drawing on their experience and knowledge of several or many specific churches, they wrote for any and every church to which their Gospels might circulate. No more than almost any other author, at their time or at most other periods, could they know which specific readers and hearers their work would reach. Thus, to ask, for example, if Luke knew whether there were any Christian churches in Gaul at the time when he wrote, and, supposing he knew there were, if he intended to address them in his Gospel, is to ask altogether the wrong sort of question. His intended audience was an