Daniel J. Harrington - Jesus: A Historical Portrait

INTRODUCTION

Two thousand years after his death Jesus of Nazareth continues to be the object of fascination, devotion and controversy. While the churches try to carry on the traditions of Christian faith, the popular news media gives ample publicity to new (and often preposterous) explanations about who Jesus really was. What gets ignored in these controversies are the solid scholarly works that place Jesus in his proper historical context and sift the evidence to arrive at a reliable and coherent interpretation of what Jesus said and did.

This book aims to state concisely and clearly for a general audience what many specialists in biblical research have learned and written about Jesus of Nazareth in recent years. It is a historical study, though it has theological significance. Historians try to understand the world of Jesus and to situate him in the context of first-century Judaism. They also act as detectives by going behind the ancient literary sources about Jesus and seeking to ascertain what can be said about him with confidence.

Why not just read the four Gospels? Of course we must read them. The Gospels and other New Testament writings answer two basic questions: Who is Jesus? and Why is he important? They remain the principal and indispensable sources of our knowledge about Jesus, and without them modern historians could say little or nothing.

However, the Gospels were written after and in the light of Easter, and their authors and first readers already believed in and revered Jesus as the Messiah, Son of God and Lord. They were composed to increase and deepen faith in the risen Jesus, not to give a precise chronicle of Jesus life on earth. They must be read on three levels: as reports about the time of the earthly Jesus, as reflections of the traditions about Jesus that were handed on in the early churches, and as finished compositions by the Evangelists. This complex process of transmission took about sixty years.

This book is mainly concerned with the time of Jesus, that is, what can be said with a high degree of probability about his life, teachings and activities during his earthly existence. It treats his historical context in Judaism, his birth and the beginnings of his ministry, what he taught and did, his attitudes toward and interactions with women and political leaders, and why and how he died. It also discusses his resurrection, the rise of devotion to him after his death and expectations about his future or second coming.

I intend this short portrait of the historical Jesus as a reliable synthesis of and a positive contribution to recent discussions and controversies about Jesus. I write as a Roman Catholic priest, a Jesuit and a professor of New Testament since 1971. In my academic research I have taken special interest in the Dead Sea Scrolls and other Jewish texts from the time of Jesus. As editor of New Testament Abstracts I see all the books and articles published in the field. There is nothing in this book that poses a threat to Christian faith and tradition. Indeed, in most cases it shows that sound historical study is consistent with orthodox Christian beliefs.

The main text of the book appeared first as a series of twelve newsletters published from March 2006 through February 2007 by St. Anthony Messenger Press under the same title as this book. It includes the sidebars (Adding to the Picture) written by Diane Houdek, as well as questions for reflection and discussion for each chapter. I have added as an appendix an essay entitled Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls and a list of what I regard as some of the best recent books on the historical Jesus. I am grateful to Judy Ball, Lisa Biedenbach and their colleagues at St. Anthony Messenger Press for their encouragement, editorial skill and efficiency.