Zondervan - Jesus Under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents the Historical Jesus

ABRLAnchor Bible Reference Library

AJTAmerican Journal of Theology

ANRWAufstieg und Niedergang der rmischen Welt

BARBiblical Archaeology Review

BETLBibliotheca ephemeridum theologicarum lovaniensium

BABiblical Archaeologist

BJRLBulletin of the John Rylands Library

BBRBulletin of Biblical Research

BRBible Review

CBQCatholic Biblical Quarterly

CTQConcordia Theological Quarterly

CTChristianity Today

EvQEvangelical Quarterly

HTKNTHerders theologischer Kommentar zum neuen Testament

HTRHarvard Theological Review

ISBEInternational Standard Bible Encyclopedia

JBLJournal of Biblical Literature

JETSJournal of the Evangelical Theological Society

JHSJournal of Historical Studies

JJSJournal of Jewish Studies

JAOSJournal of the American Oriental Society

JRHJournal of Roman History

JRSJournal of Roman Studies

JSNTJournal for the Study of the New Testament

JSNTMSJournal for the Study of the New Testament Monograph Series

JSOTJournal for the Study of the Old Testament

LCLLoeb Classical Library

NICNTNew International Commentary on the New Testament

NovTNovum Testamentum

NTSNew Testament Studies

NTTSNew Testament Tools and Studies

SBTStudies in Biblical Theology

SJTScottish Journal of Theology

Tnn JTrinity Journal

TSTheological Studies

TynBulTyndale Bulletin

TZTheologische Zeitschrift

WTJWestminster Theological Journal

J esus of Nazareth is under fire. Although he came on the scene of history nearly two thousand years ago, Jesus continues to be the object of devotion and controversymuch as he was when he first walked the landscape of Palestine. Many people today still acclaim him as Savior, as did his followers in the first century. And many others today still reject his claims and consider him a threat to the religious and political establishment, as did the religious and governmental leaders of Israel and Rome.

But Jesus is under fire in a different way now. Today some declare that Jesus never said most of what is recorded of him in the Bible. Some pronounce further that Jesus never did most of what the Bible records he did. They claim that Jesus of Nazareth was a far different figure than church history and the creeds have believed him to be. Therefore, if we are to be intelligent people, even intelligent religious people, we must not simplistically accept what the Bible records Jesus claimed for himself and what the early church claimed him to be. If we are to be truly modern in our religious quest, we must not simplistically hope that Jesus actions as they are recorded in the Bible are factual, or that they have any relevance for us today. Jesus must be stripped of ancient myths that surrounded him as to what he said and did, so that the modern person can hear his true message. Jesus must be brought down to earth from the status to which the early church elevated him, so that we can understand who he was as he walked under Palestinian skies and comprehend what, if any, religious relevance he has for us today. To many today, the Jesus of Nazareth we find in the pages of the Bible is a fictitious creation of the early church, and he must be exposed for who he truly is if he is to have any value for people who face the twenty-first century.

At issue with this perspective on Jesus is whether the worldview reflected in the Bible is viable in the scientific age as an article of reasoned faith. The advent of historical reason in the modern era means that we are obligated to distinguish between factual and fictional accounts of the past. Just as scientific advances in medicine, astronomy, agriculture, and physics swept away old superstitions and myths, so the application of scientific methods of investigation to Jesus of Nazareth is bound to sweep away archaic religious beliefs. The Christ of creed and dogma in the Middle Ages is thus said to be viable no longer for people who have witnessed the scientific revolution.