The Jesus Quest: The Third Search for the Jew of Nazareth / Edition 2

by Ben Witherington III

Overview

• Voted one of Christianity Today's 1996 Books of the Year

In recent years Jesus' time, place and social setting have received renewed scholarly attention. New research on the Dead Sea Scrolls and other Jewish and Hellenistic texts has resulted in a surge of new images of Jesus and new ideas about his ministry. Dubbed the Third Quest for the historical Jesus, this recent effort is a transformation of the first quest, memorialized and chronicled by Albert Schweitzer, and the second quest, carried out in the 1950s and 1960s in the wake of extreme Bultmannian skepticism.

The controversial works of John Dominic Crossan, Marcus Borg and Burton Mack, and the results of the Jesus Seminar have been thrust upon the public by publicists and media as the voices of learned consensus. Meanwhile, at the center of the scholarly investigation of Jesus, a less celebrated but certainly no less informed majority rejects many of the methods and conclusions of those who have captured the limelight.

In The Jesus Quest Ben Witherington, a participant in the Quest, offers the first comprehensive determination and assessment of what scholars are really saying about Jesus. In addition to the views of Crossan, Borg and Mack, he presents and interacts with the work of important scholars such as Geza Vermes, E. P. Sanders, Gerd Theissen, Richard Horsley, John P. Meier, N. T. Wright and Elisabeth Schssler Fiorenza, as well as outlining his own understanding of Jesus as sage. Here is an indispensable survey and assessment of the most significant religious scholarly debate of the 1990s.

Now with a lengthy new postscript, the new paperback edition of this widely praised book updates you on the continuing saga of the Third Quest for the historical Jesus.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780830815449
Publisher:	InterVarsity Press
Publication date:	05/08/1997
Edition description:	Revised, Revised Edition
Pages:	334
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.95(d)

About the Author

Ben Witherington III is Amos Professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary and a well-known expert in his field. He is the author of over forty books, including Conflict and Community in Corinth and a two-volume New Testament theology, The Indelible Image. He speaks widely, is a frequent guest on radio and television, and blogs at patheos.com.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations

Preface: The First Two Quests

1. Galilee the Galilean - Jesus in His Social Setting

2. Jesus the Talking Head - The Jesus of the Jesus Seminar

3. Jesus the Itinerant Cynic Philosopher -
The Works of John Dominic Crossan, Burton Mack and F. Gerald Downing


4. Jesus, Man of the Spirit -
The Works of Marcus Borg, Geza Vermes and Graham H. Twelftree

5. Jesus the Eschatological Prophet -
The Works of E. P. Sanders and Maurice Casey

6. Jesus the Prophet of Social Change -
The Works of Gerd Theissen, Richard A. Horsley and R. David Kaylor


7. Jesus the Sage: The Wisdom of God -
The Works of Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza and Ben Witherington

8. Jesus: Marginal Jew of Jewish Messiah? -
The Works of John P. Meier, Peter Stuhlmacher, James D. G. Dunn, Marinus de Jonge, Markus Bockmuehl and N. T. Wright

9. The Journey's End - Synopsis, Conclusions, Conjectures

Epilogue: The Death of the Messiah - The Work of Raymond E. Brown


Postscript: The Continuing Saga of the Jesus Quest

Notes

Bibliography

Index of Subjects

Index of Modern Authors

Index of Scripture and Other Early Literature

Editorial Reviews

"The closest we have to the part played almost 100 years ago by Albert Schweitzer's classic The Quest for the Historical Jesus . . . a worthy guide through the intricate research maze now known as the third quest for the historical Jesus."

Gary Habermas

"The closest we have to the part played almost 100 years ago by Albert Schweitzer's classic The Quest for the Historical Jesus . . . a worthy guide through the intricate research maze now known as the third quest for the historical Jesus."

--Gary Habermas, Themelios

From the Publisher

Over the past 10 years or so, biblical critics have poked and prodded the canonical Gospels in an attempt to resurrect the historical Jesus for the late 20th century. Witherington (Jesus, the Sage, etc.) explores the stunning variety of portraits of the Nazarene drawn by contemporary critics from John Dom Crossan to John P. Meier. By way of introduction, he suggests the resemblances of this so-called ``third quest'' for the historical Jesus to the earlier quests of late-19th and mid-20th century scholars to locate the Jesus of history behind the Christ of faith. In addition, Witherington argues here that any portrait of Jesus succeeds or fails according to the extent to which it recognizes the fundamental character of his Jewish self-identity. Each chapter assesses the strengths and weaknesses of particular contemporary understandings of Jesus. For instance, the methods and conclusions of the Jesus Seminar are attacked as spurious and ahistorical, while Meier and his monumental A Marginal Jew are praised for properly locating the life and work of Jesus in their Jewish context. Witherington provides a good overview of recent Jesus scholarship. Unfortunately, it's too often overshadowed by the fact that, when differing from other scholars, his tone is unjustifiably combative and sometimes pejorative.(Dec.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly