Jesus of Nazareth: An independent historian's account of his life and teaching

by Maurice Casey

Overview

A new 'life' of Jesus written by one of the outstanding scholars of his generation, it offers a complete resource on the 'Historical Jesus' debate. With an overview of the various positions taken on who the historical Jesus was, Casey provides a helpful and accessible tool for understanding how the historical Jesus has been received and understood, with attention paid to the contortions in evidence in the last century to prove that Jesus was not Jewish.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780567645173
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	12/30/2010
Pages:	576
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.70(d)

About the Author

Maurice Casey is Professor of New Testament Languages and Literature at the University of Nottingham, UK. He has published extensively on the Son of Man problem, and more generally on reconstructing Aramaic traditions about Jesus from the Greek Gospels.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Abbreviations xiii

1 The Quest of the Historical Jesus 1

1 Introduction 1

2 The Nazi Period 4

3 Radical Form Criticism 9

4 Not the Second and Third Quests 12

5 Vermes and Sanders 13

6 Crossan and the American Jesus Seminar 18

7 From Bad to Worse 21

8 Recent Lives of Jesus 45

9 Conclusions 59

2 Historically Reliable Sources 61

1 Introduction 61

2 The Gospel According to Marcus 62

3 The So-called 'Q' Material 78

4 The Gospel According to Matthew 86

5 The Gospel According to Luke 93

6 Conclusions 97

3 Historical Method 101

1 Introduction 101

2 Multiple Attenstation 102

3 Dissimilarity, Coherence and Embarrassment 104

4 Historical Plausibility 106

5 Aramaic 108

6 Jewish Source Material 120

7 Rewriting History, Telling Stories and Social Memory 132

8 Conclusions 141

4 Family, Birth, Upbringing and Cultural Background 143

1 Family 143

2 Birth 145

3 Upbringing 158

4 Galilee and the Surrounding Areas 164

5 Conclusions 169

5 John the Baptist, Call and Ministry 171

1 Introduction 171

2 The Prophetic Tradition 172

3 John the Baptist 173

4 Jesus' Baptism and Call 176

5 Jesus, John and the Length of the Historic Ministry 178

6 The Call of the Twelve 186

7 Women in the Historic Ministry 192

8 Conclusions 197

6 God 199

1 Introduction 199

2 Jesus' Spiritual Life 199

3 The Fatherhood of God 204

4 The Kingdom of God 212

5 Teaching Others to Pray 226

6 Conclusions 234

7 Exorcism and Healing 237

1 Introduction 237

2 Secondary Development 240

3 Healing 244

4 Exorcism in the Ministry of Jesus 247

5 Healing Other Illnesses 256

6 The Mighty Works of a Prophet 271

7 Jesus Was Not a Magician 275

8 Conclusions 278

8 Jesus' Ethical Teaching 281

1 Introduction 281

2 Repentance 282

3 The Torah 284

4 Particular Ethical Instructions 288

5 Divorce and the Family 295

6 The Good Samaritan 301

7 Poverty and Riches 305

8 Two Problems 309

9 Observing Jesus' Ethical Teaching 310

10 Conclusions 312

9 Jesus' Conflicts with His Opponents 313

1 Introduction 313

2 Scribes 313

3 Pharisees 315

4 Orthodoxy in Second Temple Judaism 319

5 Jesus' Conflicts with Scribes and Pharisees 320

6 Herod Antipas 338

7 Chief Priests, Elders and Scribes 344

8 Division 349

9 Conclusions 351

10 Christological Terms 353

1 Introduction 353

2 Prophet 354

3 Teacher 356

4a Son of Man: Introduction 358

4b Son of Man: Genuine Sayings of Jesus 361

4c Son of Man: The Translation Process 369

4d Son of Man: Daniel 7.13 374

4e Son of Man: Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection 377

4f Son of Man: The Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke 381

5 Son of God 388

6 Messiah, or Christ 392

7 Conclusions 399

11 Death in Jerusalem 401

1 Introduction 401

2 Preparing the Way 403

3 Entry into Jerusalem, and the Cleansing of the Temple 408

4 The Next Few Days 415

5 Betrayal 425

6 Jesus' Final Passover 429

7 Arrest 438

8 Trial and Conviction 440

9 Crucifixion: A Bandit's Shameful Death 445

10 A Bandit's Shameful Burial 448

11 Conclusions 453

12 Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? 455

1 Introduction 455

2 Early Experiences and Belief 456

3 Gospel Appearance Narratives 461

4 Jewish Beliefs in Resurrection 466

5 The Gospel Narratives Again 473

6 Appearances, Visions, Apparitions and Hallucinations 488

7 Conclusions 497

13 Conclusions 499

Further Reading 509

Appendix. Other Gospels 511

1 Introduction 511

2 The Gospel of John 511

3 The Gospel of Thomas 525

4 The Gospel of Judas 534

5 The Gospel of Mary 535

6 The Gospel of Philip 537

7 The Secret Gospel of Mark 539

8 Conclusions 543

Index 545

Editorial Reviews

... offers the safest route toward a nuanced and sophisticated understanding of Jesus.
Biblical Theology Bulletin

Reviewed in Contemporary Review
Methodist Recorder

The subtitle of this massive and powerful study of the historical Jesus describes its fundamental approach... [Casey] begins with an extensive survey of modern literature on this subject- an incisive analysis worth the price of admission that, with wit, sarcasm, and breathtaking erudition, leaves no scholar unscathed... The end result of this meticulous study is remarkably 'conservative' that is, in Casey's view the overall portrayal of Jesus' mission, life, and teaching found in the gospels has strong historical verisimilitude.

From the Publisher