The historical figure of Jesus

by E. P. Sanders

Hardcover, 1993

Father Stubna's Recommendations - test note

Contains bibliographic references and index.

Status

Available

Call number

BT301.1 3000000192.S164 1993

Publication

London : Allen Lane : Penguin Press, 1993.

Physical description

xiii, 337 p.; 23 cm

Barcode

3000000192

User reviews

LibraryThing member StephenBarkley
Sanders made a name for himself (and virtually launched the New Perspective on Paul) with his 1977 classic, Paul and Palestinian Judaism. In The Historical Figure of Jesus, he brings his immense understanding of first century Judaism to bear on Jesus.

In order to understand anyone, you first need to
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understand the world that they lived in. Sanders takes the first five chapters of his book to set the stage for the life of Jesus. He describes the political and religious situation with clarity and attention to detail. These first chapters were worth the cost of the book!

Throughout the rest of the book Sanders describes what we can know with reasonable certainty about Jesus from an historical perspective. My current reading of Torrance’s Incarnation made this difficult for me. For Torrance, trying to understand Jesus as a historical figure without reference to the hypostatic union is unscientific and misleading.

Torrance notwithstanding, I found his treatment of the life of Jesus well-balanced. In his treatment of miracles, for example, he emphasizes the need to set aside enlightenment concerns and understand Jesus’ actions from the viewpoint of his contemporaries.

"Though today somewhere between many and most people in the industrialized countries think that there are no true miracles, in the ancient world most people believed in miracles, or at least in their possibility" (132).

The epilogue on “The Resurrection” reveals the author’s humility and personality. When faced with gospel evidence of the resurrection, the historian in Sanders isn’t quite sure how to respond.

"Throughout this book I have offered suggestions about what lies behind passages in the gospels. On the present topic, however, I do not see how to improve on the evidence, or how to get behind it. … That Jesus’ followers (and later Paul) had resurrection experiences is, in my judgment, a fact. What the reality was that gave rise to the experiences I do not know" (280).

The Historical Figure of Jesus is an engaging, thoughtful, and readable look at the life of Jesus Christ.
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LibraryThing member timspalding
No one else has this?

Meier's Marginal Jew is a better snythesis, but this just crackles with interesting takes.
LibraryThing member PontiffMaximus
Great basic information on the historical background of Jesus and the world he lived in.
LibraryThing member Arctic-Stranger
Sanders is one of the bright stars in the field of NT studies. He has a very measured view of Jesus. You will not find "shocking and extraordinary" claims here about Jesus--he was not married to Mary Magdalene, nor did he come from outer space--but you will find responsible scholarship about who
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Sanders thinks Jesus really was.

This book was written for lay people, and while it take a bit more than just Sunday School knowledge to get through it, it is not a hard read. It is demanding in that Sanders does not ask easy questions, nor does he offer easy answers, but this proves to be a very rewarding read.

Sanders is a biblical scholar, not a Bible study leader. He does not assume, for instance, that every word of the Bible is inspired, or even that Jesus said everything that is in Red in the King James Bible. But he is not out to make a "New Jesus," just ot help us understand little better who Jesus might have been.
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Original publication date

1993
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