Studying the Historical Jesus , livre ebook

Studying the Historical Jesus

Studying the Historical Jesus
A Guide to Sources and Methods
Darrell L. Bock
2002 by Darrell L. Bock
Published by Baker Academic a division of Baker Book House Company P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
and
Apollos (an imprint of Inter-Varsity Press) 38 De Montfort Street Leicester LE1 7GP England email: ivp uccf.org.uk web site: www.ivpbooks.com
Printed in the United States of America
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bock, Darrell L. Studying the historical Jesus : a guide to sources and methods / Darrell L. Bock. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-8010-2451-X (pbk.) 1. Jesus Christ-Historicity-Study and teaching. 2. Jesus Christ-Biography- Study and teaching. I. Title. BT303.2 .B53 2002 232.9 08 071-dc21 2002001510
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Apollos ISBN 0-85111-273-0
For information about Baker Academic, visit our web site: www.bakeracademic.com
Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction: Sources of Our Knowledge
Part 1: Jesus in His Cultural Context
1. Nonbiblical Literary Evidence for Jesus
2. A Basic Chronology of Jesus Life
3. Political History
4. Sociocultural History
Part 2: Methods for Studying the Gospels
5. The Three Quests for the Historical Jesus
6. Historical Criticism
7. Source Criticism
8. Form Criticism
9. Redaction Criticism
10. Tradition Criticism
11. Narrative Criticism and Gospel Genre
Selected Bibliography
Illustrations
Maps
Geography of Palestine in the Time of Christ
Political Divisions of Palestine in the Time of Christ
Galilee in the Time of Christ
Tables and Graphs
Periods of Rule over the Land of Israel/Judea
High Priests from the Pre-Maccabean Period to the Time of Christ
Herod the Great and His Descendants
Rulers of Palestine
Number of Verses in Mark, Matthew, and Luke
Number of Marcan Verses Paralleling Matthew and Luke
Number of Matthean and Lucan Verses Containing Marcan Material
Contents of Q by Topic
Preface
As a student of the Gospels who has long appreciated what detailed study of Jesus can yield, I have yearned to write such a book for my students. What I have desired is a work that briefly goes over the background to the Gospels and the critical study of the Gospels that reflects both the value and limitations of these elements. I wanted to supply a basic introduction to these areas that was brief enough for students to digest and that had enough guidance for students to encourage further independent study. Only time will tell if I have succeeded. Much of the material here has been used in one form or another in classes on New Testament Introduction and on Jesus, as well as in a class I teach with my colleague W. Hall Harris on introduction to exegesis in Gospel narrative. I submit the material knowing that it has helped many students get an initial grasp on many controversial themes associated with the study of the Gospels. They have urged me to make it more widely available. This work is intentionally not technical. It is a primer. My audience is the beginning student of the Gospels who desires to start to dig deeper into its depths.
Special thanks go to Baker Book House: to Jim Weaver, who originally pursued the development of the work; to Jim Kinney, who shepherded it through to its current configuration; and to Wells Turner, who edited it with care and patience. In addition, thanks go particularly to three students who read the manuscript with care, making comments on how it would be received: Greg Herrick, Carol Kahil, and especially Jim Samra, who read through it all and commented in detail. Thanks to Katie Gay, my administrative assistant, for deciphering my handwriting and turning it into typescript. Finally, I would like to thank my daughter, Elisa Bock, who is training at Northwestern s Me- dill School of Journalism to become an editor. She also read through the whole with an editor s eye, helping me immensely with expression. To my wife, Sally, and my other children, Lara and Stephen, goes gratitude for understanding why another few hours were required at my Mac.
I dedicate this work to students at Dallas Theological Seminary and Talbot Theological Seminary, whose need created the desire to write this work and whose response has been so gracious. To all of them go my wishes for a fruitful walk with the Lord and refreshing times of study and growth gained from a careful interaction with the Gospels.
Darrell L. Bock
Abbreviations
Bibliographic Ag. Apion Josephus, Against Apion Ant. Josephus, Jewish Antiquities BECNT Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament Ber. tractate Berakot ConBNT Coniectanea biblica, New Testament CD Damascus Document DJG Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels , ed. Joel B. Green et al. (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1992) Eccl. Hist. Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History Embassy Philo, On the Embassy to Gaius Good Person Philo, That Every Good Person Is Free JB Jerusalem Bible JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament JSNTSup Journal for the Study of the New Testament: Supplement Series NICNT New International Commentary on the New Testament NIV New International Version NRSV New Revised Standard Version Sanh. tractate Sanhedrin SBL Society of Biblical Literature War Josephus, Jewish War WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament ZNW Zeitschrift f r die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der lteren Kirche
Scripture Old Testament
Gen. Genesis
Exod. Exodus
Lev. Leviticus
Num. Numbers
Deut. Deuteronomy
Josh. Joshua
Judg. Judges
Ruth Ruth
1-2 Sam. 1-2 Samuel
1-2 Kings 1-2 Kings
1-2 Chron. 1-2 Chronicles
Ezra Ezra
Neh. Nehemiah
Esth. Esther
Job Job
Ps. Psalms
Prov. Proverbs
Eccles. Ecclesiastes
Song Song of Songs
Isa. Isaiah
Jer. Jeremiah
Lam. Lamentations
Ezek. Ezekiel
Dan. Daniel
Hos. Hosea
Joel Joel
Amos Amos
Obad. Obadiah
Jon. Jonah
Mic. Micah
Nah. Nahum
Hab. Habakkuk
Zeph. Zephaniah
Hag. Haggai
Zech. Zechariah
Mal. Malachi
Old Testament Apocrypha
1-4 Macc. 1-4 Maccabees
Sirach Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach
Wisdom Wisdom of Solomon
New Testament
Matt. Matthew
Mark Mark
Luke Luke
John John
Acts Acts
Rom. Romans
1-2 Cor. 1-2 Corinthians
Gal. Galatians
Eph. Ephesians
Phil. Philippians
Col. Colossians
1-2 Thess. 1-2 Thessalonians
1-2 Tim. 1-2 Timothy
Titus Titus
Philem. Philemon
Heb. Hebrews
James James
1-2 Pet. 1-2 Peter
1-3 John 1-3 John
Jude Jude
Rev. Revelation
Introduction Sources of Our Knowledge
The evangelists, I have argued, did not write for specific churches they knew or knew about, not even for a very large number of such churches. Rather drawing on their experience and knowledge of several or many specific churches, they wrote for any and every church to which their Gospels might circulate. No more than almost any other author, at their time or at most other periods, could they know which specific readers and hearers their work would reach. Thus, to ask, for example, if Luke knew whether there were any Christian churches in Gaul at the time when he wrote, and, supposing he knew there were, if he intended to address them in his Gospel, is to ask altogether the wrong sort of question. His intended audience was an open category -any and every church to which his Gospel might circulate-not a specified audience in which he had consciously either to include churches in Gaul or not. 1
Appreciating the Cultural Context of the Gospels
It is hard to know if the Gospel writers themselves were aware of the ultimate impact their writings about Jesus would produce. If they had known the impact their works would come to have, they would likely have been amazed at how God has used their writings. Their goal was to witness to Jesus and strengthen the new communities formed around him. They wrote about the Jesus they knew, the Jesus they preached, and the Jesus others needed to know. They succeeded far be- yond what they likely intended. This is why studying Jesus as presented in these four Gospels is so profitable. The impact these Gospels have had on the world can hardly be exaggerated. Whatever skeptical criticism of the Bible has tried to do with these Gospels, there is no denying the importance of these four treatments of Jesus in the history of thought. It is a fact of history that whoever were the original recipients of these Gospels, the eventual audience has extended far beyond those limits, making these Gospels classic texts in every sense of that term.
Many details about the original audiences of the Gospels are unclear. A consensus, which the opening citation challenges, is the idea that the Gospels were written for one community or set of local communities with the stories told in such a way that the account would be relevant to that specific community. That view is slowly being rejected. Rather, the Gospel writers wrote for the church at large and ultimately the world at large to which these churches would witness. Although their work might have begun in a given community, the point of the exercise was to get the word out about Jesus and spread it far and wide through what one author called the holy Internet. 2
The implication of their intention to address the church at large is that what we do not know about the specifics of each Gospel s original setting has little impact on our appreciation of the message of these Gospels. Intimate knowledge of the original community to which each Gospel was addressed is not a re