Portraits of Jesus in Contemporary North American Scholarship

Abstract

Five portraits of Jesus by North American scholars published in the 1980s demonstrate the strength of the current resurgence in Jesus scholarship and disclose the central questions dominating the current discussion. These portraits (by E. P. Sanders, Burton Mack, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, the present writer, and Richard Horsley) demonstrate that, after decades of relative disinterest, a “third quest” for the historical Jesus is under way. Each portrait or gestalt is interesting in its own right as a construal of the traditions about Jesus and as an exercise in historical reconstruction. Taken together, they illustrate the range of options in contemporary Jesus scholarship and point to the likely focal points of Jesus research in the 1990s.

“Why Do You Stand Looking Up Toward Heaven?” New Testament Eschatology at the Turn of the Millennium

“…Paul had to drive this point home forcefully to some of the Corinthians who sought to accommodate the gospel to enlightened philosophical ideas about the transcendence of crass bodily existence. Paul insists, on the contrary, that the resurrection of the body is at the very heart of the gospel, and that those who deny it are lost in futility (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19). It may also follow that many of the Corinthians' moral problems were related to a perception that the body is of no consequence: sexual immorality (5:1-2, 6:12-20), rejection of sex within marriage (7:1-7), casual participation in eating idol meat (8:1-11:1), and excessive exaltation of certain spiritual gifts (12:1-14:40).…”

Culture: A Critical Pillar in the Pedagogy of Jesus

“…The historical, cultural, and theological contexts of Jesus' lived experiences greatly influenced His pedagogical approach toward teaching and liberating marginalized populations (Sales, 2021). Looking at the historical and biblical account of Jesus, He is undoubtedly referenced in both the biblical record and in ancient literature as a teacher-a profoundly good one at that (Dillon, 1995;Bennion, 1981;Horne & Gunn, 1998;Richardson, 1931;Borg, 1991;Sales, 2021). Similarly, contemporary literature on effective teaching methods for diverse and marginalized learning populations positions the use of culturally responsive pedagogies and practices as a distinctive demarcation of excellent teaching (Ladson-Billings, 1994;Gay, 2010).…”