The current controversy over the historical Jesus and his significance for both scholarship and religious belief continues to rage inside and outside the academy. In this volume, three distinguished New Testament scholars debate the historical, textual, and theological problems at the core of the controversy. John Dominic Crossan offers a theological defense of the historical reconstruction of Jesus, arguing that if Christian faith is not founded on the historical Jesus, it will fall into Docetism. Luke Timothy Johnson counters this thesis, arguing that the biblical Christ and his presence in the life of believers is the proper focus of Christian faith. Werner Kelber takes issue with both views. Placing them in the broader context and history of Christian hermeneutics, he seeks to overcome the alternatives that govern the controversy. John Dominic Crossan is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at De Paul University. Luke Timothy Johnson is Robert W. Woodruff Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Emory University. Werner H. Kelber is Turner Professor of Biblical Studies at Rice University.

Originally published in 1926, this classic investigation into the question of the historicity of Jesus by Maurice Goguel, Professor of New Testament Criticism at the University of Paris, is considered one of the most important rebuttals of the 'Myth Theory' of Christian origins. Advocated by a number of scholars, the theory maintained that Christianity evolved as an amalgam of salvation myths in circulation during the early Roman Empire. The corollary of the theory is that Jesus never existed. The author first examines the meagre non-Christian evidence from antiquity that attests to the existence of Christianity. He then devotes considerable attention to the letters of Paul, pointing out the points of reference in Paul that make it highly probable that Jesus was an actual religious leader. Finally, he examines the four Gospels. This classical text is essential reading for anyone interested in the modern quest for the historical Jesus.

Based on the teachings of Jesus and a biblical foundation, this book presents a new framework for education and teaching, referred to as the shalom education model, that addresses four essential questions in education (why teach, what to teach, how to teach and who are teachers?). After explaining the theoretical background of shalom, the book investigates a range of contemporary educational issues including gender identity, bullying, disability, linguistic and cultural diversity, and social justice, and presents practical guidelines that can be applied to classroom teaching. The book also emphasizes the role of teachers as missional leaders who help students unlock their full potential.

Criteria of authenticity, whose roots go back to before the pioneering work of Albert Schweitzer, have become a unifying feature of the so-called Third Quest for the Historical Jesus, finding a prominent and common place in the research of otherwise differing scholars. More recently, however, scholars from different methodological frameworks have expressed discontent with this approach to the historical Jesus. In the past five years, these expressions of discontent have reached a fever pitch. The internationally renowned authors of this book examine the nature of this new debate and present the findings in a cohesive way aimed directly at making the coalface of Historical Jesus research accessible to undergraduates and seminary students. The book's larger ramifications as a thorough end to the Third Quest will provide a pressure valve for thousands of scholars who view historical Jesus studies as outmoded and misguided. This book has the potential to guide Jesus studies beyond the Third Quest and demand to be consulted by any scholar who discards, adopts, or adapts historical criteria.

In a language that is both precise and easy to understand, Dr. Zugibe presents his discoveries culled from years of exhaustive research. Documented with 95 illustrations that explore the impact of crucifixion on the body, he demonstrates the realities behind the crucifixion on the body, providing a virtual autopsy on Christ from across the centuries.

Rushing's seminal work addresses the ways in which modern women struggle with holistic spirituality, sexuality, and anger. She employs the Mary Magdalene model as an archetype in which sexuality and spirituality are united. Using extra-canonical texts, Rushing explores the dynamics of the relationship between the Magdalene and Jesus, one that created tension within the collective and was excluded from the canon itself. The Magdalene, known as "the apostle to the apostles," has remained tainted through repressive scholarly action and deliberate distortion. Her historical treatment is paralleled for women today who wish to remain within the church but who experience a subtle, ongoing sexual bias. The author's blending of the sociological theory of Thorstein Veblen and the psychological constructs of Carl G. Jung is unique in its theological application.

Amanda Witmer presents an investigation of exorcism in the activities of the historical Jesus, particularly the connection between spirit possession and exorcism on the one hand and the socio-political context of first-century Galilee on the other. Witmer draws on research from the areas of sociology, anthropology, archaeology and biblical studies to illuminate this aspect of Jesus' career, as well as the broader social implications of spirit possession in those he treated and the exorcisms themselves. Evidence found in the strands underlying the "Synoptic Gospels" is evaluated using the criteria of authenticity and comparative analysis in order to establish early and historical material. Questions posed and answered concern the historical plausibility of Jesus' role as exorcist, the possibility that his own career began with a period of spirit possession, and the meaning that his exorcisms conveyed to his first-century audience. Thus, the methodology includes textual analysis, sociological analysis of general cultural patterns within which first-century Palestine can be fitted, and anthropological analysis of the plausible functions of both spirit possession and exorcism in agrarian societies. Formerly the "Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement", this is a book series that explores the many aspects of New Testament study including historical perspectives, social-scientific and literary theory, and theological, cultural and contextual approaches. "The Early Christianity in Context" series, a part of "JSNTS", examines the birth and development of early Christianity up to the end of the third century CE. The series places Christianity in its social, cultural, political and economic context. "European Seminar on Christian Origins" and "Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus Supplement" are also part of "JSNTS".

Joel Osteen, the smiling preacher, has quickly emerged as one of the most recognizable Protestant leaders in the country. His megachurch, the Houston based Lakewood Church, hosts an average of over 40,000 worshipers each week. Osteen is the best-selling author of numerous books, and his sermons and inspirational talks appear regularly on mainstream cable and satellite radio. How did Joel Osteen become Joel Osteen? How did Lakewood become the largest megachurch in the U. S.? Salvation with a Smile, the first book devoted to Lakewood Church and Joel Osteen, offers a critical history of the congregation by linking its origins to post-World War II neopentecostalism, and connecting it to the exceptionally popular prosperity gospel movement and the enduring attraction of televangelism. In this richly documented book, historian Phillip Luke Sinitiere carefully excavates the life and times of Lakewood's founder, John Osteen, to explain how his son Joel expanded his legacy and fashioned the congregation into America's largest megachurch. As a popular preacher, Joel Osteen's ministry has been a source of existential strength for many, but also the routine target of religious critics who vociferously contend that his teachings are theologically suspect and spiritually shallow. Sinitiere's keen analysis shows how Osteen's rebuttals have expressed a piety of resistance that demonstrates evangelicalism's fractured, but persistent presence. Salvation with a Smile situates Lakewood Church in the context of American religious history and illuminates how Osteen has parlayed an understanding of American religious and political culture into vast popularity and success.

The form and function of the 'synagogue' in the first century CE has been the focus of a great deal of recent scholarly discussion. A previous generation of scholars would have perceived a reference to a synagogue in a New Testament text as a monolithic institution with clearly defined functions principally involving worship. More recent scholarship has questioned many of these assumptions, pointing out that in the first century CE 'synagogue' should be understood as a reference to a gathering and not a building. Similarly, it is noted that many of the reconstructions of what happened in a 'synagogue' are built on evidence that dates to a period much later than the first century.The purpose of this work is to engage with primary material, both literary and archaeological, in order to assess the positions of current scholarship in the debate. It addresses the literary and archaeological evidence; the range of sacred activities that could have taken place within a first-century synagogue; and finally, the presentation of the 'synagogue' in Luke-Acts by means of case studies, to draw conclusions not only useful to NT studies in general, but also historical Jesus studies.This was formerly the Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement, a book series that explores the many aspects of New Testament study including historical perspectives, social-scientific and literary theory, and theological, cultural and contextual approaches. The Early Christianity in Context series, a part of JSNTS, examines the birth and development of early Christianity up to the end of the third century CE. The series places Christianity in its social, cultural, political and economic context. European Seminar on Christian Origins is also part of JSNTS. Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus Supplement is also part of JSNTS.

Manichaeism was a dualistic religious system with Christian, Gnostic and pagan elements, founded in Persia in the third century by Manes. This is the first full-length study of the Manichaean Jesus, since the publication of several major Manichaean texts such as the Homilies, Psalm Book and Kephalaia in the 1930s and 1940s. A knowledge of Manichaean Christology is important for any understanding of the development of Christologies in the early cen-turies CE, whether within mainstream Christianity or within associated het-erodox groups. This book undertakes a comprehensive study of six distinct figures of Jesus that can be found in both Eastern and Western Manichaean lit-erature. Previous partial studies of Manichaean Christology have tended to restrict their focus to texts from either Eastern or Western traditions alone. Majella Franzmann argues that a single Manichaean Jesus can be discerned behind the many different representations to be found.

This is Schonfield's last book and third biography of Jesus. It brings over sixty years of his research into the life of Jesus full circle. Written in his usual lucid style and permeated throughout by deep sincerity and love of his subject, this book not only places Jesus firmly among his own people and background, thereby clarifying his actual religious beliefs, but also summarises the essence of our knowledge of the Gospel sources. It explains the meaning of the terms 'Messiah' and 'Messianic', discusses the authorship of St John's Gospel, the term 'Son of Man', and above all shows up obvious interpolations and falsifications in the Gospels. For Schonfield fans this book also contains hitherto unpublished details of the author's own life, revealing how, as a Jew, he discovered Jesus.

Was the resurrection of Jesus a fact of history or a figment of imagination? Was it an event that entailed a raised and transformed body and an empty tomb? Or was it a subjective, visionary experience--a collective delusion? In the view of many, the truth of Christianity hangs on the answer to this question. Jesus' Resurrection: Fact or Figment? is a lively and provocative debate between Christian philosopher and apologist William Lane Craig and New Testament scholar and atheist Gerd LUdemann. This published version of a debate originally set at Boston College is edited by Paul Copan and Ronald K. Tacelli, who invite the responses of four additional scholars. Robert Gundry, a New Testament scholar, and Stephen Davis, a philosopher, argue in support of a historical and actual resurrection. Michael Goulder and Roy Hoover, both New Testament scholars, offer their support for Gerd LUdemann's view that the "resurrection" was based on the guilt-induced visionary experience of the disciples. The book concludes with a final response from LUdemann and Craig.

This work covers ancient beliefs about life after death from Homer's Hades to ancient Jewish beliefs, from the Bible to the Dead Sea Scrolls and beyond. It examines early Christian beliefs about resurrection in general and that of Jesus in particular, beginning with Paul and working through to the start of the third century. It explores the Easter stories of the Gospels and seeks the best historical conclusions about the empty tomb and the belief that Jesus did rise bodily from the dead.

Jesus is a central figure in the Qur'an, the Hadith, and other Islamic literature and plays an important role in Islamic eschatology. In this tradition, at the end days Jesus will descend from heaven to bring peace and justice to the earth. Islam's Jesus takes a bold yet candid look at the highly charged topic of Jesus's place in Islam, exploring some of the religion's least understood aspects. Originally from Turkey, Zeki Saritoprak is a scholar of Islamic theology who teaches at an American Catholic university and is heavily engaged in interfaith dialogue. In this book, he examines diverse traditions and makes clear the reality of pluralism in the history of Islamic religious scholarship. Saritoprak thoughtfully argues that Jesus is essential to both Muslims and Christians, forging an excellent opportunity for communication between the adherents of two religions who together constitute more than half of the earth's population.

An examination of the uniqueness and universality of Jesus Christ and what this might mean in today's plural world. These days there are tremendous pressures on Christians to conform to a libertarian vision of a multifaith society where no one makes truth-claims about their faith. In such a situation, Christians need to think afresh about the uniqueness and universality of Jesus Christ and what this might mean in today's plural world. In this book, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali shows how Jesus' understanding of himself and his work bears on contemporary cultures and their values: what does the gospel affirm, what does it fulfil and what does it challenge? How does our understanding of the crucified and risen Lord affect our view of the human condition? How can we evaluate the different religious traditions of the world in the light of Christ? How can we be welcoming and hospitable but also committed to that conversion and transformation of individuals and of human societies which has been revealed as God's purpose in Christ? Christian claims of uniqueness have a direct bearing on what informs the social order. This book tackles the challenge of relativism in the contemporary social and political arena head-on.

This book discusses Irish Passion plays (plays that rewrite or parody the story of the Passion of Christ) in modern Irish drama from the Irish Literary Revival to the present day. It offers innovative readings of such canonical plays as J. M. Synge's The Playboy of the Western World, W. B. Yeats's Calvary, Brendan Behan's The Hostage, Samuel Beckett's Endgame, Brian Friel's Faith Healer and Tom Murphy's Bailegangaire, as well as of less well-known plays by Padraic Pearse, Lady Gregory, G. B. Shaw, Sean O'Casey, Denis Johnston, Samuel Beckett and David Lloyd. Challenging revisionist readings of the rhetoric of "blood sacrifice" and martyrdom in the Irish Republican tradition, it argues that the Passion play is a powerful political genre which centres on the staged death of the (usually male) protagonist, and makes visible the usually invisible violence perpetrated both by colonial power and by the postcolonial state in the name of modernity.

For the first time classic readings on Jesus from outside of Christianity have been brought together in one volume. Jesus Beyond Christianity: The Classic Texts features significant passages on Jesus from Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. The fifty-six selections span two millennia of thought, including translated extracts from the Talmud and the Qur'an, and writings by Mahatma Gandhi and the 14th Dalai Lama.
The volume features fresh translations of important texts, 'Key-Issues' introductions, questions for discussion and guides for further reading. Importantly, each set of readings ends with an entirely fresh reflection from a leading scholar in the field. Every care has been taken to present these often controversial passages in a manner consistent with the aims of their authors; accompanying notes directly address challenging issues.
This unique collection of readings promises to become an essential resource in the study of the world's religions, providing rich guidance for anyone seeking to understand the central convergences and debates between religious traditions.

The cross of Christ goes straight to the heart of the gospel, yet Christians remain confused and divided over what it really means

Jesus' particular Jewish existence (his human nature) and his universal transcendence (his divine nature) are brought together here in the construction of a Christology that proposes the equality, unity, and full participation of both natures. Using frameworks from multicultural theory, it identifies the processes by which Christologies have historically negotiated difference in the Incarnation, and explains why uniting the two natures of Christ consistently and problematically supplants Jesus' Jewishness. This conceptual framework unites the two natures without sublimating their differences, by proposing a contextual universalism. 'Overlapping membership' offers the means whereby the particular, Jewish, human nature and the universal, divine nature of Jesus Christ engage in an ongoing dialogue and formation in the one person of the Incarnation. This work offers a new way of understanding the two natures of Christ that brings together historical understandings with contemporary contextual Christologies, enabling us to find a way to understand Christ as both truly human and fully divine.

Since the advent of the cinema, Jesus has frequently appeared in our movie houses and on our television screens. Indeed, it may well be that more people worldwide know about Jesus and his life story from the movies than from any other medium. Indeed, Jesus' story has been adapted dozens of times throughout the history of commercial cinema, from the 1912 silent From the Manger to the Cross to Mel Gibson's 2004 The Passion of the Christ. No doubt there are more to come.
Drawing on a broad range of movies, biblical scholar Adele Reinhartz traces the way in which Jesus of Nazareth has become Jesus of Hollywood. She argues that Jesus films both reflect and influence cultural perceptions of Jesus and the other figures in his story. She focuses on the cinematic interpretation of Jesus' relationships with the key people in his life: his family, his friends, and his foes. She examines how these films address theological issues, such as Jesus' identity as both human and divine, political issues, such as the role of the individual in society and the possibility of freedom under political oppression, social issues, such as gender roles and hierarchies, and personal issues, such as the nature of friendship and human sexuality.
Reinhartz's study of Jesus' celluloid incarnations shows how Jesus movies reshape the past in the image of the present. Despite society's profound interest in Jesus as a religious and historical figure, Jesus movies are fascinating not as history but as mirrors of the concerns, anxieties, and values of our own era. As the story of Jesus continues to capture the imagination of filmmakers and moviegoers, he remains as significant a cultural figure today as he was 2000years ago.

This title offers comprehensive and contemporary exploration of the role of Jesus in both Islam and Christianity and issues of dialogue in Christian-Muslim relations. "Images of Jesus Christ in Islam 2nd Edition" provides a general introduction to the question of Jesus Christ in Islam and a dialogical discussion of this issues' importance for Christian-Muslim relations. Its originality lies in its comprehensive presentation of relevant sources and research and its discussion of Islamic images of Christ in the wider context of Muslim-Christian relations. Oddbjorn Leirvik provides a comprehensive introduction to a breadth of Muslim traditions through an examination of interpretations of Jesus throughout history, whilst also examining historic tensions between Islam and Christianity. This book's distinctive contribution lies in its dialogical perspective in the perennial area of interest of Islam and Christian-Muslim relations.

"This book should be mandatory reading for all scholars concerned with Christian origins ... nothing of comparable importance has been written for at least a decade." - Freethinker
For more than a century scholars have been examining the Gospels and other traditions about the life of Jesus to determine their historical accuracy. Although the results of these scholarly efforts are sometimes controversial, the consensus among researchers today is that the four Evangelists' accounts cannot be taken at face value. In fact, a team of more than 100 scholars called the Jesus Seminar has come to the conclusion that on average only about 18 percent of the four Gospels is historically accurate.
An active member of the Jesus Seminar, Dr. Robert M. Price presents the fruits of this important historical research in this fascinating discussion of early Christianity. As the title suggests, Price is none too optimistic about the reliability of the Gospel tradition as a source of accurate historical information about the life of Jesus. Indeed, he feels that his colleagues in the Jesus Seminar are much too optimistic in their estimate of authentic material in the Gospels. After an introduction to the historical-critical method for nonspecialists and a critique of the methods used by the Jesus Seminar, Price systematically discusses the narrative and teaching materials in the Gospel, clearly presenting what is known and not known about all of the major episodes of Jesus' life. He also examines the parables for authenticity as well as Jesus' teachings about the Kingdom of God, repentance, prayer, possessions and poverty, the Atonement, and many other features of the Gospels.
Written for the general reading public in a lively and accessible style, Dr. Price's highly informative discussion will be of interest to anyone who has wondered about the origins of Christianity.

This book attempts to read the character of Mary in the infancy narratives of Luke and Matthew alongside the lives of experiences of the Indian surrogate mother living a postcolonial India. Reading Mary through these lenses helps us see this mother and her actions in a more ambivalent light, as a mother whose love is both violent and altruistic.

Telford Work examines some of the most important ways Jesus is "the omega and the alpha"--the end and the beginning. Jesus alone fulfills the divine purpose for all things, brings about the end of the old world's evil and suffering, and begins eternity's new creation. This core conviction is one of the deepest logics that shapes Christian thinking and life. The author offers a unique, big-picture introduction to how Jesus's life and death shape Christian theology and practice and helps readers fully understand Jesus's transformation of all things.