Andreev Aleksei, priest

Who was Jesus of Nazareth: Reconstructions of the Historical Jesus from the Late 20th to the Beginning of the 21st Century

Abstract

The article deals with diff erent reconstructions of the personality, life and teaching of the historical Jesus. These reconstructions were made by the most prominent members of the ‛Search for the historical Jesus’ movement from the late 20th to the beginning of the 21st century. The article explores the specifi cs of the current stage of the ‛Search for the historical Jesus’ movement in its distinction from the earlier era (the middle of the 18th – the beginning of the 20th century). For the purpose of the article works of Edward Parish Sanders, John Mayer, John Dominic Crossan, Marcus Borg, Nicholas Thomas Wright are thoroughly examined. The article provides the summary of major works of these scholars. In the end of the article it is shown in which aspects reconstructions of these authors diff er from each other. Reconstructions are compared on the following parameters: how the historical Jesus of the specifi c reconstruction fi ts the Judaism of His epoch, and how the specifi c reconstruction deals with the question of eschatology. Some suggestions are made concerning the question of why there is a decline in current stage of the ‘Quest for the historical Jesus’ and how this movement could be revitalized.

Keywords

Jesus, New Testament, Bible studies, Sanders, Mayer, Crossan, Borg, Wright

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Information about the author

Andreev Aleksei, priest

Academic Degree: graduate student;
Place of work: Moscow State University 27/4 Lomonosovsky prospekt, Moscow 119991, Russian Federation;
Email: email: alexey.andreevtf@gmail.com.