Historical Jesus: What Can We Know and How Can We Know It?
This engaging, sharply honed book applies a postmodern paradigm to two crucial questions: What does "historical" mean? and How should we apply this to Jesus? Many historical Jesus scholars try in vain to peel away early Christian interpretations of Jesus and finally lament the ancient past as ultimately unknowable. Yet Anthony Le Donne argues that by analyzing patterns in the way Jesus was remembered by his followers, it is possible to make positive, plausible claims about his life and teaching. Le Donne explores the nature of perception and human memory -- and the ways in which these forces create and shape our knowledge of the past. He then shows how his approach to history can illuminate three important facets of Jesus' life: his complex relationship with his mother and their dysfunctional family, the spiritual and political dimensions of his revolutionary preaching, and his final confrontation with the temple priesthood in Jerusalem.
This engaging, sharply honed book applies a postmodern paradigm to two crucial questions: What does "historical" mean? and How should we apply this to Jesus? Many historical Jesus scholars try in vain to peel away early Christian interpretations of Jesus and finally lament the ancient past as ultimately unknowable. Yet Anthony Le Donne argues that by analyzing patterns in the way Jesus was remembered by his followers, it is possible to make positive, plausible claims about his life and teaching. Le Donne explores the nature of perception and human memory -- and the ways in which these forces create and shape our knowledge of the past. He then shows how his approach to history can illuminate three important facets of Jesus' life: his complex relationship with his mother and their dysfunctional family, the spiritual and political dimensions of his revolutionary preaching, and his final confrontation with the temple priesthood in Jerusalem.
This engaging, sharply honed book applies a postmodern paradigm to two crucial questions: What does "historical" mean? and How should we apply this to Jesus? Many historical Jesus scholars try in vain to peel away early Christian interpretations of Jesus and finally lament the ancient past as ultimately unknowable. Yet Anthony Le Donne argues that by analyzing patterns in the way Jesus was remembered by his followers, it is possible to make positive, plausible claims about his life and teaching. Le Donne explores the nature of perception and human memory -- and the ways in which these forces create and shape our knowledge of the past. He then shows how his approach to history can illuminate three important facets of Jesus' life: his complex relationship with his mother and their dysfunctional family, the spiritual and political dimensions of his revolutionary preaching, and his final confrontation with the temple priesthood in Jerusalem.