The Symbolic JesusHistorical Scholarship, Judaism and the Construction of Contemporary Identity
William Arnal
Series: Religion in Culture:Studies in Social Contest & Construction Hardback Price £45.00/$85.00 Paperback Price £14.99/$28.95 |     |
Description
This volume addresses the current scholarly controversies that have erupted in the last 20 or so years over the implications of the Judaism of Jesus. Since the early 1970s, a surprising number if historical Jesus scholars have been insisting with increasing shrillness that Jesus was a Jew, and that this fact has significant implications for how one reconstructs the figure of Jesus out of the portraits in ancient Christian literature. While both Christianity itself and New Testament scholarship specifically do indeed have a disturbing anti-Jewish and anti-Semitic legacy, by the 1970s, that legacy largely seemed to have been overcome, at least in mainstream biblical scholarship. This suggests that something more, something subterranean, is involved in the emotionally-charged “debate” over the Judaism of Jesus, a debate over a point no one now disputes, and a debate that generates demonstrably false charges against certain scholars (e.g., John Dominic Crossan, Robert Funk, Burton Mack) as producing a “non-Jewish” Jesus. This book explores the anti-Jewish legacy of past scholarship, shows that the Judaism of Jesus is a more complex issue than many scholars will acknowledge, and explores the subterranean cultural implications of the recent insistence on the Judaism of Jesus. The book concludes that current controversies centered around the Jewishness of Jesus are actually debates about contemporary identity issues – scholarly identities, political identities, religious identities, and the definition of cultural identity itself.
This volume addresses the current scholarly controversies that have erupted in the last 20 or so years over the implications of the Judaism of Jesus. Since the early 1970s, a surprising number if historical Jesus scholars have been insisting with increasing shrillness that Jesus was a Jew, and that this fact has significant implications for how one reconstructs the figure of Jesus out of the portraits in ancient Christian literature. While both Christianity itself and New Testament scholarship specifically do indeed have a disturbing anti-Jewish and anti-Semitic legacy, by the 1970s, that legacy largely seemed to have been overcome, at least in mainstream biblical scholarship. This suggests that something more, something subterranean, is involved in the emotionally-charged “debate” over the Judaism of Jesus, a debate over a point no one now disputes, and a debate that generates demonstrably false charges against certain scholars (e.g., John Dominic Crossan, Robert Funk, Burton Mack) as producing a “non-Jewish” Jesus. This book explores the anti-Jewish legacy of past scholarship, shows that the Judaism of Jesus is a more complex issue than many scholars will acknowledge, and explores the subterranean cultural implications of the recent insistence on the Judaism of Jesus. The book concludes that current controversies centered around the Jewishness of Jesus are actually debates about contemporary identity issues – scholarly identities, political identities, religious identities, and the definition of cultural identity itself.
Contents
I. Introduction: Mad Mel and the Cultural Prominence of Jesus
II. Bad Karma: Anti-Semitism in New Testament Scholarship
III. A Manufactured Controversy: Why the “Jewish Jesus” is a Red Herring
IV. The Jewish Jesus and Contemporary Identity
a. Scholarly identities
b. Political identities
c. Religious identities
d. Cultural identities
V. Conclusions
Reviews
'Arnal skillfully argues that historical scholarship is always about the present. Yet Arnal is no debunker; he also argues that the contemporary implications of a scholar's work count neither for nor against its validity as historical scholarship. This book is concise, lucid and insightful. Highly recommended.' Religious Studies Review
'This thoughtful, witty and provocative book is required reading for anyone doing historical Jesus work, and for biblical scholars generally. Whether or not Arnal's arguments are all convincing, he pushes the reader to examine current factors that could be motivating various approaches to the figure of Jesus, and in so doing, aids in keeping the guild honest.'
Toronto Journal of Theology, 22.2
'This book should be read by all those engaged in historical Jesus studies... .'
Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus
'He joins those who have critiqued the hidden, apolegetic religious work among scholars in raising consciousness about what scholars are doing in the present with their historical or theoretical work on Jesus and early Christianity.'
Richard Walsh, Methodist University, The Bible and Critical Theory, 4.3, 2008
Specifications
| ISBN-10 (Hardback) | 1845530063 |
| ISBN-13 (Hardback) | 9781845530068 |
| Price (Hardback) | £45.00/$85.00 |
| ISBN-10 (Paperback) | 1845530071 |
| ISBN-13 (Paperback) | 9781845530075 |
| Price (Paperback) | £14.99/$28.95 |
| Publication Date | February 2005 |
| Pages | 128 |
| Size | 216 x 138mm |
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