Jesus as a Historical Figure

For us to believe in Jesus as the Son of God takes faith. To want to know who Jesus was is a matter of human curiosity. For several centuries scholars have been trying to figure out who the historical Jesus was. They have studied the Gospels and other ancient writings trying to discern what they do or do not reveal about him. Did Jesus really live? Is he the Son of God? Was he any different than Jose de Jesus who claims to be Jesus Christ, man, the second manifestation, the Second Coming of Christ," (Avila, 2007, p. 1) just a man calling himself the Messiah.

In “Introducing the New Testament” we are introduced to three “quests”; the (First) Quest for the Historical Jesus, The New Quest and The Third Quest. (Achtemeier, Green, & Thompson, 2001, pgs. 55-62) In the First Quest scholars attempted to divorce the idea of the supernatural events of the New Testament from history. H. S. Reimarus is credited for being one of the first to write about the historical Jesus. “Reimarus saw in Jesus of Nazareth a Jewish messianic revolutionary whose failure led his followers to steal his body and create a new story of Jesus based on aspects of Jewish messianism. The Christian religion did not grow out of the teaching of Jesus; it is a new creation which gradually unfolded out of a series of failed expectations.” (Pearson, 1995, chap. 2) “There perhaps is one basic, broad attitude which operated during this period: a true, critical understanding of the history of Jesus’ life leads one away from the faith that had been received by the contemporary church.” Michael Burer found this statement by N. T. Wright to be “representative of the period as a whole” even though Wright was talking about Reimarus specifically. (Burer, 2004)

David Friedrich Strauss believed that the church embellished the story of Jesus to so the prophecies of the Old Testament would be shown as fulfilled. His work, like many scholars before and after him, showed “Two of the key characteristics of the Quest – namely, an unassailable confidence in reason and a consequent commitment to divorcing religion (or theology) from history.” (Achtemeier et al., p. 57)

Albert Schweitzer’s writings on the history of Jesus would precede the New Quest or period of No Quest. “The story of the "Quest of the Historical Jesus," as told by Schweitzer, includes not only rationalist attempts at discrediting traditional Christian teaching, but also attempts by Christian theologians to fend off such critiques by creating an edifice of critical theological scholarship by which a believable "real Jesus" might emerge to view. The result, often enough, was a "modernized" Jesus, one whose ethical genius and message of a "spiritual kingdom" brought him close to the liberal ideas of 19th-century German Protestantism.” (Pearson, 1995, chap. 2) Shortly after he wrote this there would be a period in which no new developments would surface.

Rudolf Bultman taught that “Authentic faith can never rest on historical research, he insisted, for then it would no longer be faith.” (Achtemeier et al., 2001, p. 59) As one of the influencers of the New Quest, Bultman believed that there was no need to know anything more about Jesus other than that he had lived. Yet it would be Bultman’s own students that would start to question his teachings. During this period Ernst Troeltsch would devise three principles for historical discovery. Those principles were doubt, analogy, and correlation. The principle of doubt requires that there be evidence to support historical statements. Troeltsch felt that things that happened when Jesus lived logically should also be happening today. Finally his principle of correlation held that all things that happen are the result of a natural cause. The criteria of multiple attestation and dissimilarity would be added to these principles. Traditions were more likely to be believed if they came from multiple independent sources or if it were expressed in multiple forms. On the other hand it was felt that Jesus was more authentic the greater the dissimilarity there was from Judaism.

By the end of the New Quest scholars were still looking at Jesus, not his Jewish heritage or the correlation between himself and the church. Nothing new had been discovered about the historical Jesus and scholars were still attempting divorce theology from history.

By the time of the Third Quest it was decided that there were multiple layers that included both history and theology. The theology and history of the Gospels should not studied separately but together. It would not be until now that Jesus was looked at from his Jewish heritage and how that affected his life and teachings. We must look at Jesus through lens of Judaism because he was Jewish. Nicholas Thomas Wright, one of the more recognized scholars of the Third Quest, “… insists that our view of the history of the Gospel traditions, like our portrait of Jesus, must make sense within the structure of early Judaism, not least because all the Gospel writers (with the possible exception of Luke) and their forebears were themselves Jews before they became followers of Jesus.” (Witherington, III, 1997)

The search for the historical Jesus continues. For some scholars Jesus did not exist as the church sees him. In “The Quest of the Historical Jesus” Schweitzer would state that “The Jesus of Nazareth who came forward publicly as the Messiah, who preached the ethic of the Kingdom of God, who founded the Kingdom of Heaven upon earth, and died to give His work its final consecration, never had any existence. He is a figure designed by rationalism, endowed with life by liberalism, and clothed by modern theology in an historical garb.” (Schweitzer, 1906, p. 399) As far as he was concerned Jesus was just another man. Our curiosity will fuel this debate to the end of time. Jesus told Thomas and the other disciples that they believed because they had seen him, and those who had not seen but still believed were also blessed. It is a matter of faith.

References
Achtemeier, P. J., Green, J. B., & Thompson, M. M. (2001). Introducing the New Testament: Its Literature and Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Avila, J. (2007, March 6). Jesus of Suburbia -- Has He Risen Again in Houston, Texas?. ABC News Primetime, , . Retrieved September 23, 2007, from http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2925021&page=1

Burer, M. H. (2004, May 27). A Survey of Historical Jesus Studies: From Reimarus to Wright. Retrieved September 23, 2007, from http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=539

Pearson, B. A. (1995). The Gospel According to the Jesus Seminar. Retrieved September 23, 2007, from http://www.veritas-ucsb.org/library/pearson/seminar/js2.html

Schweitzer, A. (1906). The Quest of the Historical Jesus; A Critical Study of its Progress from Reimarus to Wrede. Retrieved September 23, 2007, from http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/schweitzer/index.html

Witherington, B.III (1997, November 19-26). The Wright Quest for the Historical Jesus. Retrieved September 23, 2007, from http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=37

Movie Night - Oct. 3rd!

Fun & Fellwoship

The sun is setting sooner and it is getting colder so it is time to go miniature golfing one last time for the year. Join us this Friday, September 28th at 5:30 PM at The Ridge Putting Course. Click on the map below for directions to get there.

For more information email us at youthandfamily@huschurch.org.

On the Lookout for Suspicious White Van | KCRG-TV9 Cedar Rapids, Iowa | News

On the Lookout for Suspicious White Van KCRG-TV9 Cedar Rapids, Iowa News

And the search goes on. This time near Truman Elementary. Please pray that our youth stay safe. Please pray that the person(s) that are involved with this slip up and get caught before something happens.

Because of Him ~ Terry

Students join hands in prayer | GazetteOnline.com - Cedar Rapids, Iowa City

Students join hands in prayer GazetteOnline.com - Cedar Rapids, Iowa City

Area See You At The Pole Numbers (thanks to 89.1 The Spirit who posted these on their MySpace):

• Linn-Mar: 138!! Praise the Lord!!
• North Linn: 81
• Marion High School: 78
• Prairie High School: 19
• Waterloo West High: 40
• Center Point-Urbana: 34
• McKinley: 14
• Benton Community: 12
• Taft Middle School: 5
• Elk Ridge: 15
• Excelsior Middle School: 22
• Alburnette: 24
• Independence: 29
• Jefferson High School: 35

The Gazetteonline also posted a video from Jefferson High School in Cedar Rapids where they had about 35 students prayed this morning.

First Century Rome and the 21st Century

The Roman Empire eventually encompassed what was at the time the known world. Today the known world encompasses the globe. With all the changes in the world how are things today different from the world of the Roman Empire? How are they the same?

Looking at a map of the Roman Empire we see that it encompassed much of what is now Europe, Southeast Asia, and the areas immediately surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. The Romans are well known for their roads, aqueducts, and buildings many of which can still be seen today in the areas that the empire covered. The roads that they created were necessary for the flow of information, their “information highway.” Much of the empire was bordered by water which provided another way to get information, goods, and the army from one place to another. Today we are not encumbered by distance. With the Internet we can send an email half way around the world in an instant, something that took the Romans days, even weeks to accomplish.

There was little government involvement in running the empire as this was left to the cities to take care of. “Military installations were spread throughout the empire but, except in troubled areas (like Galilee and Judea), direct Roman intrusion into daily affairs was minimal.” (Achtemeier, Green, & Thompson, 2001, p. 28) The Roman army was in place to keep the peace within its borders. Countries today have military installations around the world to keep the peace.

Land taxes, income taxes, and toll taxes were used to pay wages and fund the military. The bulk of the taxes fell to those who were already struggling to get by. In addition to these taxes Jews imposed additional taxes which furthered the hardship. The rich could get out of paying taxes by giving money and time to the running of the cities. Every country collects taxes of some sort to help pay for the government and bulk of the burden of these taxes falls to those who have the hardest time paying them. Taxes that are collected still go to paying for wages and the military. In the United States and other countries taxes also go to providing social services.

The Jewish people lost their national identity but they stuck to following the Law of Moses and ultimately went from a country to a religion. (Achtemeier et al., 2001, p. 32-33). From this grew what Josephus refers to as the “four parties within Judaism – the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenses, and the “Fourth Philosophy.””(Achtemeier et al., p. 33) These groups made up a small portion of the population of the Jews. Today putting your religious identity before your national identity can still get you arrested and in some countries killed. Just like the “four parties” that Josephus put Judaism into, religion today is splintered along beliefs. In Christianity there are different “parties” each with their own subtle nuances. Like Israel, many countries, like France once considered a Christian country, are no longer associated with a specific religion.

Jews in living in the 1st century were separated from God by where they fell in the structure of their culture. If you wanted to be a priest you were out of luck unless you had the right parents, you had to be born into the priesthood. Today we are all ministers of our faith where ever God has placed us. Judaism could be looked at like an exclusive club that only certain people could get into whereas Christianity is inclusive and all are invited. If you had a problem with a Jewish priest, you had a problem with God. Today if we have a problem with a minister we refer to the teaching from Matthew 18:15-17 where we are given instructions on how to resolve the problem. (Oxford University Press, Inc., 1977, p. 1195)

The Scriptures, while considered by all to be God’s Word, were interpreted differently by those who taught it to the people. Today Scripture is still interpreted differently by those who teach. Through out history the Scriptures have been used to justify all kinds of abuses. In the New Testament world the father had the ultimate power and final say in a family. The family in this included his wives, children, slaves, and anyone else who lived in the household. This could and did lead to all kinds of abuses, physical and mental, that would have a person today in therapy. This paternal oversight did not stop in the home; it carried over into the government with the emperor seeing himself as the father of the empire. Outside of the home reciprocity was based not on kinship but on who did what for whom. Different groups emerged from this and their “overlapping obligation spread throughout the empire, ultimately with everyone indebted to the emperor as benefactor…” (Achtemeier et al., 2001, p. 49) This same web of “overlapping obligation” can be seen in many governments today. In the United States this is what has led to the ear marks that get attached to legislation to get certain pet projects funded. Yet unlike today money was not as important in determining your power in the 1st century. Power and privilege were things that you were born into and could lose. Like today you could earn it, but it was more difficult and you could still lose it.

In some ways things have changed and in others they have remained the same. Today the world bigger place geographically, but with all the advances that have been made it is also much smaller. People are still paying taxes to governments but now some of that money is funding social programs. We still struggle for our identity as God’s people. Fathers in most cultures today do not wield the power that they did in the 1st century and they have also become more nurturing with their families. Things have changed and we must have a good understanding of the 1st century Roman Empire if we are to understand the writings of the New Testament.

References
Achtemeier, P. J., Green, J. B., & Thompson, M. M. (2001). Introducing the New Testament: Its Literature and Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Oxford University Press, Inc. (1977). The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc..

Personal Reflection: Bible Study

When reading the Bible have you ever wondered what it means? How are you supposed to study the Bible? I have heard people say the King James Version of the Bible is the only truly inspired translation, but when if go to the store I can easily find about two dozen versions to choose from. Which version should I choose? Did I choose the right one? My brother and I were talking about the Bible and conversation turned to which version he should read. He still had the Bible he received for confirmation, but did not read it because he did not connect with it. To help him with this I had him go online to BibleGateway.com and read a passage from the many translations that are available. This got me to examine my Bible study time.

Since I have several translations on my bookshelf I decided to turn my attention to how I was going to study the bible. In “The New Oxford Annotated Bible” five different approaches are given to studying the Bible. They are literary criticism, form criticism, redaction criticism, transmission (or tradition history), and summary (NOAB, 1977, Pages. 1519-1522).

When taking in to account literary criticism one needs to look at sentence structure, the words that are used, the way that is was phrased, as well as the different genres that could be at work in determining the meaning of a passage. Literary criticism can be problematic in that “it failed to take seriously the oral traditions that lay behind the final written form of a biblical book, nor did it adequately examine questions of the origin or life-setting of the individual units within a book.”(NOAB, 1977, Page 1519) Form criticism puts the text into context looking at where the event took place and the customs of the time. Redaction criticism is concerned with looking at what the author used to create the text by analyzing the information used. Transmission or Tradition History looks at how the stories were handed down from one generation to another and how it might possibly have changed due to each generation’s culture and settings. I find it important to look at each of the previous criticisms when studying the Bible. Not only is it important to look at the way the text is written, but you need to place the text into context and understand what the author was thinking and how the author came to write what they did. You also need to know more about how that information was originally gathered and passed from one generation to another, especially in the case of the Bible where much of the Old Testament was passed orally for several generations. This is why I find summary the form of criticism I prefer. When reading a passage I will not just read one particular translation of the Bible, instead I will consult at least three or more. For purposes of study I my favorite translations are the New International Version (NIV), the New Century Version (NCV), and The New Living Translation (NLT). I prefer these translations because they are the most familiar to me. I also will read one or more commentaries and sometimes I will look at an exegesis.

I look at as much information about a passage as possible because I know how difficult is can be to translate from one language to another, even one dialect of a language to another. My high school French final was to watch a movie in Spanish and then present an oral report in French. In the process of doing this I listened for Spanish words that sounded like French ones that I knew. I took those words and put them in English so I would understand the concept and then I translated the concept into French for the report. Because of the feedback that I received from my teacher I knew where I had hit the mark and where I had missed it completely. A similar process was likely taken to translate the ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts in to our current translations of the Bible. This in itself had to make translating the Bible difficult. Add to this the different nuances of the different languages and it becomes even more difficult. Many of those who wrote the early translations meet with opposition and even death as was the case for William Tyndale. Tyndale met came up against strong opinions and views from church leaders of his time. Even today changing someone opinions and views on a subject can be very difficult and in some cases deadly. God never said follow me and it will always be easy, rather He wants us to be obedient.

To be obedient one must study the Word of God. By reading and studying the various translations of the Bible and Bible commentaries I have come to a better understanding of what the words mean and how they tie together. When studying the Bible use the techniques that are most comfortable to you. Some learn better by digging deep while others find it best to learn by studying with others. I do not agree that the King James Version is only translation that one should read. If I am reading the Bible simply to read it I like the Message. If I am studying I choose to use the NIV, NCV, and NLT translations. These translations work for me because I am comfortable with them, not everyone is and they choose other translations. As long as I am alive I will wonder if I got the right things out of my study time. It is the questions that come from wondering that help me dig deeper and get more out of the Bible. Rereading the Bible is like watching the same movie several time, you get more meaning from it each time.

Dr. D. James Kennedy Dies

Founder and Senior Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church Succumbs to Complications from Cardiac Arrest

FT. LAUDERDALE, Sept. 5 - Dr. D. James Kennedy, founder and senior pastor for 48 years of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church (CRPC) in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., passed away peacefully in his sleep at approximately 2:15 a.m. at his home with his wife and daughter by his bedside, following complications from a cardiac event last December. He was 76. Dates and times for a public viewing and funeral and private interment will be released when available. Continue...

Transitions

September 2007 Newsletter

Hi All,

This month is one of transitions. Whether that is going to school for the first time, transitioning from one level of school to another, or going from school into the world of work there are many things changing.

For the youngsters that are going to school for first time it usually means going from a relatively unstructured world to a more structured one. What do you remember about kindergarten? I remember that there was no more playing in the sandbox all day. I had to take a nap when everyone else did on the rugs. There was a really cool wooden train and car set that we got to play with. Yes, those wooden trains and cars did exist long before they had the Thomas the Tank Engine toys. Then there was show and tell, the stuff that we brought in was sure important to us at the time. Now I can not even remember anything that I brought in. Of course kindergarten was not "real" school, we would have to wait until 1st grade before we went every day to school.

Interestingly enough going from 3rd to 4th grade was a big deal in my school. You see when you went into 4th grade you went upstairs with the big kids. 4th grade was also unfortunately the year that my friends taught me how to swear. That did not go over well with my Mom and Dad.

Going to junior high was the next big move although it was not too bad since the elementary school and the junior high did share parts of each other’s buildings. Then it was time for my sophomore year and high school. I would consider myself lucky because the same year that we moved to the high school is the same year that the freshmen started going there too. Since we were not the youngest, the upper classmen tended to pick on the freshmen and leave the sophomores alone.

My transition from high school to college was the biggest change. Ultimately I dropped out of college to take care of my wife and new baby daughter. Looking back I should have stayed in school. I was young enough and had enough energy to do it. Looking back the lesson that I learned here was not to wait 20 years before going back to school. You see this fall I start another transition in my life as I start online classes through Grand Canyon University. I am going to finally finish (with a lot of help from God) my degree. My first two classes are New Testament History and Old Testament History. I may have to take Spanish at some point if my 4 years of high school and 1 year of college French do not take care of the foreign language requirement. Fortunately Karissa has agreed to tutor me as she is in her third year of high school level Spanish.

This month we also transition from summer to fall on September 23rd. Some parents are watching as a son or daughter starts school for the first time while others send there children off to college. Football starts, baseball starts to wind down as we approach the World Series in October, NASCAR and the Hus Racing League are down to the last couple of months for the year, and we will honor those who lost their lives 6 years ago on 9/11. Our lives are shaped by what we do and the things that happen around us. The one thing that we can count on in life is change. As you transition from one stage of life to another always remember that there is one thing that will never change … God is always there watching over us and taking care of us. God never changes. God is the same now as He was in the beginning and as He will be in the future. Take time to thank God and your parents for the things, little and big, that they do for you each day.

Because of Him ~ Terry

But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthly bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him. Philippians 3:20-21 (MSG)

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You cannot go wrong with a company that states: Our official statement of corporate purpose says that we exist "to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A."

Because of Him ~ Terry

Linn County Siblings Outsmart Potential Kidnapper | KCRG-TV9 Cedar Rapids, Iowa | News

Linn County Siblings Outsmart Potential Kidnapper KCRG-TV9 Cedar Rapids, Iowa News

"Authorities say the expired plates are a red flag. Both the Cedar Rapids Police Department and the Linn County Sheriff’s Office told TV 9-News they are working separate cases involving a man driving a van and stalking children. In both instances, the victims described a man with white-silvery hair. Authorities are asking everyone to keep an eye out for a strange van and out-of-place activity in your neighborhood."

This statement scares me even more for the youth in this area.

TV9 Video

Because of Him ~ Terry

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