Heard of the Jesus Seminar? This bunch of bible scholars purport to help us know the Jesus of history, and free us from the Christ of faith.
Huh?? Isn't Christ the last name of Jesus? Nope.
According to Crossan, the Jesus of history never claimed to be god, a sage who went around sowing parables of wisdom, crucified and never resurrected. The Christ of faith is created by the experience of his followers... He lives inside their hearts just as Lenin or Mao still live inside the hearts of die-hard Communists.
It's history versus faith. Guess who wins?
Funny thing is, these scholars come up with portraits of the historical Jesus tat look suspiciously like themselves... or support their own ideologies. So in doing history, they ended up doing an autobiography.
There are two possible reactions an evangelical can give:
1) Heresy! Heresy! Abandon this entire 'historical Jesus' project!
2) Meet these people on their own turf and do a better portrait of historical Jesus
Option (2) is better because Jesus (though fully God) is also fully man, and He lived in a specific historical context in space-time. If we are serious abt Incarnation, we must be serious abt history.
NT Wright has helped me recover a deeper admiration for Jesus the man. To be honest, I used to put Jesus on a separate category because He's God, right?
But on a human level, I can't help but be more impressed with apostle Paul. Although I disagree with some of Wright's findings, the more I discover about Jesus' words and deeds in the context of His time and political background, the more I see how relevant, radical and revolutionary His Kingdom is to our times. (as it was in His)
And how Paul's message is not totally 'original', but simply working out the implications of Jesus' inaugurated Kingship. My sterilised vision of a safe, other-worldly Christ is given flesh and bones and bite.
That's the worth of studying New Testament and Christian Origins:
Bridget Gilfillan Upton
This message is being sent on behalf of Bruce Longenecker, University of St Andrews:
The Black-Best Scholarships in New Testament / Christian Origins
The School of Divinity, University of St Andrews, Scotland
The School of Divinity at the University of St Andrews intends to offer up to two doctoral scholarships in New Testament / Christian origins. Outstanding students with stimulating thesis proposals are encouraged to apply.
The scholarships are offered in memory of Matthew Black and Ernest Best, who are cherished for their longstanding service to the University of St Andrews.
Each scholarship will provide full funding for tuition for the duration of the three-year doctoral program. The Matthew Black scholarship will provide an additional £2000 per annum to cover further expenses.
The School of Divinity at the University of St Andrews is a thriving theological community, with over 80 students working at masters and doctoral levels in the fields of biblical studies, systematic theology, ethics and practical theology, theology and the arts, and Jewish studies.
Residential doctoral students are provided with their own research desks in a fully
furnished postgraduate building (the Roundel). The library offers substantial holdings in NT and Christian origins, and further resources are made readily available to students. Research seminars are offered in four fields of study.
The successful Scholarship applicants will work under the supervision of one of following scholars who make up the NT / Christian origins team at St Andrews:
Professor Richard Bauckham, with interests in NT Christology, Gospel of John, early Jewish context of the NT, Gospel origins / audience, and NT theology.
Professor Philip Esler, with interests in social-scientific approaches to the NT, Paul, early Christian identity, the Bible and art, and NT theology.
Professor Ron Piper, with interests in the Gospels, Q, the historical Jesus, wisdom traditions in the NT, and social-scientific approaches to the New Testament.
Dr Bruce Longenecker, with interests in Paul, ancient rhetoric and the NT, social concern in early Christianity, the imperial order and the NT, and Luke-Acts.
Dr Jim Davila, with interests in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Jewish context of Christian origins, and Christian transmission of Jewish literature.
Applications for the BlackBest Scholarships must be received by 4 January 2005, and the scholarships are expected to commence as of September 2005. Applications for entry to the New Testament PhD programme that are received from within the European Community will automatically be considered for the BlackBest scholarships.
Applications for entry to the New Testament PhD programme that are received from outside of the European Community will not be considered for the BlackBest scholarships unless they are accompanied by an application for Overseas Research Students (ORS) funding. For application forms and information regarding ORS funding forms, please contact Margot Clement at mc41@st-andrews.ac.uk.
For further details about the School, see the website at: http://www.st-and.ac.uk/divinity
Huh?? Isn't Christ the last name of Jesus? Nope.
According to Crossan, the Jesus of history never claimed to be god, a sage who went around sowing parables of wisdom, crucified and never resurrected. The Christ of faith is created by the experience of his followers... He lives inside their hearts just as Lenin or Mao still live inside the hearts of die-hard Communists.
It's history versus faith. Guess who wins?
Funny thing is, these scholars come up with portraits of the historical Jesus tat look suspiciously like themselves... or support their own ideologies. So in doing history, they ended up doing an autobiography.
There are two possible reactions an evangelical can give:
1) Heresy! Heresy! Abandon this entire 'historical Jesus' project!
2) Meet these people on their own turf and do a better portrait of historical Jesus
Option (2) is better because Jesus (though fully God) is also fully man, and He lived in a specific historical context in space-time. If we are serious abt Incarnation, we must be serious abt history.
NT Wright has helped me recover a deeper admiration for Jesus the man. To be honest, I used to put Jesus on a separate category because He's God, right?
But on a human level, I can't help but be more impressed with apostle Paul. Although I disagree with some of Wright's findings, the more I discover about Jesus' words and deeds in the context of His time and political background, the more I see how relevant, radical and revolutionary His Kingdom is to our times. (as it was in His)
And how Paul's message is not totally 'original', but simply working out the implications of Jesus' inaugurated Kingship. My sterilised vision of a safe, other-worldly Christ is given flesh and bones and bite.
That's the worth of studying New Testament and Christian Origins:
Bridget Gilfillan Upton
This message is being sent on behalf of Bruce Longenecker, University of St Andrews:
The Black-Best Scholarships in New Testament / Christian Origins
The School of Divinity, University of St Andrews, Scotland
The School of Divinity at the University of St Andrews intends to offer up to two doctoral scholarships in New Testament / Christian origins. Outstanding students with stimulating thesis proposals are encouraged to apply.
The scholarships are offered in memory of Matthew Black and Ernest Best, who are cherished for their longstanding service to the University of St Andrews.
Each scholarship will provide full funding for tuition for the duration of the three-year doctoral program. The Matthew Black scholarship will provide an additional £2000 per annum to cover further expenses.
The School of Divinity at the University of St Andrews is a thriving theological community, with over 80 students working at masters and doctoral levels in the fields of biblical studies, systematic theology, ethics and practical theology, theology and the arts, and Jewish studies.
Residential doctoral students are provided with their own research desks in a fully
furnished postgraduate building (the Roundel). The library offers substantial holdings in NT and Christian origins, and further resources are made readily available to students. Research seminars are offered in four fields of study.
The successful Scholarship applicants will work under the supervision of one of following scholars who make up the NT / Christian origins team at St Andrews:
Professor Richard Bauckham, with interests in NT Christology, Gospel of John, early Jewish context of the NT, Gospel origins / audience, and NT theology.
Professor Philip Esler, with interests in social-scientific approaches to the NT, Paul, early Christian identity, the Bible and art, and NT theology.
Professor Ron Piper, with interests in the Gospels, Q, the historical Jesus, wisdom traditions in the NT, and social-scientific approaches to the New Testament.
Dr Bruce Longenecker, with interests in Paul, ancient rhetoric and the NT, social concern in early Christianity, the imperial order and the NT, and Luke-Acts.
Dr Jim Davila, with interests in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Jewish context of Christian origins, and Christian transmission of Jewish literature.
Applications for the BlackBest Scholarships must be received by 4 January 2005, and the scholarships are expected to commence as of September 2005. Applications for entry to the New Testament PhD programme that are received from within the European Community will automatically be considered for the BlackBest scholarships.
Applications for entry to the New Testament PhD programme that are received from outside of the European Community will not be considered for the BlackBest scholarships unless they are accompanied by an application for Overseas Research Students (ORS) funding. For application forms and information regarding ORS funding forms, please contact Margot Clement at mc41@st-andrews.ac.uk.
For further details about the School, see the website at: http://www.st-and.ac.uk/divinity
Comments
~HJ~
guess wat? Stephen Tong is back in town! Remember where/when we first met? heheh...
~HJ~