[contact
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by Susan Polege
F.A.Q. [site map] [contact
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If you have any questions about historical Jesus research or the Jesus Seminar, please email them to me! I will try to answer them as best I can. This page will grow as my research in this academic project grows. Contact me with questions!
The Jesus Seminar is a gathering of religious studies scholars who discuss the historical evidence of Jesus' life. They try to distinguish the actual words and actions of the historical Jesus from the words and actions later attributed to him by the early Christian community. Here's the website hosted by Westar Institute, home of the Jesus Seminar.
The Jesus Seminar uses a voting system to decide which verses of the Gospels are close to what Jesus said and did. Each of the scholars participating in the seminar are very educated in their fields of theology, history, Jewish studies, Christology and others. The Seminar participants discuss the issues before they vote on them.
Probably, if you think that debating religious truth is not right. I think the answer to this question depends on a person's upbringing, chosen religion and denomination, and opinion. The scholarly study of early Christianity and the events of Jesus' lifetime could cause lots of doubts in Christian minds, especially literalists who must have everything black and white. On the other hand, many intelligent people want to reconcile their intellectual questions with their heartfelt faith. There are theologians and pastors in the Jesus Seminar group of scholars. I think that knowing as much as we can know about Jesus is important in a deeper understanding of faith.
The historical Jesus is what we study when we delve into Jesus' human existence. Jesus was a Jewish peasant who lived in Nazareth and was baptized by an apocalyptic preacher named John and died on a cross around age 33...this is the stuff that is historically reliable. The Christ of faith is the Jesus that the early Christian community experienced after his death on the cross. This Jesus is the divine image that is said to be present with God. Some people think that it is troublesome to see them separately, but some people also think that it is impossible to reconcile them together.
This is one question that I wish I had the answer to. It is unclear from the sources scholars rely on. The gospels represent a mix of later tradition and memories of Jesus, so even if the representation of Jesus in the gospels seems very clear, we must remember that they were written a generation or two after Jesus lived.
The biblical scholars and theologians alike agree that Jesus really was crucified. Scholars base his crucifixion on political reasons because Jesus was becoming trouble for the Roman empire. Many Christians base his crucifixion on the necessary sacrifice to God for the forgiveness of human sin. Regardless of the reason, we think that Jesus really was crucified.