The Historical Jesus

Research Paper # 117387

Anthropology > Middle Eastern
History > Middle Eastern
History > Religion

This paper discusses Jesus as historical figure.

1,557 words () | 4 sources | MLA | 2009 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper explores different theories on who Jesus of Nazareth actually was. The paper begins by providing different religious viewpoints on who Jesus was. The rest of the paper explores what can be reliably asserted about Jesus based on factual historical evidence. Various scholars' interpretations of Jesus from the bible are also discussed.

From the Paper:

"When we begin to look at the historical Jesus of Nazareth we look at him through historical methods. These historical methods use critical analysis of gospel texts as the main source for Jesus' biography. The infallibility of the Bible is not used in these methods. Nor are religious axioms. The "eschatological", or apocalyptic, elements of the gospels were not believed to be significant as ideas, so in the 19th century Jesus was turned into a figure that was acceptable to agnostics and atheists. Many atheists might say that Jesus never even existed; maybe not how Christians want us to believe he existed - as a Savior, but can they deny that Jesus, the man of flesh and blood, walked the earth? That would be more difficult to disprove since so many individuals wrote about this man."

Sample of Sources Used:

Powell, Mark Allen: Jesus as a Figure in History: How Modern Historians View the Man from Galilee. Westminster John Knox Press. 1998.
Witherington, Ben. The Jesus Quest: The Third Search for the Jew of Nazareth. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1997.
Borg, Marcus J. Jesus in Contemporary Scholarship. Valley Forge, PA: Trinity, 1994.
Schweitzer, Albert. The Quest of the Historical Jesus. (translated by John Bowden). Augsburg Fortress Publishers. June 2001.