Authenticating the Activities of Jesus (New Testament Tools and Studies)

498 Pages·1998·23.41 MB·English

by  Bruce Chilton

AUTHENTICATING THE ACTIVITIES OF JESUS
NEW TESTAMENT TOOLS
AND STUDIES
EDITED BY
BRUCE M. METZGER, PH.D., D.D., L.H.D., D. THEOL., D. LITT.
Professor of New Testament Language and Literature, Emeritus
Princeton Theological Seminary
and
Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy
AND
BART D. EHRMAN, PH.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
VOLUME XXVIII,2
' 6 8 ׳V
AUTHENTICATING
THE ACTIVITIES OF JESUS
EDITED BY
BRUCE CHILTON AND CRAIG A. EVANS
' / 6 8V
BRILL
EIDEN · BOSTON · KÖLN
1999
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsauftiahme
Authenticating the activities of Jesus / ed. by Bruce D. Chilton and
Craig A. Evans. ־ Leiden ; Boston ; Köln : Brill, 1998
(New Testament tools and studies ; Vol. 28,2)
ISBN 90-04-11302-9
ISBN 90-04—11141-7 (Bd. 1 und 2)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is also available
ISSN 0077-8842
ISBN 90 04 11302 9
© Copyright 1999 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
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PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS
IN MEMORY OF BEN F. MEYER

CONTENTS
Preface ix
Abbreviations xi
Contributors xv
PART ONE
METHODS AND ASSUMPTIONS
CRAIG A. EVANS
Authenticating the Activities of Jesus 3
JAMES D. G. DUNN
Can the Third Quest Hope to Succeed? 31
E. EARLE ELLIS
The Synoptic Gospels and History 49
WILLIAM R. FARMER
Reflections upon "the Historical Perimeters for
Understanding the Aims of Jesus" 59
N. THOMAS WRIGHT
Five Gospels but no Gospel: Jesus and the Seminar 83
STANLEY E. PORTER and MATTHEW BROOK O'DONNELL
The Implications of Textual Variants for Authenticating
the Activities of Jesus 121
PART TWO
AUTHENTICATING THE ACTIVITIES OF JESUS
BEN F. MEYER
Appointed Deed, Appointed Doer: Jesus and the Scriptures .... 155
J. RAMSEY MICHAELS
The Itinerant Jesus and His Home Town 177
DALE C. ALLISON, JR.
Behind the Temptations of Jesus: Q 4:1-13 and Mark 1:12-13. . . 195
BRUCE CHILTON
An Exorcism of History: Mark 1:21-28 215
JOEL MARCUS
The Beelzebul Controversy and the Eschatologies of Jesus 247
JOSTEIN ÀDNA
The Encounter of Jesus with the Gerasene Demoniac 279
DIETER ZELLER
Bedeutung und religionsgeschichtlicher Hintergrund
der Verwandlung Jesu (Markus 9:2-8) 303
MARTIN HENGEL
Jesus, the Messiah of Israel: The Debate about the
"Messianic Mission" of Jesus 323
BRUCE J. MALINA
Assessing the Historicity of Jesus' Walking on the Sea:
Insights from Cross-Culture Social Psychology 351
CRAIG A. EVANS
Jesus and Zechariah's Messianic Hope 373
WILLIAM KLASSEN
The Authenticity of Judas' Participation
in the Arrest of Jesus 389
RICHARD J. BAUCKHAM
Did Jesus Wash His Disciples' Feet? 411
BYRON R. MCCANE
"Where no one had yet been laid": The Shame of
Jesus' Burial 431
Index of Biblical Literature 453
Index of Modern Authors 471
PREFACE
The present volume is a companion to Authenticating the Words of
Jesus and is intended to review the appropriate criteria and necessary
steps in assessing the Jesus tradition, particularly the activities of
Jesus. The title Authenticating the Activities of Jesus should not be
taken to mean that the contributors have as their aim some sort of
apologetical goal, whose purpose is to prove that Jesus did every-
thing attributed to him in the Gospels. Rather, the purpose is to
clarify what procedures should be undertaken to distinguish tradition
and meaning that stem from Jesus from that which stems from later
tradents and evangelists. The opening essays by the editors in the
Words volume should clarify the exegetical and historical goals of
both volumes.
The essays by James D. G. Dunn, E. Earle Ellis, William R. Far-
mer, Ν. Thomas Wright, Ben F. Meyer, and Martin Hengel appeared
in earlier forms in William R. Farmer (ed.), Crisis in Christology:
Essays in Quest of Resolution (Livonia: Dove, 1995). They have
been edited and updated for inclusion in the present volume. The edi-
tors express their thanks to Professor Farmer and to the publisher.
The editors are grateful to Dr. Orton for his suggestion and to Dr.
Theo Joppe for guiding the completed manuscripts through the press.
The editors also wish to thank the series editors, Professors Bruce
Metzger and Bart Ehrman, as well as the many contributors, whose
labors have made the volumes possible, and Mr. Chris Young for his
assistance in the preparation of the indexes.
Bruce Chilton October, 1998
Bard College
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
Craig A. Evans
Trinity Western University
Langley, British Columbia