Published by Eerdmans on November 5, 2024
Genres: Academic, Theology
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A diverse group of scholars charts new paths in the quest for the historical Jesus.
After a decade of stagnation in the study of the historical Jesus, James Crossley and Chris Keith have assembled an international team of scholars to envision the quest anew. The contributors offer new perspectives and fresh methods for reengaging the question of the historical Jesus. Important, timely, and fascinating, The Next Quest for the Historical Jesus is a must read for anyone seeking to understand Jesus of Nazareth.
Despite the title sounding like a bad Christian time-travel novel, The Next Quest for the Historical Jesus is a pretty much the opposite: a well-written, comprehensive, extensively-researched, expertly-crafted foray into what can be known about the Jesus of history—and how that leads us to the Christ of faith. James Crossley and Chris Keith (professors at MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion, and Society) assemble a diverse and extensively qualified team of scholars for thirty-four essays that focus on the historically contextual pieces surrounding the Jesus of history. This diversity of scholars is part of what Crossley terms as part of the “next quest” and offers perspectives that go beyond the competing conservative evangelical and liberal mainline arguments of the twentieth century.
I find it important to note that this book is not necessarily about the historical Jesus but about the next quest for the historical. That is, after all, what the title says. But what is the difference? Crossley and Keith’s book is more about the journey than the destination, with the main thesis being that there have been unexplored or underexplored roads to a historical Jesus that offer insights and contextualization into Jesus and his world. We have Scripture. But we also have historical and sociological and archaeological records and understandings of the world in which Jesus lived, all of which inform and impact his life, his teaching, and the methods in which that life and teaching were preserved for us.
The Next Quest for the Historical Jesus offers more avenues to know the Jesus of history, his world, the purpose and context of his teaching, his social location, and more. From a perspective on disability and healings (by Meghan Henning), sexuality (Amy-Jill Levine), race and ethnicity (Wongi Park), class conflict (Robert Myles), and more, the authors and editors are able to contextualize the life and historical setting of Jesus in a way that sheds more light on how own similar social situations.
Overall, Crossley and Keith have pulled together an ambitious work that offers a range of perspectives and social contextualization about Jesus, his time, his location, and his society. Even if you find yourself not agreeing with everything, The Next Quest for the Historical Jesus is compelling and challenging—and shows where the academic research is going (which is something independent of whether or not you agree with it). This isn’t a layperson’s work. It’s meant for scholars. Yet, there’s an understanding that not everyone is able to be an expert on every single one of these topics. The authors do a great job presenting their essays without being overly simplistic or overly technical. It’s a great overview of where the research is headed.