It seems that the search for the historical Jesus is tougher than the original proponents could have imagined. The subjectivity of it all is what really gets me. Even in the Gospels, the writers depict Christ as a different character according to their focus. Matthew depicts him as a rabbi because that was his focus in writing—Jesus’ teaching and connection to the Old Testament law. Mark depicts him as a sarcastic leader—probably, as a first-hand witness, he was able to gather personality traits himself; whatever wasn’t his own experience with the incarnate Christ came from witnesses like Peter who likely felt quite inferior and intimidated by him. (Even this lends to more subjectivity.) It amazes me that with all the witnesses of Jesus everyone saw him in a different way.
The modern quests for the historical Jesus really just make me laugh. There is so much assumption made about Jesus based on writers’ personal ideas that he ends up sounding like them. Even in light of all the eyewitnesses, Jesus still remains a mystery to the whole of humanity. Will there ever be a true depiction of the historical Jesus?
Zach Pyron
1 comment:
To a degree, I wonder if a historical Jesus will ever be found. If one considers the Bible historical, yes, but if one does not--GOOD LUCK. Ours is often a faith of believing in what is unseen. It is not a blind faith, but that doesn't mean all the facts are going to be in front of us.
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