Jesus, Criteria, and the Demise of Authenticity

by Chris Keith (Editor), Anthony Le Donne (Editor)

Criteria of authenticity, whose roots go back to before the pioneering work of Albert Schweitzer, have become a unifying feature of the so-called Third Quest for the Historical Jesus, finding a prominent and common place in the research of otherwise differing scholars. More recently, however, scholars from different methodological frameworks have expressed discontent with this approach to the historical Jesus. In the past five years, these expressions of discontent have reached a fever pitch.

The internationally renowned authors of this book examine the nature of this new debate and present the findings in a cohesive way aimed directly at making the coalface of Historical Jesus research accessible to undergraduates and seminary students. The book's larger ramifications as a thorough end to the Third Quest will provide a pressure valve for thousands of scholars who view historical Jesus studies as outmoded and misguided. This book has the potential to guide Jesus studies beyond the Third Quest and demand to be consulted by any scholar who discards, adopts, or adapts historical criteria.

Genres: New Testament, Christianity, Biblical Studies

256 pages, Paperback

First published June 28, 2012

About the author

Chris Keith (PhD, University of Edinburgh) is professor of New Testament and early Christianity and director of the Centre for the Social-Scientific Study of the Bible at St. Mary's University College, Twickenham. He was a 2010 recipient of the John Templeton Award for Theological Promise for his book The Pericope Adulterae, the Gospel of John, and the Literacy of Jesus and was named a 2012 Society of Biblical Literature Regional Scholar.

Reviews

[Eric Vanden Eykel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an outstanding book on historical Jesus scholarship that should be required reading in the discipline. Its approach to the use of criteria in Jesus research is both pointed and balanced, and the chapters (most, at least) are written in a lively and engaging style. Highly recommend.

[Brian LePort · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series of essays is extremely valuable for helping the reader understand current shifts within Jesus research. The authors agree that the "criteria" (e.g., double dissimilarity, coherence, embarrassment, multiple attestation) used to separate "authentic" from "inauthentic" Jesus-traditions has failed to get the job done, but they don't all agree on how to move forward from there. These essays expose the weakness in the criteria leading some to suggest ways that various criteria might be reformatted and then salvaged while others argue for the complete abandonment of the criteria. Social memory theory plays at important part in the way forward for most of the contributors. In the end, I think what is being debated here has to do with epistemology, primarily: what can we know, how do we know it, and to what degree can we say we "know" it with confidence.

[Anthony Lawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a highly recommended book for those who are interested in historical Jesus studies. The authors take issue with the "Criteria of Authenticity" the backbone of most of historical Jesus research done over the last several decades. The authors represent differing positions, some believe that the criteria should be completely abandoned, while others see some of the criteria as being useful but needing revision. This is not a fundamentalist hit job but a scholarly tome that should be taken seriously, even if one doesn't fully agree with the positions taken.

[Justin Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of great critiques of the authenticity criteria used by scholars in the third quest. I completely disagree and am beyond skeptical about any use of "memory" approaches to historical Jesus studies. It still fails at recognizing that it's presupposing the texts are actually telling history and are not in truth, possible literary creations.