Jesus Reclaimed
JESUS RECLAIMED Jewish Perspectives on the Nazarene
Walter Homolka
Translated by Ingrid Shafer
C F S H I B I O /&8:03,t09'03% XXXCFSHIBIOCPPLTDPN Published by Berghahn Books www.berghahnbooks.com
Revised and enlarged English-language edition © 2015 Walter Homolka
German-language edition © 2009–2011 Hentrich & Hentrich Gbr Jesus von Nazareth im Spiegel jüdischer Forschung
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be in- vented, without written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Homolka, Walter, author. [Jesus von Nazareth. English] Jesus reclaimed : Jewish perspectives on the Nazarene / Walter Homolka ; translated by Ingrid Shafer. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-78238-579-0 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-78238-580-6 (ebook) 1. Jesus Christ—Jewishness. 2. Judaism—Relations—Christianity. 3. Christianity and other religions—Judaism. 4. Jesus Christ— History of doctrines—Early church, 30–600. I. Title. BM620.H66 201513 232.9’06—dc23 2014029071
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Printed on acid-free paper.
ISBN: 978-1-78238-579-0 hardback ISBN: 978-1-78238-580-6 ebook For Otto Kaiser, teacher and friend
) KNOW A GOOD (AMBURG #HRISTIAN WHO CAN NEVER RECONCILE HIMSELF TO THE FACT THAT OUR ,ORD AND 3AVIOUR WAS BY BIRTH A *EW ! DEEP DISSATISFACTION SEIZES HIM WHEN HE MUST AD MIT TO HIMSELF THAT THE MAN WHO AS THE PATTERN OF PERFEC TION DESERVES THE HIGHEST HONOR WAS STILL OF KIN TO THOSE SNUFm ING LONG NOSED FELLOWS WHO GO RUNNING ABOUT THE STREETS SELLING OLD CLOTHES WHOM HE SO UTTERLY DESPISES AND WHO ARE EVEN MORE DESPERATELY DETESTABLE WHEN THEY LIKE HIMSELF APPLY THEMSELVES TO THE WHOLESALE BUSINESS OF SPICES AND DYE STUFFS AND ENCROACH UPON HIS INTERESTS
(EINRICH (EINE Shakespeare’s Maidens and Women
Contents
Foreword xi Leonard Swidler
Translator’s Preface xv Ingrid Shafer
Preface xix
Introduction. When a Jew Looks at the Sources: T e Jesus of History 1 4HE 3OURCES 4HE %ARLY 9EARS 0UBLIC !PPEARANCE *ESUSS -ESSAGE !RREST AND 4RIAL $EATH
Chapter 1. Jesus and His Impact on Jewish Antiquity and the Middle Ages 13 *ESUS IN THE -ISHNAH AND 4ALMUD 4HE Toledot Yeshu 2ABBINIC 0OLEMICS AGAINST *ESUS #HRISTIAN 4ALMUD #RITICISM AND #ENSORSHIP
Chapter 2. T e Historical Jesus: A Jewish and a Christian Quest 29 *ESUS AND THE *EWISH %NLIGHTENMENT x • Contents
4HE #HRISTIAN 1UEST OF THE (ISTORICAL *ESUS ! $EPARTURE FROM $OGMA 4HE *EWISH 1UEST AS 2EPATRIATING *ESUS TO *UDAISM *UDAISM /UT OF 0LACE 4HE "ERLIN !NTI 3EMITISM $EBATE AND -AX ,IEBERMANNS h*ESUSv ,EO "AECK AND !DOLF VON (ARNACK #ONTROVERSY AND #LASHES BETWEEN THE *EWISH AND #HRISTIAN 1UESTS 4HE *EWISH 1UEST FROM *OSEPH +LAUSNER TO %RNST ,UDWIG %HRLICH
Chapter 3. Jesus the Jew and Joseph Ratzinger’s Christ: A T eological U-Turn 101 *ESUS 7AS A *EW ! #ULTURAL #OINCIDENCE 4HE h2ABBI *ESUSv &OR #HRISTIANS /NLY )MPORTANT AS #HRIST h2EADING THE 7HOLE "IBLE IN THE ,IGHT OF #HRISTv *OSEPH 2ATZINGERS (ERMENEUTICS #HRISTIAN &AITH AND h(ISTORICAL 2EASONv
Conclusion 111
Bibliography 117
Index 135 Foreword
Leonard Swidler
2ABBI 7ALTER (OMOLKA CAREFULLY LAYS OUT THE CONTRIBU TIONS *EWISH SCHOLARS HAVE BEEN MAKING TO THE EVER FULLER HISTORICAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE MOST INm UENTIAL *EWOR PERHAPS THE MOST INm UENTIAL HUMAN BEINGEVER *ESUS OF .AZARETH )T IS BUILT ON SOLID SCHOLARSHIP BUT WRITTEN IN TERMS THAT MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE TO THE EDUCATED LAYPERSON .OW IN THE EARLY TWENTY l RST CENTURY WE ARE STILL LEARNING MORE ABOUT *ESUS OF .AZARETH AS A RESULT OF THE hTHIRD QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUSv 4HE l RST QUEST WAS LAUNCHED DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY %NLIGHTENMENT BY SCHOLARS LIKE (ERMANN 2EIMARUS AND GAINED MOMEN TUM IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF hSCIENTIl C HISTORYv UNDER SCHOLARS SUCH AS ,EOPOLD VON 2ANKE 4HE QUEST GROUND TO A HALT EARLY IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY WITH THE DECLARATION BY !LBERT 3CHWEITZER AND 2UDOLF "ULTMANN THAT IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE !LL WE HAD TO GO ON WERE SEVERAL FAITH STATEMENTS ABOUT *ESUS AND THERE FORE IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO DISCERN THE HUMAN FACE OF *ESUS BENEATH ALL THE PROJECTIONS 4HE SECOND QUEST WAS STARTED BY "ULTMANNS PRIZE STUDENT %RNST +ÊSEMANN WITH HIS INAUGURAL ADDRESS AT THE 5NIVERSITY OF 'ÚTTINGEN IN HE LATER BECAME PROFESSOR AT MY ALMA MATER THE 5NIVERSITY OF 4àBINGEN (E ARGUED THAT DESPITE THE hFAITH STATEMENTv NATURE OF THE 'OSPELS WE can ATTAIN A HISTORICAL PICTURE OF THE REAL *ESUS BY USING TOOLS SUCH AS dissimilarity IF A STATEMENT WAS xii • Foreword
CONTRARY TO THE AIMS OF EARLY *UDAISM OR THE EARLY #HRIS TIANS IT LIKELY CAME FROM *ESUS multiple attestation IF A STATEMENT IS FOUND IN MORE THAN ONE SOURCE AND coherence IF A STATEMENT COHERED WITH ALREADY ACCEPTED *ESUS STATEMENTS TO WHICH WAS LATER ADDED linguistic suitability IF A STATEMENT MADE SENSE IN *ESUS !RAMAIC (OW DID THESE CRITERIA WORK ,ET ME GIVE JUST ONE EX AMPLE 4HE .EW 4ESTAMENT WRITINGS ARE FULL OF NEGATIVE STATEMENTS ABOUT WOMEN BY PERSONS other THAN *ESUSFOR EXAMPLE h7OMEN SHOULD KEEP SILENCE IN THE CHURCHv #OR h) SUFFER NO WOMAN TO HAVE AUTHORITY OVER A MANv 4M h7IVES BE SUBJECT TO YOUR HUSBANDSv 0T -OREOVER *ESUSS YOUNGER *EWISH CONTEMPO RARY *OSEPHUS WROTE h4HE WOMAN SAYS THE ,AW IS IN ALL THINGS INFERIOR TO THE MANv )N CONTRAST IN ALL FOUR OF THE 'OSPELS nowhere DOES *ESUS SAY OR DO ANYTHING NEGATIVE REGARDING WOMEN ON THE CONTRARY HE SAYS AND DOES MANY MANY POSITIVE THINGS #ONCLUSION THOSE hFEMINISTv RE MARKS AND ACTIONS ATTRIBUTED IN THE 'OSPELS TO *ESUS COULD NOT STEM FROM THE FREQUENTLY MISOGYNIST *EWISH OR #HRIS TIAN SOURCES BUT HAD TO GO BACK TO *ESUS HIMSELF !S HELPFUL AS THE hPRINCIPLE OF DISSIMILARITYv WAS AT THE SAME TIME IT TENDED TO ALIENATE *ESUS FROM HIS NATURAL *EWISH CONTEXTWHICH DID NOT MAKE ANY SENSE (ENCE STARTING IN THE LATE S RESEARCHERS FOCUSED ON THE BROADER BACKGROUND OF THE .EW 4ESTAMENT AND MOST ES PECIALLY ITS *EWISH BACKGROUND 4HIS APPROACH DREW THE INTEREST OF MANY EXCELLENT SCHOLARS INCLUDING MANY OF THE MOST RESPECTED CONTEMPORARY BIBLICAL SCHOLARS RESULTING IN WHAT HAS BEEN NAMED THE hTHIRD QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUSv
)N THE @THIRD QUEST WHICH l RST EMERGED PREDOMI NANTLY IN THE %NGLISH SPEAKING WORLD A SOCIOLOG ICAL INTEREST REPLACED A THEOLOGICAL INTEREST AND THE CONCERN TO l ND *ESUS A PLACE IN *UDAISM RE Foreword • xiii
PLACED THE DEMARCATION OF *ESUS FROM *UDAISM AN OPENNESS TO NON CANONICAL SOMETIMES HERETICAL SOURCES ALSO REPLACED THE PREFERENCE FOR CANONICAL SOURCES
*EWISH SCHOLARS WERE ON THIS hTHIRD QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL *ESUSv LONG BEFORE WE #HRISTIAN SCHOLARS TOOK UP THE QUEST !T ONE POINT WE #HRISTIANS l NALLY REALIZED THAT IT IS ABSO LUTELY ESSENTIAL TO VIEW *ESUS AS 2ABBI 9ESHUA (A .OTZRI 2ABBI *ESUS OF .AZARETH AND TO RECOGNIZE ALL HIS RELATIVES -ARY *OSEPH *AMES AND SO ON AND l RST FOLLOWERS AS FELLOW *EWS IF WE ARE EVER GOING TO UNDERSTAND WHO THE hFOUNDERv OF #HRISTIANITY WAS AND WHAT HE WAS ALL ABOUT (ENCE IT IS WITH DEEP GRATITUDE THAT ) WELCOME THIS LAT EST BOOK IN A GLORIOUS TRADITION OF *EWISH SCHOLARSHIP THAT IS OF IMMENSE HELP TO ITS SIBLING #HRISTIAN SCHOLARSHIP "UT IT IS MUCH MORE THAN THAT )T IS A HANDY HANDBOOK A VERITABLE VADE MECUM ON THE GROWING DEEPER HISTORICAL UNDERSTANDING OF *ESUS AMONG *EWISH SCHOLARS AND THUS AN IMPORTANT SOURCE FOR #HRISTIAN AND )SLAMIC SCHOLARS ALIKE
Notes *OSEPHUS Against Apion, )) CITED IN ,EONARD 3WIDLER Women in Judaism: The Status of Women in Formative Judaism -ETUCHEN .* 3CARECROW 0RESS 3EE ,EONARD 3WIDLER Biblical Affi rmations of Woman 0HILADELPHIA 7ESTMINSTER 0RESS ,EONARD 3WIDLER Jesus Was a Feminist ,ANHAM -$ 3HEED 7ARD 'ERD 4HEISSEN !NNETTE -ERZ The Historical Jesus -IN NEAPOLIS &ORTRESS 0RESS ) TOO BELATEDLY JOINED THE PIONEER #HRISTIAN SCHOLARS IN THIS hTHIRD QUESTv ,EONARD 3WIDLER Yeshua: A Model for Moderns +ANSAS #ITY 3HEED 7ARD ND EX PANDED ED
Translator’s Preface
Ingrid Shafer
7HILE READING 7ALTER (OMOLKAS 'ERMAN BOOK Jesus of Nazareth, ) BECAME CONVINCED THAT IT DESERVED TO BE BROADLY DISTRIBUTED BEYOND A 'ERMAN SPEAKING PUBLIC BOTH ACADEMIC AND LAY ) WAS ESPECIALLY FASCINATED BY THE SECOND PART OF THE TITLE im Spiegel jüdischer Forschung IN THE -IRROR OF *EWISH 3CHOLARSHIP 4HE TITLE HAPPENED TO COINCIDE WITH ONE OF MY LIFELONG PERSONAL AND ACADEMIC PASSIONSMY CONVICTION THAT ALL OF US PERCEIVE WHAT WE CONSIDER REALITY THROUGH WHAT ) HAVE CALLED hHERMENEUTI CAL LENSES v SPECTACLES OR MIRRORS THAT DETERMINE WHAT WE hSEEv AND WHAT WE CONSIDER hTHE TRUTHv ) SPENT FORTY ONE YEARS TEACHING INTERDISCIPLINARY GLOBAL HISTORY OF IDEAS AT A LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE AND ) NEVER QUITE CEASED BEING AMAZED AT THE EXTENT TO WHICH MY STUDENTS OFTEN UNWILLING CAP TIVES IN REQUIRED COURSES WERE THREATENED BY HAVING THEIR PRECONSCIOUS ASSUMPTIONS CHALLENGED ESPECIALLY CON CERNING THEIR RELIGIOUS OR IDEOLOGICAL CONVICTIONS 3IMPLY SAYING h*ESUS WAS A *EWv OR h*ESUS WAS NOT A #HRISTIANv RAISED A CHORUS OF OBJECTIONS 9ET THIS WAS PRECISELY WHAT ) HAD HOPED TO COMMUNICATE TO OTHERS EVER SINCE ) WAS IN MY LATE TEENS IN THE S ) WAS BORN IN )NNSBRUCK !USTRIA ONE MONTH BEFORE (ITLER MARCHED INTO 0OLAND AND HAVE BEEN HAUNTED BY IMAGES OF THE 3HOAH EVER SINCE ) WAS OLD ENOUGH TO READ MAGAZINES AND QUESTION ADULTS %VENTUALLY ) BEGAN TO SEEK A RATIONAL EXPLANATION FOR WHAT SEEMED THE UNCON xvi • Translator’s Preface
SCIOUS KNEE JERK ANTI *EWISH PREJUDICES OF SO MANY hGOOD PEOPLEv ) KNEWTEACHERS CLASSMATES EVEN MY FATHER .O ONE FOR EXAMPLE SEEMED TO QUESTION WHAT TO ME AP PEARED AN ABSURD AND HATE FOMENTING LOCAL STORY OF THE Ju- denstein *EWSTONE THE SHRINE OF THE "LESSED !NDREW OF 2INN ;!NDERL= THE l NAL RESTING PLACE OF A SMALL BOY WHOSE THROAT THE TEACHER TOLD US DURING A CLASS OUTING HAD BEEN SLIT CENTURIES BEFORE BY A GROUP OF *EWISH MERCHANTS )N THE CHAPEL WE SAW THE GRAY BOULDER ON WHICH THE TODDLER HAD REPORTEDLY BEEN SLAUGHTERED 7E MARVELED AT THE IMPRINT OF THE TINY BODY MIRACULOUSLY LEFT BEHIND A SILENT WITNESS TO A CRIME SO HEINOUS IT SOFTENED THE VERY STONE 7E WERE ENCOURAGED TO PONDER THE PICTURES ON THE CHAPEL WALLS OF THE HEINOUS ACT BEING COMMITTED TO KNEEL FOR PRAYER IN THE PEWS AND TO IMAGINE THE CHILDS AGONY AND HIS MOTH ERS DESPAIR WHEN SHE DISCOVERED HER SONS EXSANGUINATED CORPSE HANGING FROM A BIRCH TREE )N THE MONTHS AND YEARS FOLLOWING THAT CLASS OUTING IN THE RECESSES OF MY MIND DOUBTS BEGAN TO STIR )NITIALLY ) HAD BEEN SICKENED BY THE TEACHERS STORY AND THE GRUESOME PICTURES OF THE MURDER %VENTUALLY THE ENTIRE TRADITION ES PECIALLY THE MIRACULOUSLY IMPRINTED STONE BEGAN TO MAKE NO SENSE AND SEEMED FABRICATED IN ORDER TO TERRIFY #HRIS TIAN CHILDREN MALIGN *EWS AND ATTRACT PILGRIM BUSINESS 4HIS SUSPICION WAS REINFORCED BY A l NE PRIEST 0ROFESSOR !NTON %GGER MY RELIGION TEACHER AT THE Realgymnasium ;3ECONDARY 3CHOOL=, WHO WAS CLEARLY UNIMPRESSED BY THE CULT AND WHO TOLD ME YEARS LATER THAT HE HAD DOUBTED THE LEGITIMACY OF THE DEVOTION ALL ALONG %SPECIALLY WHEN ) DISCOVERED THAT A FOLK DRAMA VERSION OF THE !NDERL MUR DER BY A .ORBERTINE CANON 'OTTFRIED 3CHÚPF WAS STILL REG ULARLY PERFORMED ) BEGAN TO CONNECT THE WAYS *EWS OF THE PAST WERE DEPICTED IN PIOUS TALES WITH THE WAYS ORDINARY #HRISTIANS CONTINUED TO VIEW THEIR *EWISH CONTEMPORARIES "ETWEEN AND DUE TO THE EFFORTS OF "ISHOP 2EINHOLD 3TECHER THE BLOOD LIBEL STORY WAS OFl CIALLY DE Translator’s Preface • xvii
BUNKED LITTLE !NDERL WAS DEBEATIl ED AND THE SHRINE WAS TURNED INTO A MEMORIAL TO THE VICTIMS OF ANTI 3EMITISM WITH THE FOLLOWING INSCRIPTION HERE CITED IN TRANSLATION ON A PLAQUE h4HIS STONE REMINDS US OF A DARK DEED OF BLOOD AS WELL AS BY ITS VERY NAME OF THE MANY SINS #HRIS TIANS HAVE COMMITTED AGAINST *EWS )N THE FUTURE IT SHALL SERVE AS A SIGN OF OUR RECONCILIATION WITH THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BORNE US THE SAVIORv (OWEVER THIS DID NOT NEUTRAL IZE THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE SHRINE ATTRACTED PILGRIMS AND WITH ITS GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF THE MURDER THE EXTENT TO WHICH IT HELPED SHAPE THE WAYS COUNTLESS VISITORS ESPE CIALLY CHILDREN IN THEIR MOST FORMATIVE YEARS VIEWED *EWS EVEN AFTER 7ORLD 7AR )) AS IT HAD FOR CENTURIES BEFORE 4HE POWER OF IMAGE TO SHAPE ONES UNDERSTANDING OF REALITY AND ESPECIALLY ONES PRECONSCIOUS INTUITIVE AS SUMPTIONS CANNOT BE OVEREMPHASIZED AND IT AFFECTS PEO PLE OF ALL TRADITIONS AS IT GRINDS THE HERMENEUTICAL LENSES AND SHAPES THE MIRRORS THROUGH AND IN WHICH WE VIEW CREATE THE hOTHERvWHETHER THE hOTHERv IS *EW #HRISTIAN -USLIM (INDU "UDDHIST #ONFUCIAN ATHEIST 2EPUBLI CAN $EMOCRAT CONSERVATIVE LIBERAL AND SO FORTH AD IN l NITUM !S LONG AS THEY ARE NOT PRESENTED AS THE hONE AND ONLYv PRIVILEGED TRUTH THESE DIFFERING PERSPECTIVES CAN SERVE AS VALUABLE STEPS TOWARD A BALANCED MULTIFACETED DYNAMICALLY EVOLVING UNDERSTANDING OF WHATEVER ONE SEEKS TO COMPREHEND "Y ABSOLUTIZING ANY ONE POSITION TRUTH IS REDUCED TO DOGMA WHICH IS CONCERNING THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL *ESUS PRECISELY THE POSITION TAKEN BY *O SEPH 2ATZINGER WHEN HE INSISTS THAT SEEKING TO KNOW *ESUS CANNOT BE LEGITIMATE UNLESS IT IS DONE THROUGH THE LENS OF THE KERYGMATIC #HRIST OF FAITH WHICH IS CLEARLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR ANY NON #HRISTIAN AND EVEN SOME WHO CONSIDER THEM SELVES #HRISTIANS )N THIS BOOK (OMOLKA CONVINCINGLY ENGAGES 2ATZINGER AND MAKES A CASE FOR THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING HOW *ESUS HAS BEEN VIEWED IN CLOSE TO TWO MILLENNIA OF *EWISH TRADITION xviii • Translator’s Preface
As an Austrian Catholic, I had countless opportunities to view and experience Christian attitudes toward Jews, simply by carefully looking at stained-glass windows and frescoes in churches (such as the Stations of the Cross) or listening to New Testament passages and homilies, es- pecially around Easter. Even before I came to the United States in 1960, I was appalled at the way Passion plays continued to incite anti-Jewish sentiments. US versions seemed no less biased than their European counterparts, without necessarily going to the extremes of Mel Gibson’s Anna Katharina Emmerick–inspired The Passion of the Christ (2004). Hence, when I was offered the opportunity to translate the Oberammergau 2000 and 2010 textbooks and work with Jewish-Christian advisory groups collabo- rating with directors and producers in an attempt to show Yeshua accurately in the context of his milieu, I was happy to do so.1 But I still wished there were scholarly books, ac- cessible to the educated general public, apart from Géza Vermes’ works (such as The Religion of Jesus the Jew from 1993), which deal with Jesus from a Jewish perspective. For me, Walter Homolka’s book fills that void, and I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to introduce it to the world of English speakers.
Notes This book was one of the last projects of Ingrid Shafer (1939– 2014) who died 5 March 2014 at the age of 74. 1. James Shapiro, Oberammergau: The Troubling Story of the World’s Most Famous Passion Play (New York: Ran- dom House, 2000), 29ff. Preface
7HEN 2EZA !SLAN PUBLISHED HIS ACADEMIC STUDY ON THE LIFE OF *ESUS HE PURSUED HIS PASSIONATE INTEREST IN THE PER SON OF *ESUS AS A HISTORICAL l GURE )N Zealot, !SLAN PAINTS A PICTURE OF A ZEALOUS REVOLUTIONARY FROM IGNORANT AND POOR 'ALILEE A MAN WHOSE AIM WAS NOT SO MUCH A HEAVENLY KINGDOM AS A 0ALESTINE LIBERATED FROM 2OMAN OCCUPATION $ID *ESUS UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF A 'OD WHO BECAME HUMAN !CCORDING TO !SLAN NO !SLANS *ESUS IS FULLY AND COMPLETELY *EWISH ANIMATED BY THE MESSIANIC THOUGHT THAT +ING $AVIDS )SRAEL MUST BE RESURRECTED AS A STATE UN DER 'ODS AUTHORITY 2EADERS REACTIONS WERE EXTREMELY DI VIDED !S IT TURNS OUT HOWEVER MANY WERE MORE TROUBLED BY THE AUTHOR RATHER THAN THE CONTENT ITSELF 2EZA !SLAN IS -USLIM !SLANS BOOK BELONGS TO A GENRE THAT GOES BACK TO (ER MANN 3AMUEL 2EIMARUS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 2E SEARCH ON THE LIFE OF *ESUS HAS EXPERIENCED THREE MAJOR WAVES SINCE THAT TIME !SLAN IS PROBABLY THE l RST -USLIM AUTHOR IN THIS l ELD ALTHOUGH HE HAS ALWAYS INSISTED THAT HE WRITES FROM AN IMPARTIAL SCHOLARLY PERSPECTIVE 4HE QUESTION WHETHER HEA -USLIMHAS THE RIGHT TO DO SO IS NOT NEW EITHER SIMILAR QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN ASKED OVER THE PAST TWO CENTURIES AS *EWISH SCHOLARS BECAME IN CREASINGLY INTERESTED IN THE TOPIC "UT WHY MIGHT *EWS BE INTERESTED IN *ESUS !T l RST GLANCE ONE COULD SURMISE THAT RESEARCH ON *ESUS THROUGH *EWISH EYES DOES NOT EXACTLY PROMISE SUCCESS )N THE WORDS OF THE "RITISH RABBI *ONA THAN -AGONET h4HE QUESTION OF WHO *ESUS WAS OR MIGHT HAVE BEEN IS ACTUALLY OF INTEREST TO VERY FEW *EWS /R TO xx • Preface
BE EVEN MORE PRECISE AMONG MOST *EWS HE HAS NO SIGNIl CANCE WHATSOEVERv 4HIS BOOK ATTEMPTS TO DO JUSTICE TO *ESUS OF .AZARETH IN HIS *EWISH SETTING AND TO DEPICT THE *EWISH PERCEPTION OF *ESUS THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES )T GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT AN UNBIASED VIEW OF *ESUS BY *EWS IS A DIFl CULT TASK (IS HISTORICAL IMPACT REPRESENTS A DRAMATIC THREAT NOT ONLY TO *UDAISM AS A WHOLE BUT ALSO EXISTENTIALLY TO EACH INDI VIDUAL *EW #ENTURIES OF PERSECUTION OPPRESSION FORCED MIGRATION AND EXCLUSION IN THE NAME OF *ESUS IMPRINTED THEMSELVES DEEPLY INTO THE MEMORY OF A PEOPLE WHOSE FATE IN THE h#HRISTIAN 7ESTv HAS BEEN ANYTHING BUT EASY 4HIS REALIZATION HOWEVER ALSO RAISES THE QUESTION OF WHETHER *EWISH SCHOLARS CAN ENGAGE IN A MEANINGFUL DISCUSSION OF *ESUS AS A PERSON CONSIDERING THEIR CONCERN WITH #HRISTI ANITY AS A RIVAL RELIGION 4HIS BOOK WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT MY TWENTY l VE YEARS OF ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT WITH #HRISTI ANITY FROM A *EWISH PERSPECTIVE -Y SPECIAL THANKS GO TO THE FACULTY MEMBERS WHO RESPECTFULLY WELCOMED ME AND SERVED AS MY INTELLECTUAL INSPIRATION BETWEEN AND WHILE ) WAS A *EWISH GUEST STUDENT AT THE 3CHOOL OF 0ROTESTANT 4HEOLOGY AT THE 5NIVERSITY OF -UNICH AND THE -UNICH 3CHOOL OF 0HILOSOPHY OF THE *ESUITS IN 'ERMANY -Y DISSERTATION SUPERVISED BY #HRISTOPH 3CHWÚBEL AT +INGS #OLLEGE ,ONDON DREW ON KNOWLEDGE AND EXPE RIENCE FROM THAT TIME 4HOSE INSIGHTS PROVED VALUABLE DURING THE YEARS OF MY PRACTICAL RABBINATE WHICH TOO WERE SHAPED BY THE MANIFOLD INTEREST MANY #HRISTIAN COMMU NITIES HAVE IN *UDAISM 4HESE EXPERIENCES WERE FURTHER AUGMENTED IN THE COM MITTEE FOR *EWISH #HRISTIAN DIALOGUE HOSTED BY THE #ENTRAL #OMMITTEE OF 'ERMAN #ATHOLICS )N ADDITION ) SUPPLEMENT THESE DIVERSE EXPERIENCES WITH THE INSIGHT THAT KNOWLEDGE GAINED FROM *UDEO #HRISTIAN DIALOGUE MUST BE MEDIATED FOR EACH GENERATION ANEW ) AM VERY GRATEFUL THAT ) HAD THE Preface • xxi
OPPORTUNITY TO PERSONALLY ENCOUNTER OUTSTANDING *EWISH PHILOSOPHERS OF RELIGION SUCH AS 3CHALOM "EN #HORIN %RNST ,UDWIG %HRLICH AND 0INCHAS ,APIDE )T IS IMPERATIVE FOR ME TO CONTINUOUSLY RECALL THE l NDINGS OF PREVIOUS GEN ERATIONS OF *EWISH THINKERS IN ORDER TO PRESERVE THE WAYS *EWS AND #HRISTIANS UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER 4HIS VOLUME IS AN ATTEMPT TO CARRY OUT THIS COMMISSION ) AM PARTICULARLY GRATEFUL FOR ,EONARD 3WIDLERS INI TIATIVE TO TRANSLATE THE 'ERMAN ORIGINAL INTO %NGLISH ) AM HONORED TO HAVE RECEIVED HIS REVERENCE FOR MY WORK AND THANKS TO HIM A THOROUGHLY REVISED AND MUCH ENHANCED %NGLISH VERSION IS NOW AVAILABLE !LL OF THIS WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT )NGRID 3HAFERS IMMENSE EF FORT IN TAKING IT UPON HERSELF TO TRANSLATE THE ORIGINAL BOOK 4RANSLATION IS ALWAYS CREATION AND SO ) WOULD LIKE TO EX PRESS MY DEEP GRATITUDE FOR HER COLLABORATION ) ALSO WISH TO GIVE SPECIAL THANKS TO (ARTMUT "OMHOFF WHOSE EXTEN SIVE ASSISTANCE HELPED THIS WORK ACHIEVE ITS PRESENT FORM 4HANKS ALSO TO -ARIE ,UISE 3CHMIDT WHO REVISED THE BOOK FOR THE %NGLISH EDITION !ND OF COURSE MANY THANKS TO THE COPY EDITORS WHO COMBED THROUGH THE l NAL VERSIONS $EBRA #ORMAN #AITLIN -AHON AND $AVID (EYWOOD *ONES AS WELL AS #AROLINE $IEPEVEEN FOR CREATING THE INDEX &INALLY WE MUST GIVE THANKS TO THE .ATIONAL 'ALLERY OF ,ONDON FOR GIVING US THE RIGHTS TO USE ONE OF 'ERRIT VAN (ONTHORSTS n MOST FAMOUS PAINTINGS FOR THE COVER Christ before the High Priest (ONTHORST PAINTED IT IN 2OME AROUND THE WORK SHOWS THE POWERFUL INm U ENCE OF #ARAVAGGIO 4HE SCENE IS FOCUSED ON THE BURNING CANDLE IN THE CENTER OF THE COMPOSITION AND THE ARM AND RAISED l NGER OF THE (IGH 0RIEST BESIDE IT 4HE BOOK ON THE TABLE IN FRONT OF THE (IGH 0RIEST CONTAINS THE PROSCRIPTIONS OF -OSAIC ,AW 4HE PAINTING IS CONCENTRATED IN THEME THE RELATIONSHIP OF *ESUS THE *EW AND HIS MESSAGE WITHIN HIS *EWISH CONTEXT 2ABBI 7ALTER (OMOLKA 0H$ $(, xxii • Preface
Notes 1. See John Williams. “The Life of Jesus: Reza Aslan Talks about Zealot.” New York Times, 2 August 2013. http:// artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/02/the-life-of-jesus- reza-aslan-talks-about-zealot/. Accessed 24 July 2014. 2. Jonathan Magonet, Talking to the Other: Jewish Interfaith Dialogue with Christians and Muslims (London: I. B. Tauris, 2003), 125. 3. Walter Homolka, Jewish Identity in Modern Times: Leo Baeck and German Protestantism (Providence, RI: Berghahn Books, 1995). Introduction When a Jew L ooks at the Sources T e Jesus of History
T e Sources
4HE EARLY #HRISTIAN 'OSPELS ARE CONSIDERED THE MOST IM PORTANT SOURCES FOR THE LIFE OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS 4HE 0AS SION IS OF COURSE THE BEST DOCUMENTED EPISODE 4HE EARLIEST OF THE THREE 3YNOPTIC 'OSPELS THE 'OSPEL OF -ARK DATES TO AROUND #% AND IS BASED ON EARLIER SOURCES 4HE SOURCE WITH THE HIGHEST DEGREE OF AUTHENTICITY IS THE SO CALLED 1 SOURCE WHERE WE CAN READ *ESUSS WORDS *OHNS 'OSPELTHE LATEST OF THE FOUR 'OSPELS DATED AROUND THE END OF THE l RST CENTURYHAS LIMITED HISTORICAL VALUE BE CAUSE OF ITS POST %ASTER FAITH PERSPECTIVE 4HE NON #HRIS TIAN TESTIMONIALS &LAVIUS *OSEPHUS 3UETONIUS 4ACITUS OFFER US LITTLE ON *ESUSS BIOGRAPHY !CCORDING TO *OHANN -AIER THE l RST BUT RATHER INSIGNIl CANT *EWISH REFERENCE TO *ESUS IS IN THE SO CALLED 4ESTIMONY &LAVIANUM IN *OSEPHUS Jewish Antiquities 86))) PP F CF 88 PP n THE MARTYRDOM OF *AMES THE WORDING OF WHICH WAS PROBABLY EDITED MUCH LATER BY #HRISTIANS !CCORDING TO *OSEPHUS
.OW ABOUT THIS TIME AROSE AN OCCASION FOR NEW DISTURBANCES A CERTAIN *ESUS A WIZARD OF A MAN IF INDEED HE MAY BE CALLED A MAN WHO WAS THE MOST 2 • Jesus Reclaimed
MONSTROUS OF ALL MEN WHOM HIS DISCIPLES CALL A SON OF 'OD AS HAVING DONE WONDERS SUCH AS NO MAN HATH EVER DONEx (E WAS IN FACT A TEACHER OF ASTONISHING TRICKS TO SUCH MEN AS ACCEPT THE AB NORMAL WITH DELIGHTx !ND WHEN ON THE INDICT MENT OF THE PRINCIPAL MEN AMONG US 0ILATE HAD SENTENCED HIM TO THE CROSS STILL THOSE WHO BEFORE HAD ADMIRED HIM DID NOT CEASE TO RAVE
T e Early Years
4HERE CAN BE LITTLE LEARNED FROM THE 'OSPELS ABOUT *ESUSS YOUTH (E CAME FROM .AZARETH IN ,OWER 'ALILEE AND AC CORDING TO -ATTHEW HE WAS THE l RST CHILD OF -ARY -IRIAM BORN BEFORE THE END OF THE REIGN OF (EROD THE 'REAT IN "#% -T PRESUMABLY A FEW YEARS EARLIER (IS NAME h*ESUS v IS THE 'REEK TRANSLATION OF THE (EBREW h9ESHUAv 'OD HELPS 4HE %VANGELIST -ARK WRITES OF AT LEAST SIX CHILDREN *AMES *OSES *UDAS 3IMON AND THE SISTERS OF *ESUS WHO REMAIN NAMELESS -K 4WO l C TIONAL LISTS OF ANCESTORS -T n AND ,K n MAKE *ESUS OF .AZARETH THE DESCENDANT OF !BRAHAM AND +ING $AVID BUT LIKE THE TOPIC OF THE VIRGIN BIRTH THEY ARE NOT INTENDED AS HISTORICAL STATEMENTS INSTEAD CARRYING THEO LOGICAL SIGNIl CANCE )T REMAINS QUESTIONABLE WHETHER "ETHLEHEM NEAR *E RUSALEM IS IN FACT THE BIRTHPLACE OF *ESUS OR WAS JUST ASSO CIATED WITH HIM BECAUSE OF 'ODS PROMISE TO +ING $AVID 4HE HYPOTHESIS THAT *ESUS WAS BORN IN THE 'ALILEAN "ETH LEHEM Beit Lehem Ha’glilit NEAR .AZARETH RATHER THAN IN FRONT OF THE GATES OF *ERUSALEM WAS ARGUED AS EARLY AS BY *OSEPH +LAUSNER n (E POINTED OUT THAT THE 'ALILEAN "ETHLEHEM CAN BE FOUND IN THE 4ALMUD AND IN -IDRASHIC LITERATURE AND EXCAVATIONS PROVE THAT IT WAS A SIGNIl CANT SETTLEMENT AT THE TIME OF *ESUS THERE IS NO SUCH Introduction • 3
EVIDENCE FROM THE (ERODIAN PERIOD FOR A "ETHLEHEM IN *U DEA 4HE SENTENCE h!FTER EIGHT DAYS HAD PASSED IT WAS TIME TO CIRCUMCISE THE CHILD AND HE WAS CALLED *ESUS THE NAME GIVEN BY THE ANGEL BEFORE HE WAS CONCEIVED IN THE WOMBv ,K MAKES IT CLEAR THAT THE FAMILY LIVED AS *EWS AMONG *EWS !S THE l RSTBORN SON OF A *EWISH FAMILY *ESUS WAS REDEEMED IN THE 4EMPLE LATER *ESUS LEARNED HIS FATHERS TRADE -K -T *OSEPH WAS A CRAFTSMAN 'REEK τέκτων OFTEN MISLEADINGLY TRANSLATED AS hCARPEN TERv PROBABLY INVOLVING WORKING WITH WOOD CLAY OR STONES !CCORDING TO ,UKE n AT THE AGE OF TWELVE *ESUS IMPRESSED THE SCRIBES IN THE *ERUSALEM 4EMPLE WITH HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE 4ORAH WHICH POINTS TO THE POSSIBIL ITY THAT HE ATTENDED SCHOOL BUT MIGHT ALSO BE A l CTIONAL INSERTION TO IDENTIFY HIM AS AN OUTSTANDING TEACHER OF THE 4ORAH !LTHOUGH *ESUSS MOTHER TONGUE WAS 'ALILEAN 7EST ERN !RAMAIC HE MUST ALSO HAVE MASTERED (EBREW AS AC CORDING TO ,UKE n *ESUS READ FROM THE 4ORAH BEFORE INTERPRETING THE TEXT (IS FREQUENT QUESTION TO HIS LISTENERS h(AVE YOU NEVER ;NOT= READ x v EG -K -T IMPLIES READING COMPETENCE
Public Appearance
"ASED ON THE ONLY CLEARLY INDICATED DATE IN THE 'OSPELS THE APPEARANCE OF *OHN THE "APTIST IT IS MOST REASONABLE ACCORDING TO BIBLICAL SCHOLAR !NTON 6ÚGTLE TO ASSUME A PUBLIC MINISTRY OF AROUND TWO YEARS AN ASSUMPTION THAT IS CONSISTENT WITH A PROBABLE DATE OF DEATH DURING 0ASSOVER #% !CCORDING TO ,UKE AND *ESUS WAS ABOUT THIRTY YEARS OLD WHEN HE BEGAN HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY h)N THE l FTEENTH YEAR OF THE REIGN OF %MPEROR 4IBERIUS WHEN 0ONTIUS 0ILATE WAS GOVERNOR OF *UDEAv )N THE TWENTIES OF THE l RST CENTURY #% *ESUS BELONGED TEMPORARILY TO THE CIR CLE AROUND *OHN THE "APTIST WHO EMERGED AS AN ASCETIC 4 • Jesus Reclaimed
PROPHET IN 0EREA A 4RANSJORDANIAN REGION NEAR THE $EAD 3EA AND WHO CALLED FOR REPENTANCE IN LIGHT OF THE IMMI NENT COMING OF THE ,ORD AND THE ,AST *UDGMENT h(ERE *OHN OFFERED THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS IN RITUAL FORMINDE PENDENTLY OF THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE TEMPLE IN PROVIDING ATONEMENT 4HIS WAS A VOTE OF NO CONl DENCE IN THE CENTRAL RELIGIOUS INSTITUTION OF *UDAISM WHICH HAD BECOME INEF FECTIVEv !CCORDING TO ,UKE *OHN WAS THE SON OF THE PRIEST :ECHARIAH OF THE PRIESTLY CLASS !BIJAH AND %LIZA BETH FROM THE FAMILY OF !ARON *ESUSS BAPTISM IN THE *ORDAN 2IVER COMPLIES WITH THE STANDARD PRACTICE OF THE tevilah, THE TRADITIONAL FULL BODY IMMERSION FOR RITUAL PURIl CATION 4HE MEETING WITH *OHN MARKED A DECISIVE TURNING POINT *ESUS RETURNED TO 'ALILEE TO FOLLOW HIS OWN CALLING AND IN THE SPRING OF OR #% HE BEGAN HIS WORK AS AN INDEPENDENT CHARISMATIC ITINER ANT PREACHER (E RESIDED AT #APERNAUM ON THE NORTHEAST END OF ,AKE 'ENNESARET ;3EA OF 'ALILEE= WHERE HIS SPHERE OF INm UENCE INCLUDED THE *EWISH AREA NORTH AND EAST OF THE LAKE !T THE TIME 'ALILEE WAS CONSIDERED AN UNRULY REGION 4HE LOCAL *EWISH POPULATION WAS ISOLATED FROM THE RELIGIOUS CENTER IN *UDEA AND WAS THREATENED BY PAGAN IN m UENCE #APERNAUM WAS RIGHT ON THE BORDER BETWEEN THE TERRITORIES OF (EROD !NTIPAS AND 0HILIPPUS *ESUS APPARENTLY FOUND LITTLE SUPPORT IN #APERNAUM ITSELF &ROM THERE HE MOVED ON TO THE SURROUNDING AREA WITH HIS l RST COMPANIONS 3HIMON !NDREW ,EVI AND -ARY -AGDALENE (E ORDERED HIS DISCIPLES TO ABANDON PARENTS CHILDREN AND THE USUAL DAILY ACTIVITIES AND TO FOLLOW HIM h7HOEVER COMES TO ME AND DOES NOT HATE FA THER AND MOTHER WIFE AND CHILDREN BROTHERS AND SISTERS YES AND EVEN LIFE ITSELF CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLEv ,K 4HE %VANGELIST *OHN WRITES OF THREE YEARS IN WHICH *ESUS APPEARED IN PUBLIC WHILE THE THREE 3YNOPTIC %VANGELISTS MENTION ONLY ONE YEAR AND ALSO ONLY ONE JOURNEY TO *ERU SALEM (IS SPECIl C ITINERARIES CANNOT BE DEl NITIVELY RE Introduction • 5 constructed. Indeed, many locations listed in the Gospels were later additions and reflected the spread of Christian- ity at the time of their editorial revisions.
Jesus’s Message
Based on the historical evidence and the scriptural sources available, one may very well ask just how can we summa- rize Jesus’s teachings succinctly. Theissen attempts just this when he argues:
At the centre of Jesus’s message stood Jewish be- lief in God: for Jesus, God was a tremendous ethi- cal energy which would soon change the world to bring deliverance to the poor, the weak and the sick. However, it could become the “hell-fire” of judgment for all those who did not allow them- selves to be grasped by it. Everyone had a choice. Everyone had a chance, particularly those who by religious standards were failures and losers. Jesus sought fellowship with them.9
Jesus’s style of preaching and argumentation was es- sentially rabbinic; his parables10 (Hebrew: meshalim) fol- lowed biblical figurative language and the imagery was taken from the everyday lives of farmers and fishermen: the sower, the mustard seed, the fisher of men, the “calm- ing” of the storm. His first disciples called him “Rabbi” (e.g., Mk 9:5, 11:21, 14:45; Jn 1:38, 1:49, 3:2, 4:31) or “Rab- bouni” (Jn 20:16). This Aramaic title means “my master” and corresponded to the Greek διδασκαλς, or “teacher.” It expressed respect and accorded Jesus the same rank as the Pharisaic scribes (Mt 13:52, 23:2, 23:7). According to Mark 6:1–6, Jesus’s teachings were rejected in his home- town and he was said never to have returned there. But ac- 6 • Jesus Reclaimed
CORDING TO ,UKE n -ARK AND -ARK WOMEN FROM AROUND *ESUSS HOME SUPPORTED HIM AND HIS DISCI PLES !CCORDING TO -ARK THEY REMAINED WITH HIM TO HIS DEATH ,IKE (ILLEL "#%n #% *ESUS ACCORDED THE COMMAND MENT hLOVE THY NEIGHBORv THE SAME IMPORTANCE AS FEAR OF 'OD AND CONSEQUENTLY PLACED THEM ABOVE ALL OTHER 4ORAH COMMANDMENTS -K n "ASED ON A #HRISTIAN LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OR MISUNDERSTANDING OF *UDAISM AT *ESUSS TIME MANY BELIEVED FOR A LONG TIME *ESUS REPRESENTED AN INTERPRETATION OF HALAKHA WHICH COULD NOT BE DERIVED FROM *UDAISM (OWEVER ACKNOWLEDGING THE PLURALIST NATURE OF *UDAISM AT THAT TIME THIS PASSAGE IS NOW READ AS AN INNER *EWISH INTERPRETATION OF THE 4ORAH &OR *OSEPH +LAUSNER THE 'OSPELS DESCRIBE *ESUS AS AN OBSERVANT *EW
!S MUCH AS THE 3YNOPTIC 'OSPELS ARE l LLED WITH HOSTILITY TOWARD THE 0HARISEES THEY CANNOT AVOID DESCRIBING *ESUS AS A 0HARISAIC *EW IN HIS ATTITUDE TOWARD THE LAW !CCORDINGLY HE DEMANDS THAT SAC RIl CES BE OFFERED AT VARIOUS OCCASIONS -K -T n HE ALSO DOES NOT OBJECT TO FASTING AND PRAYER IF IT IS DONE WITHOUT ARROGANCE -T n (E HIMSELF FOLLOWS ALL CEREMONIAL LAWS WEARS TASSELS -K AND PARALLELS PAYS THE HALF SHEKEL FOR THE TEMPLE MAKES THE PILGRIM AGES TO *ERUSALEM FOR 0ASSOVER SAYS THE BLESSING OVER WINE AND BREAD ETC (E WARNS HIS STUDENTS AGAINST CONTACT WITH 'ENTILES AND THE 3AMARITANS HE ANSWERS THE REQUEST TO HEAL A PAGAN CHILD IN A SPIRIT OF ULTRA NATIONALISM
4HE hBEATITUDESv ATTRIBUTED TO THE 1 SOURCE ,K n -T n ASSURE THE POOR THE MOURNERS THE POW ERLESS AND THE PERSECUTED THAT FOR THEM THE KINGDOM IS ALREADY PRESENT AND CERTAIN FOR THEIR FUTURE AS A JUST TURN Introduction • 7
TO COMPENSATE THEM FOR THEIR SUFFERING 4HEY WERE THE l RST AND MOST IMPORTANT RECIPIENTS OF THE WORDS OF *E SUS !CCORDING TO ,UKE n HIS hINAUGURAL SERMONv CONSISTED ONLY OF THE SENTENCE h4ODAY THIS 3CRIPTURE ;)S n= HAS BEEN FULl LLED IN YOUR HEARINGv 4HUS THE BIB LICAL PROMISE OF A h*UBILEE YEARv OF FORGIVENESS OF DEBT AND REDISTRIBUTION OF LAND ,V WAS ACTUALIZED FOR THE CON TEMPORARY POOR !CCORDING TO SOCIOHISTORICAL STUDIES THE RURAL *EWISH POPULATION SUFFERED FROM EXPLOITATION TAX LEVIES FOR 2OME AND THE 4EMPLE CONSTANT 2OMAN MILITARY PRESENCE DEBT SLAVERY HUNGER EPIDEMICS AND SOCIAL UP ROOTING *ESUSS RELIEF FOR THE POOR HEALING AND THE CO INCIDENCE OF PRAYER AND ALMSGIVING WERE SIMILAR TO THAT OF THE LATER CHARISMATIC MIRACLE WORKER (ANINA BEN $OSA CA n #% A REPRESENTATIVE OF 'ALILEAN (ASIDIM 4HIS IS ANOTHER REASON WHY CONTEMPORARY SCHOLARS OF RELIGION UNLIKE THEIR PREDECESSORS PLACE *ESUS OF .AZARETH ENTIRELY WITHIN THE *UDAISM OF HIS TIME AND EMPHASIZE THE SIMILAR ITY OF HIS MESSAGE TO THE TEACHINGS OF THE 0HARISEES
Arrest and Trial
%VEN IF WE COMBINE ALL FOUR 'OSPELS THEY STILL ONLY REALLY TALK ABOUT *ESUSS l NAL YEARS 4HE SEQUENCE OF HIS ENTRY INTO *ERUSALEM THE CLEANSING OF THE 4EMPLE ARREST INTER ROGATION IN THE HOUSE OF THE (IGH 0RIEST DELIVERY TO 0ILATE INTERROGATION BY THE 2OMANS SCOURGING MOCKERY HIS EXE CUTION BY 2OMAN SOLDIERS AND HIS BURIAL ARE FAIRLY CONSIS TENT IN MANY DETAILS ACROSS ALL THE 3YNOPTIC 'OSPELS 4HE QUESTION OF WHO WAS ORIGINALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS ARREST HOWEVER IS MORE CONTROVERSIAL &OR EXAMPLE $AVID &LUSSER QUESTIONS WHETHER THE (IGH #OUNCIL MEETING WHICH SUP POSEDLY CONDEMNED *ESUS TO DEATH EVER OCCURRED *ESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES SPENT THE NIGHT AT THE FOOT OF THE -OUNT OF /LIVES IN 'ETHSEMANE A REST AREA FOR 0ASS 8 • Jesus Reclaimed
OVER PILGRIMS /N THE NIGHT FOLLOWING THE l NAL MEAL SHARED BY *ESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES *UDAS )SCARIOT REPORTEDLY LED A CROWD ARMED WITH hSWORDS AND CLUBSv -K OR A hDETACHMENT OF SOLDIERSv *N TO ARREST THEM 0AUL 7INTER THEREFORE ASSUMED THAT *ESUS WAS ARRESTED AND SENTENCED NOT BY THE *EWISH (IGH #OUNCIL THE 3ANHEDRIN BUT BY THE 2OMANS ACCOMPANIED BY THE ARMED *EWS OF THE 4EMPLE 'UARD )N THIS SCENARIO THE OCCUPIERS SOUGHT TO SUPPRESS THE POTENTIAL POLITICAL REVOLUTIONARY TENDENCIES THAT EXISTED AMONG *ESUSS FOLLOWERS OR COULD HAVE BEEN STIRRED UP BY HIS MESSAGE AND DEEDS (ISTORIANS HOLDING BOTH POSITIONS ASSUME THAT BOTH THE 2OMANS AND THE 3ADDUCEE RULING CLASS WERE INTERESTED IN *ESUSS ARREST 4HE h4EMPLE CONm ICTv THREATENED BOTH THE *EWISH ELITES POSITION OF POWER AS WELL AS SIGNIFYING UNPREDICTABLE CONSEQUENCES FOR THE AUTONOMY OF THE *EW ISH COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE )N SHORT IT COULD HAVE CAUSED LONG TERM POLITICAL INSTABILITY !CCORDING TO THIS INTER PRETATION #AIAPHASS STATEMENT RECORDED IN *OHN THAT hIT IS BETTER FOR YOU TO HAVE ONE MAN DIE FOR THE PEOPLE THAN TO HAVE THE WHOLE NATION DESTROYEDv IS PLAUSIBLE 4WO CONTEMPORARY *EWISH LEGAL EXPERTS HAVE EXAM INED *ESUSS TRIAL (AIM #OHN n 3UPREME #OURT JUDGE OF THE STATE OF )SRAEL AND LEGAL HISTORIAN EXAM INED THE TRIAL EXTENSIVELY AND PROVIDED A DETAILED PICTURE OF THE MOST LIKELY EVENTS SURROUNDING THE #RUCIl XION (IS BOOK WAS PUBLISHED IN IN (EBREW AND IN IN %NGLISH *USTICE #OHN PRESENTS A SEARCH FOR FORENSIC AND HISTORICAL ANALYSIS TO CREATE A LEGAL POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS CONTEXT FOR THE EVENTS AS THEY MIGHT REALLY HAVE HAPPENED #OHNS READERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO GIVE THEIR OWN VERDICT ON WHETHER WE CAN ACTUALLY SPEAK OF *EWISH RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE DEATH OF *ESUS 4HE (ESSIAN ATTORNEY GENERAL &RITZ "AUER n IS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS LEGAL PROCESSING OF A NUMBER OF .AZI Introduction • 9
WAR CRIMES (IS ESSAY h4HE 4RIAL OF *ESUSv IS ES SENTIALLY A PLEA FOR A MORE HUMANE LEGAL SYSTEM (E WRITES h0ILATES VERDICT REm ECTS THE HUMAN SHORTCOMINGS OF ALL JUDGMENT THE MISUNDERSTANDING AND MISINTERPRETATION OF THE ACTUAL EVENTS THE EXCESSIVE DEMANDS ON THE JUDGE BY PUBLIC OPINION AND ITS PRESSURE ON HIS VERDICTv "AUER REMINDS US THAT FROM THE RELIGIOUS #HRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW THE hTRIAL OF *ESUS CULMINATING IN THE #RUCIl XION REPRE SENTED 'ODS JUDGMENT AND WILL IT WAS PART OF THE !L MIGHTYS PLAN FOR THE WORLD WITHOUT IT THERE WOULD BE NO #HRISTIANITYv
Death
!LL FOUR 'OSPELS ARE UNANIMOUS THAT THE EXECUTION SANC TIONED BY 0ONTIUS 0ILATE AS GOVERNOR OF *UDEA n #% TOOK PLACE THE DAY BEFORE THE 3ABBATH THUS ON A &RIDAY 4HIS WAS THE MAIN 0ASSOVER HOLY DAY FOR THE 3YNOPTICS AS IT FOLLOWED THE 3EDER AND SO ACCORDING TO THE *EWISH CALENDAR IT MUST HAVE BEEN THE l FTEENTH OF .ISAN )N THE 'OSPEL OF *OHN HOWEVER IT WAS JUST BEFORE 0ASSOVER THE FOURTEENTH OF .ISAN 4HIS DATING WHICH ATTESTS TO THE STRONG NARRATIVE AND l CTIONAL CHARACTER OF THIS LATE 'OSPEL HAS THEOLOGICAL SIGNIl CANCE *ESUS WOULD HAVE DIED AT THE TIME OF THE SLAUGHTER OF THE 0ASSOVER LAMB !CCORDING TO -ARK *ESUS WAS CRUCIl ED ALONG WITH TWO BANDITS ON THE HILL OF 'OLGOTHA PLACE OF THE SKULL OUTSIDE *ERUSALEMS WALLS AND ACCORDING TO ,UKE n IT WAS ACCOMPANIED BY THE SCORN AND DERISION OF THOSE PRESENT 4HE PRE -ARKIAN 0ASSION NARRATIVE PRO VIDES NO ADDITIONAL DETAILS AND ONLY INDICATES THAT *ESUS WAS hCRUCIl ED AT THE THIRD HOURv AND hDIED AT THE NINTH HOURv #ALENDRIC AND ASTRONOMICAL CALCULATIONS SUGGEST #% AS THE MOST LIKELY YEAR OF DEATH 10 • Jesus Reclaimed
Notes &OR A MORE THOROUGH ANALYSIS SEE 'ERD 4HEISSEN AND !NNETTE -ERZ The Historical Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide -INNEAPOLIS !UGSBURG &ORTRESS 0RESS n 0ETER * 4OMSON “If This Be from Heaven …”: Jesus and the New Testament Authors in Their Relationship to Judaism 3HEFl ELD 5+ 3HEFl ELD !CADEMIC 0RESS #F 7OLFGANG 3TEGEMANN Jesus und seine Zeit 3TUTTGART +OHLHAMMER *àRGEN 2OLOFF h*ESUS VON .AZARETH v IN Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, ED (ANS $IE TER "ETZ TH ED 4àBINGEN -OHR 3IEBECK VOL COL F *OHANN -AIER Judentum von A bis Z: Glauben, Ge- schichte, Kultur &REIBURG (ERDER *OSEPHUS Jewish Antiquities: Books XVIII–XIX, TR ,OUIS ( &ELDMAN #AMBRIDGE -! (ARVARD 5NIVERSITY 0RESS 5NLESS OTHERWISE SPECIl ED ALL BIBLICAL REFERENCES ARE FROM The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apoc- rypha, EDITED BY "RUCE - -ETZGER AND 2OLAND -URPHY COPYRIGHT *OSEPH +LAUSNER Jesus of Nazareth: His Life, Times and Teachings TRANS (ERBERT $ANBY .EW 9ORK "LOCH (EBREW ED F !NTON 6ÚGTLE h*ESUS #HRISTUS NACH DEN GESCHICHTLICHEN 1UELLEN v IN Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ED *OSEF (ÚFER AND +ARL 2AHNER ND ED &REIBURG (ERDER VOL COL FF 4HEISSEN AND -ERZ Historical Jesus, )BID 'ARY ' 0ORTON h4HE 0ARABLE IN THE (EBREW "IBLE AND 2ABBINIC ,ITERATURE v IN The Historical Jesus in Context, ED !MY *ILL ,EVINE $ALE # !LLISON *R AND *OHN $OM INIC #ROSSAN 0RINCETON .* 0RINCETON 5NIVERSITY 0RESS n Introduction • 11
*OSEPH +LAUSNER h*ESUS VON .AZARETH v IN Encyclopae- dia Judaica "ERLIN %SCHKOL VOL COL F 3EE ALSO (ERBERT 7 "ASSER h'OSPEL AND 4ALMUD v IN ,EVINE !LLISON AND #ROSSAN Historical Jesus in Context, n "RUCE #HILTON h4ARGUM *ESUS AND THE 'OSPELS v IN ,EVINE !LLISON AND #ROSSAN Historical Jesus in Context, n $AVID , "ALCH AND *OHN % 3TAMBAUGH The New Testa- ment in Its Social Environment 0HILADELPHIA 7ESTMIN STER 0RESS "ERND +OLLMANN h0AULUS ALS 7UNDERTÊTER v IN Paulini- sche Christologie, ED 5DO 3CHNELLE AND 4HOMAS 3ÚDING 'ÚTTINGEN 6ANDENHOECK 2UPRECHT F 4HEISSEN AND -ERZ Historical Jesus, 3EE ALSO 3CHA LOM "EN #HORIN h*UDENTUM UND *ESUSBILD v IN Neues Le- xikon des Judentums, ED *ULIUS ( 3CHOEPS 'àTERSLOH 'àTERSLOHER 6ERLAGSHAUS n $AVID &LUSSER The Sage from Galilee: Rediscovering Je- sus’ Genius 'RAND 2APIDS -) 7ILLIAM " %ERDMANS n 0AUL 7INTER On the Trial of Jesus, ED 4 ! "URKILL AND 'ÏZA 6ERMES ND ED "ERLIN 7ALTER DE 'RUYTER n FF 4HEISSEN AND -ERZ Historical Jesus, 3EE ALSO $AVID 2 #ATCHPOLE The Trial of Jesus: A Study in the Gospels and Jewish Historiography from 1777 to the Present Day ,EIDEN "RILL (AIM #OHN The Trial and Death of Jesus .EW 9ORK +TAV &RITZ "AUER h$ER 0ROZE *ESU v IN Fritz Bauer: Die Hu- manität der Rechtsordnung; Ausgewählte Schriften, ED *OACHIM 0ERELS AND )RMTRUD 7OJAK &RANKFURT #AMPUS n )BID )BID 4HEISSEN AND -ERZ Historical Jesus, 2OLOFF h*ESUS VON .AZARETH v VOL COL
Chapter 1 Jesus and His Impact on Jewish Antiquity and the Middle Ages
2ABBINICAL *UDAISMS VICTORY AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF THE 4EMPLE IN #% USHERED IN A KIND OF NORMATIVE *UDAISM WHEREBY ATTITUDES THAT DID NOT COMPLY WITH FUNDAMENTAL BELIEFS OF THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED STANDARD WERE DISMISSED AS HERETICAL BY THE RABBINIC ELITE 4HE TERM FOR ANTIRABBINIC *EWS AND HERETICS WAS min PLURAL minim )N THE EARLY 4ALMUDIC LITERATURE IN ADDITION TO hSPECIESv KIND AND hANOMALYv VARIANT min MEANT hGENDERv AND hSEXUALITYv !T THE TIME THIS INSULT WAS NOT EXPLICITLY AIMED AT *EWISH #HRISTIANS THAT IS #HRISTIANS -ISHNAH 3ANHEDRIN CONTAINS AN ENTIRE LIST OF HERETICS WHO WILL HAVE NO PART IN THE h7ORLD TO #OMEv 4HE TWELFTH BENEDICTION OF THE %IGHTEEN "ENEDICTIONS THE Ha’minim Birkat, WHICH WAS ACCEPTED AS THE NINETEENTH BENEDICTION IN 9AVNEH IN THE PRESENCE OF 2ABBAN 'AMLIEL )) CA n #% IS THEREFORE NOT SPECIl CALLY AIMED AT THE EARLY #HRISTIANS !S A PETI TION FOR THE ANNIHILATION OF APOSTATES IT MAY DATE BACK TO THE RULE OF !LEXANDER *ANNAEUS n "#% WHO HAD PERSECUTED THE 0HARISEES 4HE REFERENCE TO *EWISH #HRIS TIANS IS RATHER INDIRECT AS THEY COULD NOT RESPOND TO THIS BLESSING WITH h!MEN v THEY COULD BE EXPELLED FROM THE 14 • Jesus Reclaimed
SYNAGOGUE /VER TIME HOWEVER IT WAS MADE CLEAR THAT #HRISTIANS WERE NO LONGER TO BE CONSIDERED HERETICS 2ABBI -ENACHEM (A -EIRI OF 0ERPIGNAN n EXPLAINED THAT THE #HRISTIANS WERE NOT IDOLATERS BUT REP RESENTED A DOCTRINE OF HIGH ETHICAL STANDARD )T IS ASSUMED THAT THE l RST CONFRONTATION WITH THE *EWISH #HRISTIAN *ESUS IMAGE OCCURRED IN THE 'REEK *EWISH $IASPORA 2EGARDING THE RABBINIC TRADITIONS IN THE EARLY 4ANNAITIC PERIOD n #% THE Tannaim WERE *EWISH TEACHERS OF THE LAW *O HANN -AIER ACKNOWLEDGES NO SUCH INDICATIONS AND POINTS OUT THAT #HRISTIANITY ONLY EMERGED AS A SERIOUS CHALLENGE UNDER #ONSTANTINE THE 'REAT IN FORMER 0ALESTINE NAMELY AS THE SUCCESSOR TO 2OMES POWER !FTER THE CONVERSION OF THE 2OMAN %MPIRE AND THE TIGHTENING OF ANTI *EWISH LAWS THE RABBIS TRANSFERRED THE NEGATIVE IMAGES OF %SAU AND %DOM ONTO #HRISTIANITY AND CONTINUED TO EXPECT THE FUL l LLMENT OF 'ODS RESPONSE TO 2EBEKAH h4HE ONE ;NATION= SHALL BE STRONGER THAN THE OTHERv 'N OR EVEN THE VI SION OF /BADIAH h4HOSE WHO HAVE BEEN SAVED SHALL GO UP TO -OUNT :ION TO RULE -OUNT %SAU AND THE KINGDOM SHALL BE THE ,ORDSv 4HE TYPOLOGY OF h%DOMv AND h%SAU v hCHURCHv AND h2OME v WAS STILL WIDELY USED IN THE -ID DLE !GES !CCORDING TO $ANIEL +ROCHMALNIK WE CAN POINT TO 2ASHI n AND HIS COMMENT ON /BADIAH AS AN EXAMPLE OF THIS TRADITION )N 2ASHI AT /BADIAH WE READ h@!ND THE LEADERS OF )SRAEL ARE GOING UP TO -OUNT :ION AS VICTORS IN ORDER TO PASS JUDGMENT TO PUNISH %SAU FOR WHAT HE HAD DONE TO )SRAEL THE MOUNTAIN OF %SAU AND THE KINGDOM WILL BE THE %TERNAL /NES TO TEACH YOU THAT HIS KINGDOM WILL BE COMPLETE ONLY WHEN HE WILL HAVE PUNISHED %SAUS WICKEDNESS ;)N THE !RAMAIC TRANSLATION @THE MOUNTAIN OF %SAU IS @THE LARGE CITY OF %SAU WHICH ACCORDING TO THE 2ASHI COMMENTARYCAN BE EQUALED TO 2OME= 4HIS KIND OF ENCRYPTED *EWISH POLEMIC WAS NOT UNKNOWN TO THE ECCLESIASTICAL AUTHORITIES AT THE TIMEv Jesus and His Impact on Jewish Antiquity • 15
Jesus in the Mishnah and Talmud
4HERE ARE SOME SHORT RABBINIC TEXTS WHICH REFER TO *ESUSS DESCENT TEACHING AND IMPACT (E IS CALLED hTHE SON OF 0ANTERAv #HUL IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN HANGED ON THE EVENING OF 0ASSOVER AS A MAGICIAN AND IMPOSTER B3ANH A AND IS MENTIONED BY HIS FOLLOWERS WHO ARE SAID TO HEAL THE SICK IN HIS NAME #HUL F CITED IN B3HAB AnB 2ABBI %LIEZER BEN (YRCANUS SUPPOSEDLY HEARD SOME SCHOLARLY REFERENCE ASSOCIATED WITH THE NAME OF *ESUS IN 3EPPHORIS #HUL !CCORDING TO THE *EWISH TRADITION *ESUS OF .AZARETH WAS ALSO SUBSEQUENTLY IDENTIl ED WITH OTHER l GURES SUCH AS AN %GYPTIAN MAGICIAN CALLED "EN 3TADA WHO IT WAS CLAIMED WAS EXECUTED EARLY IN THE SEC OND CENTURY #% !CCORDING TO -AIER THE NAME h0ANTERAS v WAS A COM MON NAME FOR SOLDIERS AND MAKES *ESUS INTO A KIND OF COUNTERSTORY TO THAT OF THE ILLEGITIMATE SON OF A 2OMAN LE GIONNAIRE !ROUND #% THE 'REEK PHILOSOPHER AND SKEP TIC #ELSO PRESENTED A VIEW PASSED ON TO US BY /RIGEN IN WHICH HE REFERS TO A *EW WHO CLAIMED THE MOTHER OF *ESUS COMMITTED ADULTERY AND BORE AN ILLEGITIMATE CHILD !ND SO AT LAST THE CLAIM THAT *ESUS WAS A LEGITIMATE DESCEN DANT OF THE HOUSE OF $AVID HAD BEEN CALLED INTO QUESTION 3CHALOM "EN #HORIN PUT IT SUCCINCTLY h4HESE RELATIVELY LATE OFTEN SPITEFUL ANOMALIES HAVE NO HISTORICAL VALUE BUT ALREADY FORM THE PRECIPITATE OF THE CONTROVERSY BETWEEN *EWISH #HRISTIANS AND NORMATIVE *UDAISMv ! DEROGATORY DESCRIPTION OF THE 0ASSION OF *ESUS CAN ALSO BE FOUND IN THE 4ALMUD 4HE "ABYLONIAN 4ALMUD B3ANH A DESCRIBES THE EXECUTION h;/N THE EVE OF THE 3ABBATH AND= ON THE EVE OF 0ASSOVER *ESUS OF .AZARETH WAS HANGED !ND A HERALD WENT OUT FORTY DAYS EARLIER AND AN NOUNCED *ESUS OF .AZARETH IS LED OUT TO BE STONED BE 16 • Jesus Reclaimed
CAUSE HE PRACTICED SORCERY STIRRED UP )SRAEL AND SEDUCED ;hiddiakh= THEM ;TO IDOLATRY=v 4HE AGE AND AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MEMO ARE CONTROVERSIAL *OSEPH +LAUSNER CONSID ERS IT TO BE ORIGINAL AND DATES IT TO AROUND #% *OHANN -AIER HOWEVER ARGUES THAT IT COULD NOT HAVE ORIGINATED BEFORE #% &OR HIM REFERENCES TO THE EXECUTION OF *ESUS FOR PROSELYTIZING FOR A FOREIGN CULT SHOWS HOW THE CHARGES AIMED AT *ESUS ARE PROBABLY BASED ON CASES AGAINST OTHERS )N CONTRAST TO -AIER 0ETER 3CHÊFER DOES NOT CONSIDER THE RABBINIC TEXTS WHICH REFER TO *ESUS SECONDARY AND POST #ONSTANTINIAN CONSTRUCTS 7HILE -AIER ONLY ACCEPTS A FEW TEXTS AS LEGITIMATELY BASED ON *ESUS OF .AZARETH FOR 3CHÊFER THE TEXTS PROVIDE EVIDENCE OF hDEVASTATINGv RABBINIC CRIT ICISM OF CONTEMPORARY #HRISTIANITY AND ITS FOUNDERS &OR EXAMPLE HE POINTS TO THE DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THESE PASSAGES AND THE 'OSPELS h!CCORDING TO THE .EW 4ES TAMENT *ESUS WAS CRUCIl ED OBVIOUSLY FOLLOWING 2OMAN LAW WHEREAS ACCORDING TO THE 4ALMUD HE WAS STONED AND SUBSEQUENTLY HANGED FOLLOWING RABBINIC LAW v )F THE 4ALMUD SUBSUMES THE PROCEEDINGS AGAINST *ESUS INTO *UDAISM IT THEREBY ACCEPTS THE #HRISTIAN ACCUSATION AND CONl RMS IT WITH THE INTENTION TO LIMIT IT &OR 3CHÊFER THIS REPRESENTS AN EARLY COUNTER 'OSPEL BASED ON THOROUGH FA MILIARITY WITH THE .EW 4ESTAMENT PRIOR TO THE MEDIEVAL Toledot Yeshu. 3CHÊFER EMPHASIZES THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE "ABY LONIAN AND THE 0ALESTINIAN *ERUSALEM 4ALMUD 7HILE THE FORMER IS CHARACTERIZED BY VIGOROUS POLEMIC THIS IS LARGELY ABSENT FROM THE LATTER 3CHÊFER EXPLAINS THIS DISCREPANCY BY DRAWING OUR ATTENTION TO THE FACT THAT THE RABBIS OF "ABYLONIA IN THE ANTI #HRISTIAN 3ASSANID %MPIRE WERE ENCOURAGED TO POLEMICIZE WHILE CRITICISM IN THE REGIONS WHERE THE 0ALESTINIAN 4ALMUD ORIGINATED WAS ONLY POSSI BLE IN ENCRYPTED FORM *EWISH COUNTERHISTORY ACCORDING TO 3CHÊFER SERVED SELF JUSTIl CATION h!ND AT PRECISELY THE TIME WHEN #HRISTIANITY ROSE FROM MODEST BEGINNINGS TO Jesus and His Impact on Jewish Antiquity • 17
ITS l RST TRIUMPHS THE 4ALMUD OR RATHER THE TWO 4ALMU DIM WOULD BECOME THE DEl NING DOCUMENT OF THOSE WHO REFUSED TO ACCEPT THE NEW COVENANT WHO SO OBSTINATELY INSISTED ON THE FACT THAT NOTHING HAD CHANGED AND THAT THE OLD COVENANT WAS STILL VALIDv
T e Toledot Yeshu
4HERE IS A COHERENT NARRATIVE ABOUT *ESUS AND THE ORIGINS OF #HRISTIANITY IN THE FORM OF THE Toledot Yeshu, WHICH IS AVAILABLE IN !RAMAIC (EBREW 9IDDISH AND *EWISH !RA BIC 4HAT THIS hLIFE OF *ESUSv EXISTS IN NUMEROUS WIDELY DIVERGENT VERSIONS IS AN EXPRESSION OF THE DEFENSIVENESS OF *EWS WHO HAD LIVED IN THE $IASPORA UNDER THE REPRES SION OF #HRISTIAN RULE SINCE LATE ANTIQUITY )T INTERPRETS THE 'OSPEL REPORTS ABOUT THE LIFE OF *ESUS IN A PRONOUNCEDLY ANTI #HRISTIAN WAY AND CONSEQUENTLY REVILES THE CENTRAL BELIEFS OF THE FOLLOWERS OF THE ONE WHO THEY BELIEVED WAS THE TRUE -ESSIAH CONCEIVED OF 'OD IN THE 6IRGIN -ARY -AIER TERMS THIS hSTORY OF *ESUS v INFUSED WITH ALL THE SA TIRICAL AND POLEMICAL STYLE OF AN ENTERTAINING NOVEL A KIND OF UNDERGROUND LITERATURE
4HE CORE IS BASED ON AN !RAMAIC VERSION FROM THE EIGHTHNINTH CENTURY PROBABLY ALONG WITH THE 7ESTERN $IASPORA TRADITIONS 0OPULAR VERSIONS DE VELOPED DURING THE -IDDLE !GES WHICH DURING THE MODERN PERIOD CIRCULATED AS SECRET READING IN 'ERMAN *EWISH WORKS *OSEPHS l ANCÏE -ARY IS DECEIVED OR SEDUCED BY A 2OMAN SOLDIER NAMED 0ANDERA AND SO CONCEIVES *ESUS WHO WORKS MIRA CLES BY USING SPELLS HE LEARNED FROM *OHN THE "AP TIST OR BY MAKING USE OF THE TETRAGRAMMATON STOLEN FROM THE 4EMPLE 4HIS DEMAGOGUE DECLARES HIM SELF THE -ESSIAH AND 3ON OF 'OD HE IS DEFEATED BY 18 • Jesus Reclaimed
Judas and is then handed over to the wise repre- sentatives of righteousness. The disciples steal his body and claim he had risen from the dead.10
This folk literature, with all its malice, is evidence of the suffering of the Jews in the Middle Ages. Schalom Ben- Chorin cites the words of the Jewish historian Heinrich Graetz in relation to this: “The Christians shed our blood, we merely shed ink.”11 For the various versions of the To- ledot, which is also known under the name Maasse Talui (ha’talui means “the hanged”), the Berlin Encyclopaedia Judaica of 1932 lists the following characteristic features:
1. Jesus is begotten and conceived in sin. 2. He forces himself into the synagogue and preaches as a disrespectful student in the presence of his teachers. 3. Through cunning, he acquires the name of God by writing it down on parchment and concealing it in a wound in his hip. 4. He gathers disciples around him, is summoned before the queen (anachronistically: Helena), and convinces her, and later the people, with miracles. 5. Judas, called to expose Jesus, is also granted pos- session of God’s name and vanquishes Jesus. Both rise into the air by the power of God’s name. 6. Jesus returns to Jerusalem a second time to acquire God’s name again; he is betrayed and captured. 7. He asks all the trees that none of them serve as his gallows; he forgets the cabbage stalk and is hanged. 8. A gardener, Judah, steals Jesus’s body and secretly buries it in a different place.
In his article in the Encyclopaedia Judaica, Jehoshua Gutt- mann12 draws attention to the fact that different represen- tations can be found in the Genizah fragments: Jesus rises Jesus and His Impact on Jewish Antiquity • 19
INTO THE AIR PRIOR TO THE #RUCIl XION BY THE POWER OF 'ODS NAME THE GARDENER *UDAH TRIES TO FOLLOW HIM WHEREUPON *ESUS CONCEALS HIMSELF IN THE CAVE OF THE PROPHET %LIJAH WHICH HE IMMEDIATELY CLOSES BY THE POWER OF 'ODS NAME 4HE Toledot Yeshu WAS OFTEN CITED AND ATTACKED AND USED FOR ANTI *EWISH AGITATION FROM THE TIME OF THE CHURCH FATHERS UP UNTIL -ARTIN ,UTHER 7ITH THE ASSISTANCE OF A *EWISH CONVERT TO #HRISTIANITY THE 6IENNESE THEOLOGIAN 4HOMAS %BENDORFER n CREATED A ,ATIN TRANSLA TION OF THE Toledot Yeshu AND ATTACHED TO IT UNDER THE TITLE Falsitates Judeorum AN ANTI #HRISTIAN INVECTIVE POEM IN (EBREW WITH INTERLINEAR GLOSSES AND COMMENTARY AS WELL AS AN UNl NISHED ANTI *EWISH TREATISE 4HIS TRANSLATION WAS USED FOR ANTI *EWISH PROPAGANDA PURPOSES AT A TIME WHEN *EWS WERE ALMOST COMPLETELY EXPELLED FROM THE (OLY 2O MAN %MPIRE AND CONl RMS THE EARLIEST #HRISTIAN RECEPTION OF THE ENTIRE Toledot Yeshu IN MEDIEVAL !SHKENAZ %BEN DORFERS TRANSMISSION IS ALSO ONE OF THE OLDEST RECORDS OF A *EWISH LIFE OF *ESUS AT ALL ! DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE INDIVIDUAL MOTIVES IN THE Toledot Yeshu WAS ARGUED IN BY 3AMUEL +RAUSS (IS ARGUMENT INSTIGATED A NEW SCHOLARLY DISCUSSION OF *UDAS )SCARIOT AS A *EWISH l GURE AT THE TIME 3OME YEARS LATER THERE WAS A RELATED DISCUSSION PERTAINING TO A *EWISH 0ERSIAN Toledot Yeshu MANUSCRIPT
Rabbinic Polemics against Jesus
7HILE THE Toledot Yeshu AS A PARODY OF THE LIFE OF *ESUS WAS FOLK LITERATURE IN 3PAIN AND SOUTHERN &RANCE *EWISH POLEMICISTS BEGAN TO REFUTE #HRISTIAN AND #HRISTOLOGICAL POSITIONS AT A MORE SCHOLARLY LEVEL 2ABBI 3HEM 4OV BEN )SAAC IBN 3HAPRUT nUNKNOWN WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE DISPUTATION IN 0AMPLONA WAS THE l RST TO TRANS LATE THE 'OSPEL OF -ATTHEW AND PARTS OF THE OTHER THREE 'OSPELS INTO (EBREW )T WAS *OSEPH +IMCHI n 20 • Jesus Reclaimed
HOWEVER WHO WROTE ONE OF THE l RST ANTI #HRISTIAN PO LEMICS Sefer Ha’Berit "OOK OF THE #OVENANT PRINTED IN #ON STAN TINOPLE IN 4HE BOOK IS A DIALOGUE BETWEEN A hFAITHFULv ma’amin AND A hHERETICv min AND ATTACKS #HRISTOLOGICAL INTERPRETATIONS OF THE "IBLE !DDITIONAL TOPICS INCLUDE ORIGINAL SIN THE INCARNATION AND THE MORAL STANDARDS OF *EWS AND #HRISTIANS CONCERNING THE ISSUE OF USURY !S AN APOLOGETIC WORK Sefer Ha’Berit IS A RESPONSE TO ANTI *EWISH #HRISTIAN ANTAGONISM )T STATES h)F AS YOU SAY 'OD WAS MADE m ESH DID *ESUS THEN HAVE THE SOUL OF 'OD )F THIS IS THE CASE WHY THEN DID HE CRY OUT THAT 'OD HAD FORSAKEN HIM (OWEVER IF HE HAD A HUMAN SOUL AND YOU ASSERT THAT THE DEITY WAS PRESENT WITHIN HIM AFTER HIS DEATH THEN FOR *ESUS WAS TRUE WHAT APPLIES TO ALL OF HUMANKINDv +IMCHI NOT ONLY HAD A HUGE INm UENCE ON .ACHMANIDES n BUT HE ALSO INSPIRED HIS SON $AVID +IMCHI n WHO BECAME ONE OF THE GREAT EST SCRIPTURE COMMENTATORS OF HIS TIME +IMCHI WROTE h*ESUS HIMSELF SAID THAT HE HAD NOT COME TO DESTROY THE 4ORAH BUT TO PRESERVE ITv !MONG THE *EWISH POLEMICS WHICH COUNTERED #HRISTIAN INTERPRETATION OF THE (EBREW "IBLE OR QUESTIONED #HRISTIAN DOCTRINE IN A RATIONAL MAN NER WERE THE FOLLOWING
s Kalimmat Ha’Gojim 4HE 3HAME OF THE 'ENTILES BY 0ROl AT $URAN )SAAC BEN -OSES %PHODI 0ERPIG NAN s Bitul Ikkarei Ha’Nozerim Dat 4HE 2EPEAL OF $OGMAS OF THE &AITH OF #HRISTIANS BY (ASDAI #RESCAS n s Sefer Nizzachon "OOK OF 2EFUTATION FROM THE 2HINE LAND THIRTEENTH OR FOURTEENTH CENTURY s Hizzuk Emunah 3TRENGTHENING OF THE &AITH BY )SAAC BEN !BRAHAM OF 4ROKI Jesus and His Impact on Jewish Antiquity • 21
'ERSHOM 3CHOLEM n MENTIONS 0ROl AT $U RAN WHO BELIEVED *ESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES WERE NOT ONLY GREAT MAGICIANS BUT ACTUAL +ABBALISTS WHO WERE SUBJECT TO A FALSE INTERPRETATION h4HE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY WHICH THEY ERRONEOUSLY ATTRIBUTED TO THE DEITY AROSE AMONG THEM AS A RESULT OF THEIR MISSTEPS IN HIS SCIENCE ;THE +AB BALAH= WHICH ESTABLISHED THE PRIMORDIAL LIGHT THE RADIANT LIGHT AND THE TRANSPARENT LIGHTv 4HUS h0ROl AT $URAN RE GARDED *ESUS AS A @NAIVE OR PERFECT SAINT HIS DISCIPLES AS MISGUIDEDv 4HE Sefer Nizzahon Yashan ;,ATIN Nizzahon Vetus; /LD "OOK OF 0OLEMIC= IS A COLLECTION OF *EWISH REACTIONS TO #HRISTIAN POLEMIC AND WAS PROBABLY PRODUCED TOWARD THE END OF THE THIRTEENTH OR EARLY IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY 4HE ANONYMOUS !SHKENAZI AUTHOR CITES #HRISTIAN TESTIMO NIALS FOLLOWED BY *EWISH RESPONSES $AVID "ERGER WHO EDITED AND TRANSLATED THIS WORK INTO %NGLISH DESCRIBED ITS ORGANIZATION AS ALMOST ENCY CLOPEDIC )T WAS ALSO A USEFUL AID FOR *EWS WHO ENGAGED IN DISPUTATIONS WITH #HRISTIANS 4HE AUTHOR REFUTES THE 'OSPELS WITH CONSIDERABLE COMPETENCE BOTH IN THEOLOGY AND ,ATIN Sefer Nizzahon Yashan CAN ALSO BE LINKED TO NOTIONS OF VENGEANCE AND REDEMPTION FOR EXAMPLE WHEN IT DESCRIBES THE COMING OF THE -ESSIAH )SRAEL 9UVAL DESCRIBES HOW MEDIEVAL *EWS MADE USE OF THE LITURGICAL LANGUAGE OF THE OTHER SIDE IN ORDER TO IN TERNALLY CONl RM THEIR OWN POSITION AS WELL AS EXTERNALLY AND PROACTIVELY PROCLAIMING IT h4HIS ;THAT IS THE ULTI MATE= END CONSISTS IN THE UTTER DESTRUCTION OF ALL NATIONS WITH THEIR HEAVENLY PRINCES AND GODS x 4HE (OLY /NE BLESSED BE (E WILL DESTROY ALL THE OTHER NATIONS )SRAEL ALONE ;WILL REMAIN=v (E CONNECTS THE Te Deum WITH THE Aleinu: #HRISTIAN PRAYER PRAISES *ESUS AS h+ING OF 'LORYv rex gloriae AND ANNOUNCES HIS INCARNATION WHEREBY THE BODY OF THE (OLY 6IRGIN WAS NOT DESECRATED ON THE OTHER 22 • Jesus Reclaimed
HAND AN ADDENDUM TO THE Aleinu FROM TWELFTH CENTURY &RENCH *EWISH PRAYER BOOKS CONTAINS SHARP DENUNCIATIONS OF *ESUS AND -ARY
Christian Talmud Criticism and Censorship
/N THE ECCLESIASTICAL SIDE THE -IDDLE !GES GAVE RISE TO IN TENSE #HRISTIAN POLEMIC 7ITH THE EMERGENCE OF THE MEN DICANT ORDERS IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY NEW METHODS OF EVANGELIZING *EWS DEVELOPED 4HE METHODS OF ARGUMEN TATION WERE TESTED IN PUBLIC DISPUTATIONS AND WERE DOMI NATED BY THE VIEW THAT IT WAS POSSIBLE TO DEMONSTRATE THE veritas christiana BY APPEALING TO THE TRADITIONAL RABBINIC TEXTS $IFFERING CONCEPTS OF THE -ESSIAH AND THE *EWISH IMAGE OF *ESUS WERE BROUGHT UP IN THIS CONTEXT /RA ,IMOR EMPHASIZES THAT THE ARGUMENT WAS NO LONGER LIMITED TO THE "IBLE BUT NOW ALSO INCLUDED THE 4ALMUD (OWEVER WHAT IRRITATED #HRISTIANS ABOUT THE 4ALMUD WERE NOT THE HALAKHIC ELEMENTS BUT THE AGGADIC MATERIAL #HRISTIAN CRIT ICS DISCOVERED HERESIES THERE OFFENSES AGAINST THE HOLINESS OF 'OD AND ALLEGED SLURS AT #HRISTIANITY 4HEY INTERPRETED THE 4ALMUD AS AN INCORRECT INTERPRETATION OF THE "IBLE AND THUS AS THE ROOT OF *EWISH HERESY PAR EXCELLENCE !ROUND THE CHURCH BEGAN TO CENSOR (EBREW MAN USCRIPTS IN GENERAL *EWISH LITERATURE WAS THEREBY EQUATED WITH THE WRITINGS OF SO CALLED HERETICS !FTER #HRIS TIAN PREACHERS SUCH AS THE &RANCISCAN "ERTHOLD OF 2EGENS BURG n AND THE LYRIC POET #ONRAD OF 7àRZBURG n STILL KNOWN AS h-ASTER +ONRAD v IN LIT ERARY HISTORY IDENTIl ED *EWS AS HERETICS IF *EWS ADHERED TO THE 4ALMUD THEY ARE ALL DOOMED TO HELL 4HE CHARGE OF BLASPHEMY EVENTUALLY LED TO A CAMPAIGN AGAINST RABBINIC LITERATURE ITSELF )N THE BAPTIZED *EW .ICHOLAS $ONIN DATES UNKNOWN l LED CHARGES AGAINST THE 4ALMUD AND 0OPE 'REGORY )8 n ORDERED THE KINGS OF %NGLAND Jesus and His Impact on Jewish Antiquity • 23
&RANCE 0ORTUGAL AND #ASTILE TO CONl SCATE ALL COPIES OF THE 4ALMUD AND EXCOMMUNICATE ANY CLERICS WHO CONTINUED TO RETAIN (EBREW LITERATURE ,OUIS )8 OF &RANCE n WAS THE ONLY SOVEREIGN TO ENDORSE THIS APPEAL 4O CLARIFY THE ALLEGATIONS HE ALSO INITIATED A PUBLIC DISPUTATION IN 0ARIS IN IN WHICH 2ABBI 9EHIEL BEN *OSEPH ARGUED AMONG OTHER THINGS THAT THE 4ALMUDIC POLEMIC REFERS TO A *ESUS WHO HAD STUDIED WITH *OSHUA BEN 0ERAHYAH BUT WAS NOT h2ABBI *ESUS OF .AZARETH WHO CERTAINLY DID NOT REJECT THE 4ORAHv 4HE ARGUMENTATION OF THE RABBIS COULD NOT PREVENT THE PUBLIC BURNING OF TWENTY FOUR WAGONLOADS OF 4ALMUDIM OVER TEN THOUSAND 4ALMUD VOLUMES ON 3EPTEMBER IN 0ARIS 4HIS 4ALMUD BURNING IS CON SIDERED ONE OF THE GREATEST CRIMES AGAINST CULTURE OF THE #HRISTIAN -IDDLE !GES 2ABBI -EIR BEN "ARUCH OF 2OTHEN BURG CA n WAS A WITNESS WHO THEN WROTE THE LAMENT hSha’ali Serufah Ba’Esh x )NQUIRE OH THOU WHO ART BURNED BY l RE ABOUT THE WELFARE OF THOSE WHO MOURN FOR THEEv 4HIS ELEGY HAS SINCE BEEN INTEGRATED INTO THE !SHKENAZI LITURGY EVERY YEAR ON THE DAY OF MOURNING THE DESTRUCTION OF THE 4EMPLE 4ISHA "!V )N 0OPE )NNOCENT )6 n CONl RMED THAT 'OD *ESUS AND -ARY WERE BLASPHEMED IN THE 4ALMUD THAT THE ORAL TEACHING ADULTERATES BIBLICAL LAW WHICH AL READY REFERS TO *ESUS AND THAT IT TRAINS *EWS TO REJECT THE TRUE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH )N RESPONSE TO THE *EWISH AR GUMENT THAT THE 4ALMUD WAS INDISPENSABLE FOR *EWS TO UN DERSTAND THE (EBREW "IBLE THE POPE ESTABLISHED AN EXPERT COMMISSION OF FORTY #HRISTIAN SCHOLARS INCLUDING !LBERT THE 'REAT n WHO ONCE AGAIN CONDEMNED THE 4ALMUD )N ADDITION TO THE 0ARIS $ISPUTATION OTHER FA MOUS MEDIEVAL DISPUTATIONS INCLUDE "ARCELONA AND 4ORTOSA /F PARTICULAR INTEREST CONCERN ING THE *EWISH IMAGE OF *ESUS IS THE ATTITUDE OF THE BIBLICAL COMMENTATOR .ACHMANIDES n IN "ARCELONA (E 24 • Jesus Reclaimed
WRITES h!S A RESULT WE AGREED l RST TO CONSIDER THE ISSUE OF THE -ESSIAH IF HE HAS ALREADY COME AS THE #HRISTIANS BELIEVE OR WHETHER HE WOULD COME IN THE FUTURE AS THE *EWS BELIEVE !FTER THAT WE WANTED TO DISCUSS WHETHER THE -ESSIAH WAS TRULY 'OD OR FULLY HUMAN PRODUCED BY A MAN AND A WOMAN 4HEREUPON WE WANTED TO DISCUSS WHETHER THE *EWS HELD FAST TO THE TRUE LAW OR WHETHER THE #HRISTIANS PRACTICED ITv #ENSORSHIP CONTINUED AS A RESULT OF THESE DISPUTATIONS ALONG WITH THE CONl SCATION AND BURNING OF THE 4ALMUD BY POPES &RENCH KINGS AND THE )NQUISITION 4HIS ALL ENCOMPASSING REJECTION OF THE 4ALMUD AND THE ASSOCIATED INCRIMINATION l NALLY LED TO A KIND OF SELF CENSORSHIP OF THE OFFENSIVE PASSAGES WITHIN THE *EWISH COMMUNITY USUALLY REMARKS CONCERNING THE 2OMAN %MPIRE AND 'RECO 2OMAN PAGANISM AND PASSAGES ON THE CONVERSION TO #HRISTIANITY OR REGARDING THE 3AMAR ITANS 4HE OLDEST PRINTED 4ALMUD 6ENICE CONTAINS NOTHING ABOUT *ESUS )N THE "ASEL EDITION OF THE 4ALMUD n ALL PASSAGES FROM THE "ABYLONIAN 4ALMUD IN WHICH *ESUS WAS MENTIONED OR WITH WHICH #HRISTIANITY COULD BE ASSOCIATED WERE DELETED 4HESE DELETED PASSAGES WERE LATER CITED IN SPECIAL COLLECTIONS 5NCENSORED 4AL MUD EDITIONS WERE NOT PUBLISHED IN %UROPE UNTIL THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY AND EVEN THEN ONLY IN CRITICAL SCHOL ARLY WORKS 0ROTESTANT THEOLOGIANS ALSO HAD DIFl CULTIES WITH THE 4ALMUD IN THE EARLY MODERN ERA &OR *OHANN *A COB 2ABE n WHO TRANSLATED THE -ISHNAH INTO 'ERMAN AROUND THE LONG SUFFERING OF THE *EWS WAS PUNISHMENT FOR THEIR REJECTION OF 'ODS 3ON AND THE SECU LARIZATION AND hBLACKOUTv OF THE DIVINE COMMANDMENTS OF THE "IBLE THROUGH h0HARISAIC *UDAISMv
Notes ,EO 4REPP Der jüdische Gottesdienst: Gestalt und Ent- wicklung 3TUTTGART +OHLHAMMER Jesus and His Impact on Jewish Antiquity • 25
#ITED ACCORDING TO $ANIEL +ROCHMALNIK h0ARSCHANDATA 2ASCHI UND SEINE :EIT v Jüdisches Leben in Bayern: Mit- teilungsblatt des Landesverbandes der israelitischen Kul- tusgemeinden in Bayern, !PRIL 3EE 3 $AVID 3PERLING h*EWISH 0ERSPECTIVES ON *ESUS v IN Jesus Then & Now: Images of Jesus in History and Chris- tology, ED -ARVIN -EYER AND #HARLES (UGHES (ARRIS BURG 0! 4RINITY 0RESS )NTERNATIONAL n (ENRY #HADWICK ED Origenes: Contra Celsum #AM BRIDGE #AMBRIDGE 5NIVERSITY 0RESS 3CHALOM "EN #HORIN Theologia Judaica: Gesammelte Aufsätze, ED 6ERENA ,ENZEN 4àBINGEN -OHR *OSEPH +LAUSNER Jesus of Nazareth: His Life, Times and Teaching .EW 9ORK "LOCH F *OHANN -AIER Jesus von Nazareth in der talmudischen Überlieferung, ND ED $ARMSTADT 7ISSENSCHAFTLICHE "UCH GESELLSCHAFT 0ETER 3CHÊFER Jesus in the Talmud 0RINCETON .* 0RINCE TON 5NIVERSITY 0RESS )BID *OHANN -AIER Judentum von A bis Z: Glauben, Ge- schichte, Kultur &REIBURG (ERDER "EN #HORIN Theologia Judaica, *EHOSCHUA 'UTTMANN h*ESUS VON .AZARETH 4OLDOT *ESCHU v IN Encyclopaedia Judaica "ERLIN %SCHKOL VOL COL F "RIGITTA #ALLSEN &RITZ 0ETER +NAPP -ANUELA .ISNER AND -ARTIN 0RZYBILSKI Das jüdische Leben Jesu, Toldot Jeschu: Die älteste lateinische Übersetzung in den Fal- sitates Judeorum von Thomas Ebendorfer -UNICH /L DENBOURG 7ISSENSCHAFTSVERLAG 3AMUEL +RAUSS Das Leben Jesu nach jüdischen Quellen "ERLIN 3 #ALVARY 3AMUEL +RAUSS h.EUERE !NSICHTEN àBER @4OLDOTH *E SCHU v Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums NO n "ERNHARD (EL 26 • Jesus Reclaimed
LER hÃBER DAS !LTER DER JàDISCHEN *UDAS 3AGE UND DES 4OLDOT *ESCHU v Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wis- senschaft des Judentums NO n #F 7ALTER * &ISCHEL h%INE JàDISCH PERSISCHE @4OLDOTH *ESCHU (ANDSCHRIFT v Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums NO n +URT 3CHUBERT Jüdische Geschichte, "ECKSCHE 2EIHE -UNICH "ECK *OSEPH +IMCHI Sefer Ha’Berit #ONSTANTINOPLE CITED IN 0INCHAS ,APIDE Ist das nicht Josephs Sohn? Jesus im heutigen Judentum 'àTERSLOH 'àTERSLOHER 6ER LAGSHAUS 'ERD -OHN #ITED IN ,APIDE Ist das nicht Josephs Sohn?, #F 'ERSHOM 3CHOLEM Origins of the Kabbalah 0HILADEL PHIA *EWISH 0UBLICATION 3OCIETY 0ROl AT $URAN Kelimat ha-Goyim ;4HE 3HAME OF THE 'EN TILES= CITED IN 0INCHAS ,APIDE Hebrew in the Church: The Foundations of Jewish-Christian Dialogue 'RAND 2APIDS -) %ERDMANS $AVID "ERGER The Jewish-Christian Debate in the High Middle Ages: A Critical Edition of the Nizahon Vetus 0HILADELPHIA *EWISH 0UBLICATION 3OCIETY OF !MERICA #ITED IN )SRAEL 9UVAL Two Nations in Your Womb: Per- ception of Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages "ERKELEY 5NIVERSITY OF #ALIFORNIA 0RESS #F IBID /RA ,IMOR h2ELIGIONSGESPRÊCHE JàDISCH CHRISTLICH v IN Theologische Realenzyklopädie, ED 'ERHARD -àLLER ET AL "ERLIN 7ALTER DE 'RUYTER F #F ,APIDE Ist das nicht Josephs Sohn?, SEE ALSO 2EUVEN -ARGOLIES ED Vikuah R. Yehiel mi-Pariz ,WOW n #F THE CRITICAL EDITION OF $ANIEL 'OLDSCHMIDT ED Seder ha-Qinot le-Tish’ah be’Av *ERUSALEM -OSAD HA 2AV +OOK n Jesus and His Impact on Jewish Antiquity • 27
#F (ANS 'EORG VON -UTIUS Die christlich-jüdische Zwangsdisputation zu Barcelona, *UDENTUM UND 5M WELT &RANKFURT 0ETER ,ANG 3EE ALSO h*ESUS v IN Encyclopaedia Judaica *ERUSALEM +ETER VOL COL !NDREAS +ILCHER h'ESETZ UND !USLEGUNG $IE -ISCHNA DAS %LEMENTARBUCH DER JàDISCHEN $IASPORA IM 6ERLAG DER 7ELTRELIGIONEN v Neue Zürcher Zeitung, NO !U GUST
Chapter 2 T e Historical Jesus A Jewish and a Christian Quest
Jesus and the Jewish Enlightenment
4HE l RST REAL RAPPROCHEMENT BETWEEN *EWS AND #HRIS TIANS CAME IN THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD 4HE DAWN OF THE %NLIGHTENMENT WAS THE DAWN OF NEW METHODOLOGIES AND QUESTIONING ACROSS RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC DIVIDES 2ABBI *A COB %MDENS n RESEARCH WAS AN EARLY *EWISH BEACON OF THE CHANGING TIMES (E WROTE ABOUT HOW *ESUSS MESSAGE WAS NOT IN FACT DIRECTED TO THE *EWISH PEOPLE BUT EXCLUSIVELY TO THE SURROUNDING PEOPLES IN ORDER TO INSPIRE THEM TO FOLLOW THE .OAHIDE ,AWS (E WROTE
5NLIKE THE +ARAITES AND THE 3ABBATIANS #HRISTIANS AND -USLIMS BELONG TO A COMMUNITY THAT EXISTS FOR THE SAKE OF HEAVEN AND WHICH WILL REMAIN AT THE END 4HEY HAVE EVOLVED OUT OF *UDAISM AND ACCEPT THE FOUNDATIONS OF OUR DIVINE RELIGION IN ORDER TO MAKE 'OD KNOWN AMONG THE NATIONS TO PROCLAIM THAT THERE IS ONE ,ORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH DIVINE PROVIDENCE REWARD AND PUNISHMENT WHO GRANTS THE GIFT OF PROPHECY THROUGH THE PROPHETS AND GIVES RULES AND REGULATIONS ACCORDING TO WHICH WE ARE SUPPOSED TO LIVE x 4HEREFORE THEIR COM MUNITY WILL LAST AND BECAUSE THEIR EFFORTS ARE FO 30 • Jesus Reclaimed
cused on heaven they will not be deprived of their reward.1
There were two other Jewish voices who had already dis- cussed Jesus before Jacob Emden: the Lithuanian Karaite Isaac ben Abraham of Troki (1533–1594) and the Venetian rabbi Leon de Modena (1571–1648). In response to Catholic missionary activity, the scholar Isaac of Troki authored a two-volume manuscript titled Hizzuk Emunah in 1593 (Affirmation of the Faith), which also contained early criticism of the Gospels. The work was completed by a student and includes fifty chapters in defense of the Jewish faith and another fifty chapters on contradictions and errors in the New Testament. Isaac of Troki criticized the fact that the author of the Gospels ac- cused the Jews of Jesus’s death even though Jesus himself had wished to fulfill his God’s will by dying. He also noted that the Gospels offer no clear evidence for the Trinity, the virgin birth, and the supposed divinity of the Son of Man. The Gentile Christian dogmas of the Trinity, original sin, and redemption were also concerns of Leon de Modena who, in Magen wa-Hereb (Sword and Trowel), described Jesus as a liberal Pharisee who considered himself one of the ones chosen by God; a Torah teacher superior to the prophets but not a divine being who had fallen into dis- repute among other Pharisees because of his disregard for halakhic rules, such as the washing of the hands.2 These writings, which had been largely ignored by Christians, were rediscovered to scholarship in the nine- teenth century thanks to Abraham Geiger’s Issak Troki: Ein Apologet des Judenthums am Ende des 16. Jahrhun- derts (An Apologist for Judaism at the End of the Six- teenth Century, Breslau, 1853). Three years later, in 1856, Geiger published Leon da Modena: Rabbiner zu Venedig und seine Stellung zur Kabbalah, zum Thalmud und zum Christentume (Rabbi to Venice and His Position on the T e Historical Jesus • 31
+ABBALAH THE 4ALMUD AND #HRISTIANITY IN "RESLAU TODAY 7ROCAW WHERE HE CALLED -ODENA A PRECURSOR TO THE *EW ISH QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS 4HE PIONEER OF THE *EWISH %NLIGHTENMENT THE PHILOSO PHER -OSES -ENDELSSOHN n TURNED DECIDEDLY AGAINST THE Toledot Yeshu AND WROTE h*ESUS OF .AZARETH HIMSELF OBSERVED NOT ONLY THE LAW OF -OSES BUT ALSO THE ORDINANCES OF THE RABBIS AND WHATEVER SEEMS TO CONTRA DICT THIS IN THE SPEECHES AND ACTS ASCRIBED TO HIM APPEARS TO DO SO ONLY AT l RST GLANCE #LOSELY EXAMINED EVERYTHING IS IN COMPLETE AGREEMENT NOT ONLY WITH 3CRIPTURE BUT ALSO WITH THE TRADITIONv )N THE WAKE OF THE %NLIGHTENMENT AND *EWISH EMAN CIPATION THE APOLOGETIC AND POLEMICAL POSITION COULD BE OVERCOME IN FAVOR OF CONSTRUCTIVE DISCUSSION 4HE &RENCH PHYSICIAN *OSEPH 3ALVADOR n PRESENTED THE l RST *EWISH *ESUS MONOGRAPH IN !S PART OF THE EMERG ING l ELD OF *EWISH STUDIES )SAAK -ARKUS *OST n OPENED WITH HIS APPRECIATIVE CLASSIl CATION OF *ESUS AS A Volkslehrer A TEACHER OF THE PEOPLE IN HIS Allgemeine Ge- schichte des Israelitischen Volkes 'ENERAL (ISTORY OF THE )SRAELITES A PATH WHICH WAS TAKEN IN THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES PRIMARILY BY LIBERAL *EWISH THINKERS
T e Christian Quest of the Historical Jesus: A Departure from Dogma
4HERE WAS EPOCHAL CHANGE IN RELIGIOUS #HRISTIAN SCHOLAR SHIP DURING THE MODERN PERIOD WHEN THE QUESTION OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS AND HIS ENVIRONMENT CAME UNDER MUCH CLOSER SCRUTINY )N HER COLLECTION OF 'OSPEL NARRATIVES !MY *ILL ,EVINE SUCCINCTLY EXPLAINS THE THEN NEW AND FOR MANY STILL CURRENT APPROACH OF HISTORICAL *ESUS RESEARCH h4HE SO CALLED QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS SEEKS TO UNDER STAND THE MAN FROM .AZARETH AS HE WAS UNDERSTOOD IN HIS 32 • Jesus Reclaimed own context and as he understood himself…The under- standings of the man from Nazareth vary according to the investigator’s personal interests and also vary depending on the method used, the aspects of Jesus’ life highlighted, the construal of Jesus’ social situation, even the investiga- tor’s theological worldview.”8 Hermann Samuel Reimarus (1694–1768) and David Friedrich Strauss (1808–1874) were the first to embark on the Christian quest of the historical Jesus proper. Rei- marus, who was appointed professor of Hebrew and Ori- ental languages at the Hamburg Gymnasium, never made his views on Christianity public. Fragments of his work were posthumously published by Gotthold Ephraim Less- ing in 1774 and 1778 and included Von dem Zwecke Jesu und seiner Jünger (The Aims of Jesus and His Disciples).9 Reimarus speculated that there was a profound difference between what Jesus really taught “in accordance with the Jewish way of speaking” and what his disciples preached about him: “I find great cause to separate completely what the apostles say in their own writings from that which Je- sus himself actually said and taught.”10 According to Rei- marus, Jesus considered himself the Jewish Messiah, a politically motivated candidate for kingship who had an- nounced the deliverance of the Jews from the Romans as the beginning of the Kingdom of God. In opposition to Ju- daism, his disciples subsequently made him into the sav- ior of people, delivering them from sin, and made him the founder of Christianity. And how did they do it? Reimarus explains that the apostles stole the body (cf. Mt 28:11–15) in order to deceive themselves and the public and to over- come Jesus’s failure. After fifty days they proclaimed his resurrection and imminent return. The quest of the historical Jesus was continued by Da- vid Friedrich Strauss, who, at the age of only twenty-eight, had already published his monumental work The Life of Je- sus: Critically Examined.11 He also distinguished between T e Historical Jesus • 33
THE HISTORICAL PERSON OF *ESUS OF .AZARETH AND THE #HRIST OF FAITH AND HE ALSO REVISED AN EXPLANATION OF BELIEF IN #HRIST AS A hDECEPTIONv 3TRAUSS BELIEVED HE COULD CLEARLY REC OGNIZE THE OUTLINE OF THE HISTORICAL l GURE BUT ALSO THAT IT WAS UNINTENTIONALLY VEILED BY THE POETIC LEGEND OF MYTH 4HUS 3TR AUSS PROPOSED A MYTHICAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE *ESUS TRADITION 3TRAUSS ARGUED THAT UNCONSCIOUS MYTHICAL IMAGINATION RATHER THAN DELIBERATE DECEPTION EXPLAINED HOW *ESUS COULD TURN INTO #HRIST !LTHOUGH HE CONSIDERED THE MYTH A POSITIVE CONCEPTNAMELY AS AN EXPRESSION OF THE IDEA OF A UNITY OF 'OD AND MANHIS PUBLICATION SHOCKED BOTH THEOLOGIANS AND CHURCH $AVID &RIEDRICH 3TRAUSS INVOKED *ESUSS LIFE AGAINST CHURCH DOGMA (E SAW PARALLELS BETWEEN CRITICISM LEVELED AGAINST DOGMA DURING HIS TIME AND THE HISTORY OF *ESUS 4HE VERY CRITICISM WHICH *ESUS PASSED DURING HIS LIFETIME COULD NOW BE USED TO FREE *ESUS FROM CHURCH DOGMA h&OR 3TRAUSS A DECLARED (EGE LIAN THE INNER NUCLEUS OF #HRISTIAN FAITH IS NOT TOUCHED BY THE MYTHICAL APPROACH &OR IN THE HISTORICAL INDIVIDUAL *E SUS IS REALIZED THE IDEA OF 'OD HUMANITY THE HIGHEST OF ALL IDEASv 3TRAUSS WAS OFFERED A THEOLOGICAL CHAIR IN :URICH IN BUT HE INSTEAD CHOSE TO WORK AS AN INDEPENDENT SCHOLAR DUE TO HOSTILITY FROM CONSERVATIVE CHURCH CIRCLES ! NEW EDITION OF Das Leben Jesu für das deutsche Volk bearbeitet 4HE ,IFE OF *ESUS FOR THE 'ERMAN 0EOPLE IN WAS TRANSLATED INTO SEVERAL %UROPEAN LANGUAGES AND HELPED SPREAD AWARENESS REGARDING THE QUESTION OF WHAT WE CAN KNOW ABOUT *ESUS ! NUMBER OF 3TRAUSSS COLLEAGUES AND STUDENTS AMONG THEM &ERDINAND #HRISTIAN "AUR n AND %DWARD 'OTTLOB :ELLER n FURTHER EXPANDED ON THEIR TEACHERS METHODS AND LAID THE FOUNDATIONS FOR THE SO CALLED Tübinger Schule 4àBINGEN 3CHOOL WHICH REIN FORCED AND PROMOTED THE HISTORICAL CRITICAL METHOD ! NUMBER OF #ATHOLIC THEOLOGIANS ALSO ADDRESSED THIS ISSUE IN THE TH CENTURY INCLUDING *OHANN 3EBASTIAN $REY 34 • Jesus Reclaimed
n AND *OHANN !DAM -ÚHLER n 4HE CONCEPT OF hMYTHv ALSO PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE FOR THESE SCHOL ARS h-YTH v HOWEVER WAS NOT MADE TRULY FAMOUS UNTIL THE TWENTIETH CENTURY WHEN THE THEOLOGIAN 2UDOLF "ULT MANN n DEDICATED HIMSELF ENTIRELY TO hDEMY THOLOGIZINGv THE .EW 4ESTAMENT 4HE CONCEPT OF hMYTHv ALSO PLAYS A CRUCIAL ROLE IN THE CONm ICT BETWEEN !DOLF VON (ARNACK n AND ,EO "AECK n THIS WILL BE DISCUSSED LATER IN DETAIL 7E SHOULD ALSO MENTION ANOTHER INTRIGUING PERSON ALITY IN THIS l ELD ONE WHO IN HIS OWN MANNER DEVOTED HIMSELF TO RESEARCHING THE LIFE OF *ESUS THE THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE 5NITED 3TATES 4HOMAS *EFFERSON n )N THE .ATIONAL -USEUM IN 7ASHINGTON POSTHUMOUSLY PUBLISHED HIS WORK The Life and Morals of Jesus of Naza- reth: Extracted Textually from the Gospels in Greek, Latin, French and English, IN WHICH INTER ALIA HE DISMISSED THE RESURRECTION OF *ESUS THE CENTRAL BELIEF OF #HRISTIANITY AS hSUPERSTITIONv 4HE TITLE OF THIS WORK CLEARLY SHOWS *EFFER SONS TEXT CRITICAL APPROACH )T WAS QUITE A NOVELTY FOR BOTH #HRISTIAN THEOLOGY AS WELL AS *UDAISM WHEN IN THE WAKE OF THE %NLIGHTENMENT PEOPLE BEGAN TO VIEW HISTORY AS A DYNAMIC PROCESS THUS IT WAS SUBJECT TO HUMAN EVALUATION %RNST 4ROELTSCH n RECOGNIZED THAT RELIGION WAS ALSO HISTORICALLY CON DITIONED AND CONSEQUENTLY RELATIVE WHICH IS WHY HE WANTED TO EXPOSE RELIGION TO THE PROBABILITY JUDGMENTS OF HISTORICAL CRITICISM USING THE METHODS OF ANALOGY AND CORRELATION 4ROELTSCH ARGUED THAT AS A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE HISTORICAL EVENTS ARE EQUIVALENT AND INTERDEPENDENT BUT NEVERTHELESS RELIGION MUST HAVE ITS SOURCE IN ABSOLUTE VAL UES 0AUL 4ILLICH n ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THEOLOGIANS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY LATER ELEVATED THE METHOD OF CORRELATION TO THE CENTRAL APPROACH OF SYSTEM ATIC THEOLOGY )N Philosophical Fragments, 3REN +IER KEGAARD n HAD ALREADY CONCLUDED MUCH EARLIER T e Historical Jesus • 35
THAT ANY CLAIMS TO ETERNAL BLISS COULD NOT BE PROVEN BE CAUSE EVERYTHING HISTORICAL IS ALSO RELATIVE #HRISTIANS NEV ER THELESS STILL LIVE IN HOPE OF ACHIEVING THIS (ISTORICAL FACTS ON *ESUSAS ACCURATE AS THEY MAY BEWERE NEVER THELESS IRRELEVANT TO +IERKEGAARD AS THEY CANNOT CONTAIN ANY PROOF THAT *ESUS IS 'OD 4HIS ASSERTION IS OF A TOTALLY DIFFERENT NATURE 'OD VOLUNTARILY DISCARDED HIS MAJESTY TO BECOME A LOWLY SERVANT IN ORDER TO SIDE WITH HIS CREATURES OUT OF LOVE FOR HUMANKIND )T IS FROM THIS PARADOX OF FAITH IN A 'OD INCARNATE SAYS +IERKEGAARD THAT #HRISTIANS DRAW LIFE )N Concluding Unscientifi c Postscript, HE NOTES THAT FOR THEOLOGY THE HISTORICAL CRITICAL METHOD COULD THERE FORE ONLY BE OF RELATIVE IMPORTANCE 4HIS DRAWS ON THE INSIGHT 'OTTHOLD %PHRAIM ,ESSING n HAD ALREADY FORMULATED IN On the Proof of the Spirit and of Power:
4HE PROBLEM IS THAT REPORTS OF FULl LLED PROPHE CIES ARE NOT FULl LLED PROPHECIES THAT REPORTS OF MIRACLES ARE NOT MIRACLES 4HESE THE PROPHECIES FULl LLED BEFORE MY EYES THE MIRACLES THAT OCCUR BEFORE MY EYES ARE IMMEDIATE IN THEIR EFFECT "UT THOSETHE REPORTS OF FULl LLED PROPHECIES AND MIR ACLES HAVE TO WORK THROUGH A MEDIUM WHICH TAKES AWAY ALL THEIR FORCE x )F NO HISTORICAL TRUTH CAN BE DEMONSTRATED THEN NOTHING CAN BE DEMONSTRATED BY MEANS OF HISTORICAL TRUTHS 4HAT IS accidental truths of history can never become the proof of necessary truths of reason.
4HEREFORE WHILE THE TEACHINGS OF *ESUS MAY BRING ONE TO BELIEVE REPORTS OF *ESUSS DEEDS AND MIRACLES DO NOT &OR A LIMITED TIME HISTORICAL AWARENESS HAD A SERIOUS IMPACT ON THE WIDER PERCEPTION OF *ESUS ,IKE ,ESSING !DOLF VON (ARNACK SOME YEARS LATER WAS CONVINCED THAT TEMPORALLY RELATED CHALLENGES TO *ESUS WOULD EVENTU 36 • Jesus Reclaimed ally fade, but that his timeless message would remain: “Ei- ther the Gospel is in all respects identical with its earliest form, in which case it came with its time and has departed with it; or else it contains something which, under differ- ing historical forms, is of permanent validity. The latter is the true view. The history of the church shows us in its very commencement that ‘primitive Christianity’ had to disappear in order that ‘Christianity’ might remain.”21 Concerning the effect the quest of the historical Jesus had on Christian faith, Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) ar- gued that each new generation would project its own ideal of humanity onto Jesus:
The study of the Life of Jesus has had a curious his- tory. It set out in quest of the historical Jesus, be- lieving that when it had found Him it could bring Him straight into our time as a Teacher and Saviour. It loosed the bands by which He had been riveted for centuries to the stony rocks of ecclesiastical doc- trine, and rejoiced to see life and movement coming into the figure once more, and the historical Jesus advancing, as it seemed, to meet it. But He does not stay; He passes by our time and returns to His own. … Jesus means something to our world because a mighty spiritual force streams forth from Him and flows through our time also. This fact can neither be shaken nor confirmed by any historical discovery. It is the solid foundation of Christianity. The mistake was to suppose that Jesus could come to mean more to our time by entering into it as a man like ourselves. That is not possible. First because such a Jesus never existed. Secondly because, although historical knowledge can no doubt introduce greater clearness into an existing spiritual life, it cannot call spiritual life into existence. History can destroy the present; it can reconcile the present with the past; can even T e Historical Jesus • 37
TO A CERTAIN EXTENT TRANSPORT THE PRESENT INTO THE PAST BUT TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE MAKING OF THE PRESENT IS NOT GIVEN UNTO IT
&OR !LBERT 3CHWEITZER IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO REMOVE THE HISTORICAL *ESUS FROM HIS TIME 4HE UNAVAILABILITY OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS AND THE CONSTANT STRUGGLE BETWEEN HISTOR ICAL AND DOGMATIC METHODS INFORMED THE CONTEXT FOR THE MODERN #HRISTIAN DEBATE ABOUT *ESUS )T IS THE CRITICISM OF DOGMA BY SO CALLED LIBERAL #HRISTIAN THEOLOGY THAT MAKES THE HISTORICAL *ESUS STUDIES STIMULATING ,IKE WHEN *O HANNES 7EISS n FOLLOWING ON FROM !LBRECHT 2ITSCHL n DEMONSTRATES IN Die Predigt Jesu vom Reiche Gottes *ESUSS 0ROCLAMATION OF THE +INGDOM OF 'OD THAT *ESUSS PREACHING WAS PURELY ESCHATOLOGICAL AND ARGUED THAT THE +INGDOM OF 'OD WAS AN IMMANENT MORAL TASK (IS STUDENT 7ILHELM (ERRMANN n HELD THAT #HRISTIAN FAITH CAN BE STRIPPED FROM FALSE 'REEK PHILOSOPHICAL SPECULATION USING HISTORICAL INSIGHT AND EVIDENCE 7HEREBY 'OD REVEALS HIMSELF TO HUMAN KIND THROUGH THE HISTORICAL *ESUS 4HE hINNER LIFEv OF *ESUS CAN BE FOUND IN THE .EW 4ESTAMENT AND HAS THE POWER TO IMPRESS ON THOSE WHO FORM THE #HRISTIAN COMMUNITY 4HIS FREEDOM FROM ANY METAPHYSICAL SUPPORTS CLEARLY INDICATES THE +ANTIAN AND POSITIVIST UNDERTONES IN (ERRMANNS THE OLOGY !LONG WITH -ARTIN +ÊHLER n (ERRMANN WAS VERY CAUTIOUS ABOUT THE SIGNIl CANCE OF THE QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS ESPECIALLY GIVEN THAT TEXTUAL EVIDENCE ALWAYS DEPENDS ON THE PREREQUISITE OF THE RESURRECTION AND THIS VERY PRESUPPOSITION IS WHAT MAKES IT VERY DIFl CULT TO ESTABLISH AN HISTORICAL *ESUS IN THE l RST PLACE 2UDOLF "ULTMANN n DEVELOPED HIS EXISTEN TIALIST INTERPRETATION FOR THIS VERY REASON (E PUBLISHED HIS Geschichte der synoptischen Tradition (ISTORY OF THE 3YNOPTIC 4RADITION IN WHICH WAS A CORNERSTONE FOR THE &ORM #RITICISM DISCIPLINE AS A WAY OF UNDERSTAND 38 • Jesus Reclaimed ing the composition of the Synoptic Gospels. He finally dissociated himself from liberal theology in 1924. In his classic treatment of the historical Jesus, Jesus and the Word,29 Bultmann asserts that “we can now know almost nothing concerning the life and personality of Jesus, since the early Christian sources show no interest in either, are moreover fragmentary and often legendary.”30 What can be discovered, on the basis of critical assessment of the earliest Palestinian level of tradition, are the essentials of Jesus’s message, his “word.” This “word” is connected with the coming of the Kingdom of God, a “miraculous eschatological event,” but one that has to be interpreted existentially: “The Kingdom of God is a power which, al- though it is entirely future, wholly determines the present because it now compels man to decision.”31 For Bultmann, no path leads back to the historical Jesus. “The message of Jesus is a presupposition for the theology of the New Tes- tament rather than a part of that theology itself.”32 What is significant for the Christian faith is the “kerygmatic” Christ alone, that is, not what Jesus said and did but what God said and did through Jesus on the cross and in the res- urrection. One should not inquire beyond this, because in faith, by definition, there is no objective certainty. And so Bultmann holds the view that any scholarly “quest of the historical Jesus” is not only impossible, but theologically illegitimate because it substitutes worldly proof for faith. However, just as many in the field believed the quest had, once again, reached a dead end, scholars picked up the ba- ton and embarked on what is now termed the New Quest. It was in fact Bultmann’s own student Ernst Käsemann (1906–1998),33 who first brought Jesus’s Jewish prove- nance back into the fold when he taught that the historical “that” of the existence of Jesus indeed has meaning for the Christian faith and that it is also inextricably linked with the question of “how.”34 As the Lord of the church cannot be viewed entirely as a mythological being, unconnected T e Historical Jesus • 39
TO HIS HISTORICAL EXISTENCE +ÊSEMANN PROPOSED THAT AT LEAST SOME INTEREST IN THE HISTORICAL *ESUS IS THEOLOGICALLY VALID h;*ESUS= WAS A *EW AND MADE THE ASSUMPTION OF *EW ISH PIETY BUT AT THE SAME TIME HE SHATTERS THIS FRAMEWORK WITH HIS CLAIM ;TO BE THE -ESSIAH=v +ÊSEMANNS STATE MENT REFERRED BACK TO &ERDINAND #HRISTIAN "AUR AND SET IN MOTION WHAT CAME TO BE CALLED THE hNEW QUEST OF THE HIS TORICAL *ESUSv )T WAS 'ERHARD %BELING n ONE OF THE MAIN REPRESENTATIVES OF HERMENEUTIC THEOLOGY WHO ARGUED THAT A RECONSIDERATION OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS WAS IMPORTANT FOR THE #HRISTOLOGY OF THE CHURCH 4HROUGHOUT HIS LIFE *ESUS HAD BEEN A WITNESS OF FAITH AND AS A BELIEVER *ESUS LINKS #HRISTIANITY WITH THE HISTORICAL *UDAISM OF HIS TIME AND ITS HISTORICAL IMPACT 4HROUGH HIS RESURRECTION *ESUS TRANSFORMS FROM A WITNESS OF FAITH TO A REASON FOR FAITH THAT GIVES THE CHURCH A FRAMEWORK AND A STANDARD &OR THE EMINENT #ATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN AND 6ATICAN )) peritus (ANS +àNG B BOTH THE HISTORY OF THE IM PACT AND THE HISTORICAL *ESUS ARE EQUALLY IMPORTANT &OR +àNG THE HISTORY OF THE IMPACT BEGINS EVEN BEFORE THE HIS TORICAL *ESUS h"ECAUSE THE INCARNATION WAS PREPOTENTLY WILLED FROM ETERNITY IN 'ODS DECREE IT COULD MAKE THAT REDEEMING POWER RADIATE EVEN BEFORE IT BECAME A HISTOR ICAL EVENTv 4HUS HE CONSIDERS THE HISTORICAL PERSON OF *ESUS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE +àNGS CRITICISM OF EARLIER APPROACHES TO THE QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS REFERS TO THE OFTEN ANACHRONISTIC APPEAL TO SOURCES THAT WERE NEVER MEANT TO BE HISTORICAL RECORDS BUT RATHER TESTIMONIES OF FAITH 4HIS AHISTORICITY OF THE SOURCES HOWEVER IS NOT REA SON ENOUGH FOR +àNG NOT TO CONSIDER THEM IN RELATION TO THE QUESTION OF THE HISTORICAL LIFE OF *ESUS h4HE ROAD OB VIOUSLY RAN FROM HISTORY TO MYTH AND NOT FROM MYTH TO HISTORY *ESUS OF .AZARETH IS NOT A MYTH HIS HISTORY CAN BE located x *ESUS OF .AZARETH IS NOT A MYTH HIS HISTORY CAN BE dated.v 4HUS FOR +àNG A STRICT SEPARATION OF THE hHIS TORICALv *ESUS AND THE hBELIEVEDv *ESUS IS NOT PRODUCTIVE 40 • Jesus Reclaimed
CONCERNING THE QUESTION ABOUT WHO *ESUS IS AND WAS h#ER TAINLY THE TESTIMONIES OF FAITH are NOT SIMPLY ACCOUNTS BUT THEY contain AN ACCOUNT AND ARE based ON ACCOUNTS OF THE REAL *ESUSv +àNG THEREFORE IS UNSATISl ED WITH PURE KERYGMATIC THEOLOGY (E ASSERTS h! SCHOLARLY ANSWER TO THE QUESTION ABOUT THE *ESUS OF HISTORY IS AGAIN REGARDED AS POSSIBLE TODAY IN A NEW FORM AND WITHIN CERTAIN LIMITS x 4HE KERYGMA OF THE COMMUNITY SIMPLY CANNOT BE UN DERSTOOD UNLESS WE BEGIN QUITE CONCRETELY WITH THE HISTOR ICAL *ESUS OF .AZARETH AS "ULTMANNS THEOLOGY OF THE .EW 4ESTAMENT ALSO PROVESv !ND THIS HISTORICAL CONTEXT IS A *EWISH CONTEXT
4HIS IS ALSO WHAT MAKES THIS *ESUS ALIEN TO US #HRISTIANS (IS LANGUAGE ITSELF IS FOREIGN TO US &OR US IT ALWAYS PRESENTS A LINGUISTIC AND THEOLOGICAL PROBLEM THE OFTEN DOUBLE AND TRIPLE TRANSLATION AND RETRANSLATION FROM A MODERN LANGUAGE INTO 'REEK AND FROM 'REEK BACK INTO (EBREW OR !RA MAIC 7E HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THE META PHORS WHICH HE USED ;4HAT= MAKES HIM ALIEN TO US #HRISTIANS BUT CONTEMPORARY TO YOU *EWS x &OR A LONG TIME THERE HAS BEEN A GREATER OPEN MIND EDNESS TOWARDS THE /LD 4ESTAMENT THAT WE MUST NOT ONLY INTERPRET IT IN A #HRISTIAN WAY BUT ALSO UNDERSTAND IT INDEPENDENTLY OF #HRISTIANITY
(ANS +àNG THEN ASKED h#AN HISTORICAL CRITICAL RESEARCH ON *ESUS CAN THEOLOGICAL SCHOLARSHIP AS A WHOLE PRODUCE FAITH THE CERTAINTY OF FAITH AS SOME HOPE .O IT cannot provide reasons for faith &OR ) DO NOT BELIEVE @IN RESEARCH IN THEOLOGICAL SCHOLARSHIP IN THE RESULTS OF SCHOLARSHIP x ) BELIEVEl RST OF ALL TO PUT IT QUITE SIMPLYIN 'OD AS HE ADDRESSES ME IN THIS *ESUSv !ND YET +àNG STILL l NDS IT IMPORTANT TO PURSUE THE QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL *ESUS h4HERE WAS FAITH EVEN BEFORE *ESUS RESEARCH AND TODAY T e Historical Jesus • 41
MANY BELIEVE WITHOUT REGARD TO THE RESULTS OF RESEARCH 3UCH A FAITH HOWEVER MUST BE DESCRIBED AS NAÕVE IN THE LIGHT OF THE PRESENT STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS .AIVETÏ IN MAT TERS OF FAITH IS NOT EVIL BUT AT THE LEAST DANGEROUSv #ONCERNING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN #HRISTIANS AND *EWS (ANS +àNG SEES THE PERCEPTION OF *ESUS AS CENTRAL h#AN WE EVER OVERLOOK THE REAL POINT OF THE CONTROVERSY 4HE VERY PERSON WHO SEEMS TO UNITE *EWS AND #HRISTIANS ALSO SEPARATES THEM ABYSMALLY THE *EW *ESUS OF .AZARETHv h&OR #HRISTIANS THIS *ESUS OF .AZARETH IS THE AUTHORITATIVE STANDARD AND HE IS NOT ONLYAS +ARL *ASPERS SAYSONE OF THE ARCHETYPAL HUMAN BEINGS BUT the ARCHETYPE PROPERLY SO CALLED 4HIS WOULD BE THE REAL DIFFERENCE &OR A *EW x NOW AS BEFORE THE LAW IS THE AUTHORITATIVE STANDARD AND NOT THIS *ESUS OF .AZARETHv !ND HE REINFORCES %RNST +ÊSE MANNS INTENTION TO REVISIT THE HISTORICAL *ESUS BY QUOTING HIM AS A CONCLUSION TO +àNGS CHAPTER h#HRISTIANITY AND *UDAISMv h7E MUST LEARN AGAIN TO SPELL OUT THE QUESTION WHO IS *ESUS %VERYTHING ELSE IS DISTRACTION 7E MUST MEA SURE OURSELVES AGAINST *ESUS NOT MEASURE HIM AGAINST OUR CHURCHES DOGMAS AND DEVOUT CHURCH MEMBERS x 4HEIR VALUE DEPENDS ENTIRELY ON THE EXTENT TO WHICH THEY POINT AWAY FROM THEMSELVES AND CALL US TO FOLLOW *ESUS AS ,ORDv 4HE CENTER OF +ARL 2AHNERS #HRISTOLOGY n IS THE UNDERSTANDING OF *ESUS AS A h2EAL 3YMBOLv WHOSE HUMANITY MUST BE CONSIDERED AS THE SELF EXPRESSION OF 'OD IN HISTORY 2AHNERS THINKING IS BASED ON THE DEl NI TION OF *ESUS #HRIST BY THE &OURTH %CUMENICAL #OUNCIL OF #HALCEDON
4HEREFORE FOLLOWING THE HOLY FATHERS WE ALL WITH ONE ACCORD TEACH MEN TO ACKNOWLEDGE ONE AND THE SAME 3ON OUR ,ORD *ESUS #HRIST AT ONCE COMPLETE IN 'ODHEAD AND COMPLETE IN MANHOOD TRULY 'OD AND TRULY MAN CONSISTING ALSO OF A REASONABLE SOUL AND BODY OF ONE SUBSTANCE WITH THE &ATHER AS RE 42 • Jesus Reclaimed
GARDS HIS 'ODHEAD AND AT THE SAME TIME OF ONE SUBSTANCE WITH US AS REGARDS HIS MANHOOD LIKE US IN ALL RESPECTS APART FROM HIS SIN AS REGARDS HIS 'ODHEAD BEGOTTEN OF THE &ATHER BEFORE THE AGES BUT YET AS REGARDS HIS MANHOOD BEGOTTEN FOR US MEN AND FOR OUR SALVATION OF -ARY THE 6IRGIN THE 'OD BEARER ONE AND THE SAME #HRIST 3ON ,ORD /NLY BEGOTTEN RECOGNIZED IN TWO NATURES WITH OUT CONFUSION WITHOUT CHANGE WITHOUT DIVISION WITHOUT SEPARATION THE DISTINCTION OF NATURES BE ING IN NO WAY ANNULLED BY THE UNION BUT RATHER THE CHARACTERISTICS OF EACH NATURE BEING PRESERVED AND COMING TOGETHER TO FORM ONE PERSON AND SUBSIS TENCE NOT AS PARTED OR SEPARATED INTO TWO PERSONS BUT ONE AND THE SAME 3ON AND /NLY BEGOTTEN 'OD THE 7ORD ,ORD *ESUS #HRIST EVEN AS THE PROPHETS FROM EARLIEST TIMES SPOKE OF HIM AND OUR ,ORD *E SUS #HRIST HIMSELF TAUGHT US AND THE CREED OF THE &ATHERS HAS HANDED DOWN TO US
*ESUS #HRISTBY BEING hHUMANv IN THE FULLEST SENSECAN BRING 'OD INTO THE IMMANENCE OF THIS WORLD +ARL 2AHNERS #HRISTOLOGY CAN THUS BE DESCRIBED AS TRANSCENDENTAL AN THROPOLOGY 7HILE +àNG REPRESENTS A #HRISTOLOGY WITH A POSSIBILITY TO APPROACH *ESUS hFROM BELOW v 2AHNER REP RESENTS A h#HRISTOLOGY FROM ABOVEv 4HE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE HISTORICAL *ESUS AND THE #HRIST OF FAITH ALSO BECAME A MATTER OF CONCERN FOR THE CAR DINAL AND PRESIDENT OF THE 0ONTIl CAL #OUNCIL FOR 0ROMOT ING #HRISTIAN 5NITY 7ALTER +ASPER B )N HIS BOOK Jesus the Christ HE STRENGTHENS THE CLAIM OF HISTOR ICAL *ESUS STUDIES BUT ALSO EMPHASIZES THE QUESTION OF ITS hTHEOLOGICAL RELEVANCEv )T IS PRECISELY THE QUESTION OF THE THEOLOGICAL RELEVANCE FROM A #HRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE THAT CAN ALSO DISTORT THE VIEW OF THE HISTORICAL PERSON OF *ESUS &OR THE OLD CHURCH THE Te Historical Jesus • 43
doctrine of the Trinity was based on incarnational Chris- tology, and the miracle was the human nature of Jesus. In the modern era, the divine nature of Jesus is the subject of inquiry. So there are two conflicting modes of view- ing Jesus within Christianity: while the so-called Chris- tology from below concerns itself with the figure of Jesus and his historical context, Christology from above focuses on the incarnation—how God as God turned toward hu- manity. This Christology already assumes the divinity of Jesus in order to achieve a reconciliation of God and humanity, a reconciliation that according to Judaism has always been granted by God. Wolfhart Pannenberg (b. 1928), for example, begins with the resurrection as a his- torical event, thus emphasizing that Jesus only received his authority for Christianity through his redeeming ac- tion.53 In Jesus: God and Man,54 he constructs a Christol- ogy “from below,” deriving his dogmatic claims from a critical examination of the life and particularly the res- urrection of Jesus of Nazareth. This is his programmatic statement of the notion of “history as revelation.”55 He rejects the traditional Chalcedonian “two natures” Chris- tology, preferring to view the person of Christ in light of the resurrection dynamically. The effect of the history of this event continuously reveals its role for humanity. This focus on the resurrection as the key to Christ’s identity has led Pannenberg to defend its historicity, stressing the experience of the risen Christ in the history of the early church rather than the empty tomb. Thus, history receives its significance only proleptically as the historical facts are given their actual meaning. One would have to assume God’s perspective in order to comprehend the path of Je- sus in the world. Humans, in their limitations, are unable to do so.56 This position also seems an apt description of Pope Benedict XVI’s image of Jesus, although he does admit that the historical-critical approach can neverthe- less illuminate the context of Jesus’s earthly existence.57 44 • Jesus Reclaimed
However, the significance of Jesus as the Christ and the true interpretation of the Bible in its two parts can only be assessed retrospectively—by faith. This approach, which conceals the historical Jesus completely behind the cur- tain of Christ, is proclaimed by the church. In this manner, the person is permanently separated from the function: as the ideal human type, pleasing to God (Immanuel Kant58), as incarnation of the idea of the unity of divine and hu- man nature (Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel59), as assur- ance and sensuous perceptibility of the unity of God and humanity (David Friedrich Strauss60), as an example of unifying effect (Falk Wagner [1939–1998]61), or as the new being, for the being needs the example that the alienation of humanity from God can in principle be overcome (Paul Tillich62). According to the speculative theology of Alois Emanuel Biedermann (1819–1885), Jesus is the historical revelation of the savior principle.63 Such a view of Jesus, however, consigns the message which seeks to change human actions to the background. This tendency can be found in almost every theology from the two great Chris- tian traditions. The origin of the nineteenth-century quest of the historical Jesus was shaped throughout by emergent Enlightenment rationalism; where getting close to the his- torical Jesus was a central aim. Over time this initial effort was increasingly pushed into the background by the ques- tion of the events and the significance of salvation. This logically led to underestimating the value of the Christian quest of the historical Jesus to central Christian theology. This became particularly apparent in the churches’ stance during the Third Reich and the Shoah. After World War II, the debate about the person of Jesus must be understood as part of a strategy to cope with the churches’ assumption of guilt for the Holocaust. In this regard, interest in Jesus as a historical person was primarily aimed at improving the relationship between the churches and Judaism. T e Historical Jesus • 45
!FTER ,EONARDO "OFF B AND $OROTHEE 3ÚLLE n CONCENTRATED THEIR EFFORTS ON VIEWING *ESUS AS A POLITICAL l GURE AS PART OF THEIR LIBERATION THEOLOGY 4HEY SAW HIM AS A hREVOLUTIONARYv WHO TOTALLY SET HIMSELF APART FROM HIS FORMER ENVIRONMENT IN HIS LIFE AND IN HIS TEACH INGS 4HE FACT THAT THIS WAS NOT THE CASE WAS ALREADY ES TABLISHED IN THE #HRISTIAN QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS FROM THE NINETEENTH CENTURY !FTER THREE WAVES OF THE QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS ONE CAN SAY THAT *ESUS AS A HISTORICAL PERSON HAD LITTLE LAST ING INm UENCE ON #HRISTIAN SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY EVEN LESS IN 2OMAN #ATHOLIC THAN IN 0ROTESTANT THOUGHT 4HE 3ECOND 6ATICAN #OUNCIL OF THE #ATHOLIC #HURCH HAD NO FUNDAMEN TAL IMPACT TO CHANGE THIS PERSPECTIVE 3TILL THE DECLARATION h.OSTRA !ETATEv ON THE RELATION TO NON #HRISTIAN RELIGIONS OF ACKNOWLEDGES 'ODS LASTING COVENANT WITH HIS PEOPLE AND THE hBOND THAT SPIRITUALLY TIES THE PEOPLE OF THE .EW #OVENANT TO !BRAHAMS STOCKv /N THE OTHER HAND IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE TWENTI ETH CENTURY 0ROTESTANT CHURCHES HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FORGE A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH CONTEMPORARY *UDAISM (ERE THE CHALLENGE COMES FROM EVANGELICAL MOVEMENTS WHICH TEND TO EMPHASIZE THE WAY THE PERSON OF *ESUS MUST ULTIMATELY POINT TO THAT WHICH SEPARATES *UDAISM AND THE #HRISTIAN CHURCH #HRISTIAN REVIVAL FACES A FUNDAMENTAL CONTRADIC TION ON THE ONE HAND ITS FOLLOWERS SEEK TO ESTABLISH A PER SONAL FAITH RELATIONSHIP TO *ESUS ON THE OTHER HAND THEY ATTACH LITTLE IMPORTANCE TO HIS ACTUAL LIFE )T SHOULD BE NOTED THAT #HRISTIAN THEOLOGIANS NEVER STUDIED THE LIFE OF *ESUS WITHOUT ALSO FOCUSING ON HIS SIG NIl CANCE AS THE SAVIOR AND CENTRAL l GURE OF THE #HRISTIAN FAITH 4HIS PERSPECTIVE IS TO BE EXPECTED AND IT MUST BE RESPECTED (OWEVER IT IS THANKS TO THE UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE OF THE *EWISH QUEST THAT THERE IS A POSSIBILITY TO DISCUSS *ESUS WITHOUT THIS DOGMATIC VEIL 46 • Jesus Reclaimed
T e Jewish Quest as Repatriating Jesus to Judaism
7ILLIAM (ORBURY A PROFESSOR OF *EWISH AND EARLY #HRISTIAN STUDIES AT THE 5NIVERSITY OF #AMBRIDGE AND A FELLOW OF #OR PUS #HRISTI #OLLEGE IS THE AUTHOR OF THE ARTICLE Jesus Christ in the Perspective of Judaism. (E GIVES US AN EXCELLENT DE SCRIPTION OF THE *EWISH POSITION h4HERE IS NO UNIFORM PIC TURE OF *ESUS #HRIST ONE CAN DESCRIBE *UDAISM WITHOUT MEN TIONING HIM AT ALL &ROM ANTIQUITY ONLY A FEW 4ALMUDIC AND OTHER *EWISH ACCOUNTS OF *ESUS ARE EXTANT ,ATER MEDIEVAL AUTHORS DISCUSS HIM MORE INTENSIVELY OFTEN IN AN APOLO GETIC CONTEXT &INALLY MODERN *EWISH SCHOLARS CONTRIBUTED IMPORTANT INSIGHTS INTO THE QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUSv .EXT TO THE KEY WORDS hHISTORICAL *ESUS STUDIES v (OR BURY PLACES AN ARROW REFERENCING -ARK 3CHRÚDERS ARTICLE BY THAT SAME TITLE !LTHOUGH A NUMBER OF *EWS WHO EX AMINED *ESUSS LIFE CAN BE FOUND IN THE ARTICLE THE READING NEVERTHELESS DISAPPOINTS 3CHRÚDER DISCUSSES THE QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS FROM 2EIMARUS TO (ARNACK AND "ULT MANN UP TO 4HEISSEN "UT NOT ONE OF THE *EWISH SCHOLARS OF THE PAST TWO HUNDRED YEARS IS MENTIONED BY NAME )S IT POSSIBLE THAT MODERN *UDAISMS ENGAGEMENT WITH *E SUS WAS SO INSIGNIl CANT /R IS THE *EWISH CONTRIBUTION TO HISTORICAL *ESUS STUDIES CONSIDERED SO UNIMPORTANT THAT IT DOES NOT WARRANT THE ATTENTION OF #HRISTIAN SCHOLARS "UT THESE *EWISH THINKERS WHO TOOK AN INTEREST IN *E SUS REALLY DO EXIST TO NAME BUT A FEW !BRAHAM 'EIGER *OSEPH +LAUSNER ,EO "AECK #LAUDE ' -ONTEl ORE 2OB ERT %ISLER *OEL #ARMICHAEL -ARTIN "UBER 3CHALOM "EN #HORIN (ANS *OACHIM 3CHOEPS 0INCHAS ,APIDE $AVID &LUSSER "EN :ION "OKSER 2OBERT 2APHAEL 'EIS 3AMUEL 3ANDMEL (YAM -ACCOBY %RNST ,UDWIG %HRLICH -ICHAEL 7YSCHOGROD *ACOB .EUSNER )N FACT THERE HAS BEEN SOMETHING OF A hREPATRIATION OF *ESUSv TO *UDAISM EVER SINCE THE NINETEENTH CENTURY T e Historical Jesus • 47
7HEREAS #HRISTIAN THEOLOGY DEVALUED THE QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS BY TURNING AWAY FROM THEOLOG ICAL LIBERALISM THE BEGINNING OF SCHOLARLY *EWISH RESEARCH INTO *ESUS WHICH BEGAN AT THE SAME TIME CONTINUED THE LIBERAL TRADITION )N SO DOING IT EM PHASIZED ASPECTS TO WHICH INSUFl CIENT JUSTICE WAS DONE IN #HRISTIAN RESEARCH NAMELY THE *EWISH CHARACTER OF THE LIFE AND TEACHING OF *ESUSA PRO CESS WHICH IS PART OF hBRINGING *ESUS HOME TO *U DAISMv "ECAUSE THE CONm ICT WITH THE *EWISH ,AW WAS NO LONGER LOCATED AT THE CENTRE OF *ESUS LIFE OTHER POSSIBILITIES OF INTERPRETING *ESUS VIOLENT DEATH HISTORICALLY WERE CONSIDERED
4HUS *ESUS WAS DEPICTED IN THE CLASSICAL ACCOUNTS OF THE *EWISH QUEST FOR *ESUS AS EXEMPLARY *EW AND ETHICIST AS EXHORTING PROPHET AS REVOLUTIONARY REBEL AND FREEDOM l GHTER AS BIG BROTHER AND AS MESSIANIC :IONIST 4HE IMPETUS FOR THIS *EWISH QUEST WAS MOST PROBABLY *ULIUS 7ELLHAUSEN n AND THE SCHOOL OF HISTOR ICAL CRITICAL BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP 7ELLHAUSEN FORMULATED THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE THE CONSEQUENCES OF WHICH HAVE INm UENCED THE WORK OF #HRISTIANS AND *EWS EVER SINCE *E SUS WAS NOT A #HRISTIAN HE WAS A *EW 4HIS STATEMENT MUST HAVE BEEN QUITE AMAZING FOR THE *EWISH AND #HRISTIAN PUBLIC DURING THE NINETEENTH CEN TURYIT WAS READILY RECEIVED BY A COMMUNITY STRIVING FOR CIVIC EQUALITY ACCORDING TO %NLIGHTENMENT PRINCIPLES AND WHO SAW ITSELF THWARTED IN THIS PURSUIT BY THE IDEA OF THE h#HRISTIAN STATEv 4HIS *EWISH STUDY OF THE CENTRAL l GURE OF THE .EW 4ESTAMENT WAS NOT OF A FUNDAMENTAL NATURE )T CAME FROM AN APOLOGETIC IMPULSE THE DESIRE TO PARTICI PATE IN THE GENERAL SOCIETY WITHOUT RENUNCIATION OF ONES *EWISH IDENTITY (OW CONVENIENT THEN THAT *ESUS HIMSELF WAS A *EW 48 • Jesus Reclaimed
!BRAHAM 'EIGER@S n ENGAGEMENT WITH THE *EWISH *ESUS AND WITH #HRISTIANITY PROVIDED THE BASIS FOR A COUNTERHISTORY )TS POLEMIC TONE EXPOUNDED THE REASONS WHY NINETEENTH CENTURY *EWS SHOULD REMAIN DEVOUT AND WHY THEY SHOULD NOT VIEW #HRISTIANITY AS A HIGHER FORM OF RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT ONE WHICH *UDAISM IT WAS IM PLIED HAD NEVER REACHED !ND SO 'EIGER RINGS IN THE DAWN OF A *EWISH LIFE OF *ESUS RESEARCH ERA WHICH DEMANDED THE APPROPRIATE RESPECT FOR THE *EWISH SOURCES IN THE CONTEXT OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES 0ARTICULARLY IN RELATION TO THE MOST PROMINENT AND OLDEST AREA OF #HRISTIAN THEOLOGY NAMELY INTERPRETATION OF THE l GURE OF *ESUS *EWS IT WAS HOPED WERE TO BE REGARDED AS EQUAL PARTNERS WITH RESPECT TO RE SEARCH ON EARLY *UDAISM #HRISTIANS HOWEVER DID NOT REGARD THE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM *EWISH *ESUS RESEARCH AS A HELPFUL QUESTIONING OF #HRISTIAN PREJUDICES OR AS AN INVI TATION TO DIALOGUE INSTEAD #HRISTIAN SCHOLARS PERCEIVED *EWISH CONTRIBUTIONS AS ARROGANT )N HIS BOOK Das Judenthum und seine Geschichte *UDAISM AND ITS (ISTORY !BRAHAM 'EIGER DRAWS A POR TRAIT OF *ESUS AS ONE OF THE MOST INm UENTIAL 0HARISEES OF HIS TIME !CCORDING TO 'EIGER THE RECORDED WORDS AND DEEDS OF *ESUS ARE NEITHER UNIQUE NOR ORIGINAL 2ATHER THE SUM TOTAL OF *ESUSS TEACHINGS CAN BE FOUND IN THE 0HAR ISAIC LITERATURE 4HE EARLY #HRISTIANS HE ARGUED DEPARTED FROM THIS FAITH AND DOCTRINE DUE TO 3ADDUCEAN AND PAGAN INm UENCES AND ABSORBED ELEMENTS FROM THE 'RECO 2OMAN WORLD 'EIGERS BLUEPRINT OF *ESUS AS A 0HARISEE AND #HRISTI ANITY AS A BETRAYAL OF *ESUSS *EWISH FAITH BECAME A POPULAR EXPLANATORY MODEL OF #HRISTIAN ORIGINS FOR MODERN *UDA ISM WHILE AT THE SAME TIME PROVIDING A DEFENSIVE POSITION AGAINST THE #HRISTIAN ASSUMPTION THAT *UDAISM CONSTITUTED MERELY A FOSSIL A STEP TOWARD #HRISTIANITY !CCORDING TO THIS MODEL *UDAISM AND #HRISTIANITY ENTAIL ONE ANOTHER ACCORDING TO 'EIGER THERE IS NO #HRISTIANITY WITHOUT *U DAISM AND THE SIGNIl CANCE OF *UDAISM FOR 7ESTERN CIVILI T e Historical Jesus • 49
ZATION ULTIMATELY DEPENDS ON THE SUCCESS OF ITS hDAUGHTER RELIGIONS v #HRISTIANITY AND )SLAM !LAS 'EIGERS VIEW WAS NOT COMMONLY SHARED BY THE WIDER PUBLIC OF THE 3ECOND 'ERMAN %MPIRE
Judaism Out of Place: T e Berlin Anti-Semitism Debate and Max Liebermann’s “Jesus”
)N THE LIBERAL MIND OF THE %NLIGHTENMENT THE EMANCIPATION OF THE *EWS WAS A KIND OF COLLECTIVE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS WITH THE GOAL OF DISSOLVING *EWISH GROUP IDENTITY *UDAISM WAS TO BE UNDERSTOOD AS A DENOMINATION )N THE LEGAL SEAL ON *EWISH EMANCIPATION WAS SET INTO THE LAW OF THE .ORTH 'ERMAN #ONFEDERATION LAW 4EN YEARS LATER PERNICIOUS SUGGESTIONS OF A LINK BE TWEEN *EWISH EMANCIPATION THE IMPOSITION OF BOURGEOIS CAPITALISM AND THE l RST l NANCIAL CRASH LED TO ANTI 3EMITIC CAMPAIGNS WHICH WERE ULTIMATELY CAUSED BY A PERCEPTION OF GENERAL INSTABILITY )N ADDITION THE #ATHOLIC STEREOTYPE OF THE CULTURE WAR AS A hWAR OF THE *EWS AGAINST #HRISTI ANITYv 4HE ,IBERALS DEFEAT IN THE ELECTION OF AND "ISMARCKS ANTILIBERAL 5 TURN ALSO CONTRIBUTED TO THE RISE OF MODERN ANTI 3EMITISM AS A POSTEMANCIPATORY PHE NOMENON )N THE HISTORIAN (EINRICH VON 4REITSCHKE n PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AT THE 5NIVERSITY OF "ERLIN SINCE BECAME THE EDITOR OF THE Preußische Jahrbücher 0RUSSIAN 9EARBOOKS WHICH CONTAINED MONTHLY DISCUS SIONS OF POLITICS )N HIS UNIVERSITY LECTURES JOURNAL ARTI CLES POLITICAL ESSAYS AND MULTIVOLUME German History in the Nineteenth Century, 4REITSCHKE WAS EMPHATIC ABOUT HIS CONTEMPT FOR THE *EWS 4HE OSTENSIBLE REASON FOR 4REIT SCHKES ESSAY h5NSERE !USSICHTENv /UR 0ROSPECTS IN THE Preußische Jahrbücher OF .OVEMBER WHICH CULMI NATED IN THE SENTENCE h4HE *EWS ARE OUR MISFORTUNE v WAS 50 • Jesus Reclaimed
4REITSCHKES REVIEW OF THE ELEVENTH VOLUME OF (EINRICH 'RAETZS Geschichte der Juden (ISTORY OF THE *EWS )N THIS REVIEW HE PERSONALLY ATTACKED 'RAETZ AS AN EXAMPLE OF THE SUPPOSEDLY hFANATIC RAGEv OF THE *EWS TOWARD #HRISTIANITY THEIR hHEREDITARY ENEMYv (EINRICH 'RAETZ n WAS THE MOST SIGNIl CANT *EWISH HISTORIAN OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 7ITH HIS History of the Jews ELEVEN VOLUMES n 'RAETZ HAD WRITTEN THE MOST INm UENTIAL WORK ON *EWISH HISTORIOG RAPHY UP UNTIL THAT TIME &OR 'RAETZ THE *EWISH PEOPLE ARE THE SUBJECT OF A LONG AND INDEPENDENT *EWISH HISTORY PROCEEDING ACCORDING TO ITS OWN LAWS FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE PRESENT (E CONSIDERED *EWISH HISTORY A HISTORY OF SUFFERING AND SCHOLARSHIP BY THE *EWS WHO WERE UNITED AS A PEOPLE BY THIS SHARED EXPERIENCE 4HIS NEW NATIONAL *EWISH APPROACH IRRITATED ALL THOSE WHO EXPECTED THE FULL ASSIMILATION OF *EWS INTO THE 'ERMAN NATION &OR MOST PEOPLE 'RAETZ HAD BEEN SKATING ON THIN ICE FROM THE VERY BEGINNING /NLY IN THE SECOND EDITION OF HIS THIRD VOLUME OF History of the Jews OF WAS HE ABLE TO INCLUDE A NEW CHAPTER ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF #HRISTIANITY IN THE l RST EDITION THIS CHAPTER WAS OMITTED BECAUSE OF THE PUBLISHERS APPREHENSIVENESS !LREADY BEFORE 4REIT SCHKE THE +AISERS COURT CHAPLAIN !DOLF 3TOECKER n FOUNDER OF A #HRISTIAN LABOR MOVEMENT WHICH OPPOSED THE 3OCIAL $EMOCRATS HAD DISCOVERED THE POWER OF ANTI 3EMITIC SLOGANS )N 3EPTEMBER 3TOECKER ACCUSED LARGELY ACCULTUR ATED *EWS OF HAVING MISINTERPRETED THE MEANING OF EMAN CIPATION IF THEY BELIEVED THEY HAD BECOME 'ERMANS AND HAD EARNED EQUAL RIGHTS /RTHODOX ,UTHERANS WERE PARTIC ULARLY ANGERED BY THE CLAIM FROM *EWISH SCHOLARS AT THE TIME THAT *UDAISM HAD A UNIQUE MISSION IN THE MODERN WORLD 4HE NOTION OF *UDAISMS SUPERIORITY OVER #HRISTIAN ITY WAS FOR 3TOECKER NOTHING BUT BLASPHEMY T e Historical Jesus • 51
0EOPLE WHO POUR SCATHING CRITICISM ON THE STATE AND CHURCH PERSONALITIES AND AFFAIRS ARE OUTRAGED TO THE EXTREME WHEN OTHERS ALLOW THEMSELVES TO CAST SO MUCH AS A SCRUTINIZING GLANCE AT *EWRY 4HEY THEMSELVES FALL UPON EVERY NON *EWISH AC TIVITY WITH HATRED AND SCORN "UT IF WE SOFTLY SPEAK A WORD OF TRUTH ABOUT THEIR DOINGS THEY PLAY THE INSULTED INNOCENT THE VICTIMS OF INTOLERANCE THE MARTYRS OF WORLD HISTORY x )N FACT ) SEE MODERN *EWRY AS A GREAT DANGER TO 'ERMAN NATIONAL LIFE ;"Y hMODERN *EWRYv= ) DO NOT MEAN THE RELIGION OF THE /RTHODOX OR THE ENLIGHTENMENT OF THE 2EFORMERS !S FOR THE /RTHODOX WITH THEIR OSSIl CATION OF THE LAW THEIR /LD 4ESTAMENT WITHOUT TEMPLE PRIESTS SACRIl CES OR MESSIAH THEY HOLD NO ATTRACTION FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY AND POSE NO DANGERS )N ITS DEEPEST CORE IT IS A DEAD RELIGIOUS FORM A LOWER STAGE OF REVELATION A SPIRIT THAT HAS OUTLIVED ITSELF AND ALTHOUGH STILL WORTHY OF HONOR HAS BEEN INVALIDATED BY #HRISTIANITY )T HAS NO MORE TRUTH FOR THE PRESENT 2EFORM *UDAISM HAS EVEN LESS RELIGIOUS SIGNIl CANCE )T IS NEITHER *UDAISM NOR #HRISTIANITY BUT A SHABBY LITTLE SURVIVAL OF THE !GE OF %NLIGHTENMENT x "OTH TYPES ;OF *UDAISM= BOAST THAT THE *EWS ARE THE BEARERS OF THE HIGHEST RELI GIOUS AND MORAL IDEAS FOR THE WORLD AND HUMANITY AND THAT THE MISSION OF *UDAISM NOW AND FOR ALL THE FUTURE CONSISTS OF HOLDING FAST TO THESE IDEAS DEVELOPING THEM FURTHER AND DISSEMINATING THEM 4HE *EWISH PRESS OF THE 2IGHT AND ,EFT IS UNITED IN THIS 4HE INCENSE EMANATING FROM THE SYNAGOGUES OF BOTH SCHOOLS SIMPLY INTOXICATES THE SENSES
3TOECKER ARGUED AGAINST RABBIS SCHOLARS AND PUBLICISTS OF ALL *EWISH DENOMINATIONS WHO IN THE TRADITION OF *EW 52 • Jesus Reclaimed
ISH SCHOLARSHIP TRACED #HRISTIANITY TO ITS *EWISH SOURCES USING THE HISTORICAL CRITICAL METHOD SUCH AS 2ABBI 3ELIG MANN -EYER 2ABBI ,EVI ,AZARUS !DLER AND 3INAI 3IMON .ASCHER
3 -EYER EDITOR OF THE Jüdische Presse, WRITES h)NDISPUTABLY THE LOFTY IDEALS UPON WHICH RESTS THE MORAL ORDER OF THE WORLD AND THE INTELLECTUAL CONTENT OF MODERN CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION WHICH FORM THE FOUNDATION OF TRUE BROTHERHOOD ALL ARISE FROM *UDAISMv h%VERYTHING GOOD IN THE 'OSPELS IS NOT NEW BUT RATHER DERIVES FROM *UDAISM !ND EVERYTHING NEW IN THEM IS NOT GOODv )N THE SAME VEIN $R !DLER WRITES h4HE RELIGION OF )SRAEL IS THE ETERNAL UNCHANGING TRUTH #HRISTIANITY AND )SLAM ARE THE PRELIMINARY STAGES WHICH THE TRUTH MUST ASCEND BEFORE THE WHOLE TRUTH BECOMES ACCESSI BLEv !ND THE 2EFORM RABBI .ASCHER JOINS IN THE CHORUS h)SRAELS MISSION AND GIFT IS TO BE THE LIGHT HOUSE ON HUMANITYS SEA OF THOUGHT )T IS CALLED UPON LIKE THE STARS TO SHINE UPON THE TOTALITY OF ITS FELLOW MEN OR SO PREACHES THE VAIN MAN TO HIS VAIN CONGREGATIONv %VEN IF ONE CONCEDES THAT )S RAEL HAS A LOFTY AND LASTING MISSION WHO ARE THE SHINING THINKERS AND POETS l LLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF 'OD PROCLAIMING THE LIVING 'OD PRAISING (IM AND BRINGING (IM HONOR 0ERHAPS THE EDITORS OF THE ;Berliner= Tageblatt /R THE SCHOLARS AT THE Kladderadatsch 7HERE IS THE SCHOOL FOR THE PROPHETS OF THE (OLY 'HOST IN WHICH THE APOSTLES FOR THIS WORLD MISSION ARE TO BE EDUCATED 7HERE THE MISSIONS 7HERE THE MISSIONARIES 0ERHAPS ON THE STOCK EXCHANGES OF "ERLIN 6IENNA AND 0ARIS /H NO 4HE *EWS WOULD NOT BE SO FOOLISH !ND JUST THIS WILL BE THEIR DOOM 4HEY FOUNDERED ON #HRIST LOST THEIR DIVINE COURSE AND SURRENDERED THEIR DI Te Historical Jesus • 53
vine mission. Unheeding of the pithy maxim of the Lord Jesus that “thou canst not serve both God and Mammon,” the Jews ran after the golden calf, leaving off the ways of God. … Israel must give up the desire to be master in Germany. It must renounce the presumption that Judaism will be the religion of the future, since it is so completely of the past. And may foolish Christians no lon- ger strengthen the nation in its darkness. Jewish orthodoxy with its circumcision has outlived it- self. Reform Judaism is not even a Jewish religion. When Israel has recognized this, it will properly give up its so-called mission and cease trying to rob the nations that have given it domicile and citizenship of their Christianity.79
Shortly after this, Heinrich von Treitschke wrote his 1879 review that already viewed anti-Semitism as a “movement” that touched all levels of society. Although he distanced himself from the crude brutality of some anti-Semites (he explicitly supported emancipation), he nevertheless seized on Stoecker’s charges of arrogance when he wrote the following:
I think, however, some of my Jewish friends will tell me with deep regret that they agree with me when I say that in recent times a dangerous spirit of arrogance has awakened in Jewish circles, and that the influence of Judaism that in the past had created a fair amount of good in our national life has recently been the source of considerable dam- age. Just read the History of the Jews by Graetz. What fanatical rage against the—arch-enemy, Christianity. What lethal hatred against the purest and mightiest representatives of the Germanic es- sence from Luther right up to Goethe and Fichte! 54 • Jesus Reclaimed
!ND WHAT EMPTY INSULTING SELF GLORIl CATION ;)N 'RAETZ= IT IS DEMONSTRATED IN CONSTANT SPITEFUL TI RADES THAT THE NATION OF +ANT WAS EDUCATED TO HU MANITY ONLY THROUGH THE *EWS THAT THE LANGUAGE OF ,ESSING AND 'OETHE HAS BECOME RECEPTIVE TO BEAUTY INTELLIGENCE AND WIT THROUGH (EINE AND "ÚRNE 7HAT %NGLISH *EW WOULD DARE DEFAME THE LAND THAT SHIELDED AND PROTECTED HIM IN SUCH A WAY !ND THIS BENIGHTED CONTEMPT AGAINST THE 'ERMAN GOYIM IS IN NO WAY MERELY THE ATTITUDE OF AN ISOLATED FANATIC x !DD TO THIS THE UNFORTUNATE BUSTLING INTRUSION INTO ALL AND SUNDRY WHICH DOES NOT EVEN SHY AWAY FROM MAGISTERIALLY PASSING JUDGMENT ON THE INNERMOST MATTERS OF THE #HRIS TIAN CHURCHES 4HE ANTI #HRISTIAN DEFAMATIONS AND WITTICISMS OF *EWISH JOURNALISTS ARE SIMPLY SHOCK ING AND SUCH BLASPHEMIES ARE PUT UP FOR SALE IN ITS OWN LANGUAGE AS THE LATEST ACHIEVEMENTS OF'ER MAN ENLIGHTENMENT x 3CARCELY HAD EMANCIPA TION BEEN ACHIEVED BEFORE THEY BRAZENLY INSISTED ON ITS PRETEXT 4HEY DEMANDED LITERAL PARITY IN EV ERYTHING AND DID NOT WANT TO SEE THAT WE 'ERMANS ARE STILL A #HRISTIAN PEOPLE AND THAT THE *EWS ARE ONLY A MINORITY AMONG US 7E HAVE EXPERIENCED THEIR DEMANDS THAT #HRISTIAN IMAGES BE SET ASIDE AND THAT THEIR 3ABBATH BE CELEBRATED IN MIXED SCHOOLS
4REITSCHKES ESSAY SPARKED STRONG REACTIONS 4HEODOR -OMM SEN DREW UP A DECLARATION THAT WAS SIGNED BY SEV ENTY l VE WELL KNOWN SCHOLARS AND OTHER PUBLIC l GURES *EWS AND NON *EWS ALIKE AMONG THEM (EINRICH VON 3Y BEL 2UDOLF VON 'NEIST AND 7ERNER VON 3IEMENS 4HEIR STATEMENT REFERRED TO ANTI 3EMITISM AS A CONTAGIOUS PLAGUE THAT THREATENED TO POISON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN *EWS AND #HRISTIANS /N .OVEMBER THE DECLARATION T e Historical Jesus • 55
WAS PUBLISHED IN THE "ERLIN DAILY National-Zeitung AND MARKED A TURNING POINT IN THE CONm ICT )N $ECEMBER (EINRICH 'RAETZ WAS ONE OF THE l RST TO RESPOND TO 4REITSCHKES REMARKS (E POINTED TO THE UNTEN ABILITY OF THE ALLEGATIONS AND HE REFUTED 4REITSCHKES CLAIM THAT HE HAD CONSTRUCTED A *EWISH STATE WITHIN A STATE )T WAS HOWEVER MAINLY *EWISH ACADEMICS AND SCHOLARS WHO SPOKE OUT AGAINST 4REITSCHKES ALLEGATIONS INCLUDING THE "RESLAU RABBI *OEL -ANUEL n THE COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGIST -ORITZ ,AZARUS n THE MEDIEVALIST (ARRY "RESLAU n THE PHILOSOPHER (ERMANN #O HEN n AND 4REITSCHKES FELLOW .ATIONAL ,IBERAL 0ARTY MEMBERS ,UDWIG "AMBERGER n AND (EIN RICH "ERNHARD /PPENHEIM n *EWISH HOPES SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE EMANCIPATION PERIOD FROM )S RAEL *ACOBSONS PLEA FOR hJOINT PROGRESS TO IMPROVEMENTv TO !BRAHAM 'EIGERS CALL FOR THE hEQUALITY OF *UDAISM WITH OTHER DENOMINATIONS v HAD BEEN BADLY DAMAGED BY BOTH 3TOECKER AND 4REITSCHKE .OW ANY *EWISH INTENT TO CLAIM EQUALITY WITHIN THE WIDER 'ERMAN SOCIETY WAS RECEIVED WITH GROWING OPPOSITION 4HIS WAS ESPECIALLY TRUE WHERE *EWS ALLUDED TO THE *EWISH ORIGIN OF *ESUS )N !UGUST BEFORE 3TOECKERS AND 4REITSCHKES PO LEMICS -AX ,IEBERMANN n CAUSED A MAJOR SCAN DAL WITH HIS PAINTING The Twelve-Year-Old Jesus in the Temple. 4HE PAINTING PORTRAYED THE BOY *ESUS AS A YOUNG *EW IN A NATURALISTIC MANNER 'IVEN ,IEBERMANNS *EWISH BACKGROUND MANY CLAIMED HE WAS CALLING #HRISTIAN ICO NOGRAPHY INTO QUESTION (OWEVER ,IEBERMANN HAD MERELY CREATED A *EWISH *ESUS PORTRAIT ENTIRELY IN KEEPING WITH THE LITERARY SKETCHES OF !BRAHAM 'EIGER AND (EINRICH 'RAETZ 0UBLIC OUTRAGE FED BY ANTI *EWISH SENTIMENT WAS SO GREAT THAT EVEN THE "AVARIAN 0ARLIAMENT WAS FORCED INTO DISCUSS ING ,IEBERMANNS DEPICTION 'ERMAN SENTIMENT IT WAS PRO CLAIMED HAD BEEN INSULTED BY THE BLASPHEMOUS PAINTING #OURT CHAPLAIN !DOLF 3TOECKER AIMED A BARRAGE OF INSULTS 56 • Jesus Reclaimed
AT THE ARTIST h2EMEMBER GENTLEMEN OF )SRAEL THAT FOR US #HRIST IS JUST AS HOLY AS THE ,ORD 9(7( IS FOR YOU AND INSTEAD OF CONDEMNING OUR ANGER YOU OUGHT TO HONOR AND RESPECT IT "UT THE "ERLIN COMIC PAGES ALL *EWISH EXCRE MENT MOCKING AND RIDICULING ALL THINGS #HRISTIAN AND OFTEN IN A SINGLE ISSUE THREE FOUR TIMES WHO KNOWS WHO READS THESE l LTHY PAGESv )N RESPONSE TO THE STORM OF PUBLIC INDIGNATION ,IEBER MANN PAINTED OVER THE PAINTING BEFORE IT WAS AGAIN SHOWN IN 0ARIS IN 4HANKS TO AN EXTANT SKETCH WE KNOW THAT ,IEBERMANN ORIGINALLY DEPICTED A BAREFOOT BOY WITH SHORT UNKEMPT BLACK HAIR AND A STEREOTYPICALLY *EWISH PROl LE 4HE BOY IN THE SKETCH SPEAKS CONl DENTLY AND WITH A m OUR ISH 4HE REVISED PAINTING WAS NOT SHOWN UNTIL THE "ERLIN 3ECESSION %XHIBITION OF
Leo Baeck and Adolf von Harnack: Controversy and Clashes between the Jewish and Christian Quests
)N !DOLF VON (ARNACK n PUBLISHED THE SIXTEEN LECTURES ON THE h%SSENCE OF #HRISTIANITYv WHICH HE HAD DELIVERED AT "ERLINS &RIEDRICH 7ILHELM 5NIVERSITY IN THE WINTER SEMESTER OF n AND WHICH HAD ATTRACTED HUGE ATTENTION )N What Is Christianity?, (ARNACK TRIED TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION USING BOTH THE ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE OF HISTORY AND THE EXPERIENCE OF LIFE GAINED FROM LIVED HIS TORY !CCORDING TO (ARNACK hTHE MEANS x OF THE DISCI PLINE OF HISTORY ESTABLISH A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP x WITH THE LIFE EXPERIENCE WHICH IS ACQUIRED FROM EXPERIENCED HIS TORYv 4HE HISTORICAL METHOD IS THEREFORE THE APPROPRIATE WAY FOR MODERN CONSCIOUSNESS TO LEAD TO AN UNDERSTAND ING OF ITSELF BECAUSE hWHAT WE ARE AND WHAT WE POSSESS IN ANY HIGH SENSE WE POSSESS FROM THE PAST AND BY THE PASTONLY SO MUCH OF IT OF COURSE AS HAS HAD RESULTS AND MAKES ITS INm UENCE FELT UP TO THE PRESENT DAYv &OR THE T e Historical Jesus • 57
HISTORIAN THE hBUSINESS AND HIGHEST DUTY IS TO DETERMINE WHAT IS OF PERMANENT VALUE IS OF NECESSITY REQUIRED NOT TO CLEAVE TO WORDS BUT TO l ND OUT WHAT IS ESSENTIALv 4HIS INCLUDES THE NOTION THAT A hPURELY HISTORICAL SURVEYv CAN NOT BE CLEANLY ABSTRACTED FROM hHISTORICAL CONSIDERATIONSv GIVEN THAT THEY ARE ALWAYS A hSUBJECTIVE ACTv (ARNACK ALSO APPLIES THIS NEWLY DEl NED HISTORICAL METHOD TO #HRISTIANITY ITSELF 4HE hSUBSTANCEv OF #HRIS TIANITY IS h*ESUS #HRIST AND HIS 'OSPEL v WHOSE hESSENCEv AS HISTORICAL PERSONALITY CAN ONLY BE RECONSTRUCTED FROM WITHIN ITS OWN INm UENCE 4HE 'OSPELS CONTAIN hSOME THING WHICH UNDER DIFFERING HISTORICAL FORMS IS OF PERMA NENT VALIDITY v AND AT THE SAME TIME THE CRITERION USED BY THIS hPERMANENT VALIDITYv CAN BE DEl NED AS hTHE 'OSPEL IN THE 'OSPELv (ARNACKS REFERENCE BACK TO THE CREATIVE POWER OF THE PERSONALITY OF *ESUS FOR THE PURPOSE OF DE TERMINING THE NATURE OF HISTORICAL #HRISTIANITY IS ALSO AN EXPRESSION OF THE CONNECTION BETWEEN PERSONALITY AND HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT THAT IS FUNDAMENTAL TO HIS UNDER STANDING OF HISTORY )T IS ALSO THE BASIS OF THE SYSTEMATIC UNFOLDING OF HIS THESIS CONCERNING THE DEVELOPMENT OF DOGMAS THAT DOGMA IS A PRODUCT OF THE (ELLENIZATION OF THE 'OSPEL )F THE NONDOGMATIC PROCLAMATION OF #HRISTI ANITY IN THE 'OSPELS BY *ESUS REPRESENTS THE ORIGINAL CORE OF #HRISTIANITY IT IS ALSO NECESSARY ON THE OTHER HAND TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE CREATIVE ELEMENT IN THE APPEARANCE OF *E SUS INSOFAR AS IT EXPLODED THE SCOPE OF HIS TIME *UDAISM AT THE TIME OF *ESUS IS THEREFORE NOT REPRESENTED IN ITS OWN SETTING BUT PRIMARILY REPRESENTED AS AN OUTDATED OBSOLETE PRECURSOR TO #HRISTIANITY AND ONE WHICH THREATENS TO DE GENERATE INTO A PURELY RHETORICAL ANTITHESIS
h7HAT DO YOU WANT WITH YOUR #HRIST v WE ARE ASKED PRINCIPALLY BY *EWISH SCHOLARS hHE INTRO DUCED NOTHING NEWv 4O ANSWER WITH 7ELLHAU SEN )T IS QUITE TRUE THAT WHAT *ESUS PROCLAIMED 58 • Jesus Reclaimed
WHAT *OHN THE "APTIST EXPRESSED BEFORE HIM IN HIS EXHORTATIONS TO REPENTANCE WAS ALSO TO BE FOUND IN THE PROPHETS AND EVEN IN THE *EWISH TRADITION OF THEIR TIME 4HE 0HARISEES THEMSELVES WERE IN POSSESSION OF IT BUT UNFORTUNATELY THEY WERE IN POSSESSION OF MUCH ELSE BESIDES x 4HEY REDUCED EVERYTHING TO ONE DEAD LEVEL x !S REGARDS PU RITY THE SPRING OF HOLINESS HAD INDEED LONG BEEN OPENED BUT IT WAS CHOKED WITH SAND AND DIRT AND ITS WATER WAS POLLUTED &OR RABBIS AND THEOLOGIANS TO COME AFTERWARDS AND DISTIL THIS WATER EVEN IF THEY WERE SUCCESSFUL MAKES NO DIFFERENCE
!LTHOUGH THE 0HARISEES HAD ALREADY PREACHED THE CENTRAL COMMANDMENT OF LOVE OF 'OD AND NEIGHBOR THEIR TEACH ING REMAINED INEFFECTIVE BECAUSE IT WAS hWEAKv AND CON SEQUENTLY HARMFUL 4HESE PRONOUNCEMENTS ONLY RECEIVED HISTORICAL MOMENTUM BY hTHE POWER OF PERSONALITY THAT STANDS BEHIND THEM "UT HE ;*ESUS= @TAUGHT AS ONE HAVING AUTHORITY AND NOT AS THE 3CRIBESv )T IS THE SOURCE OF THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE 'OSPEL THAT IT hMAKES ITS APPEAL TO THE INNER MAN WHO x ALWAYS REMAINS THE SAMEv "Y HIGHLIGHTING THE INDIVIDUAL AS 'ODS CREATURE THE MESSAGE OF *ESUS COMMUNICATES FOR THE l RST TIME AND IN AN UNSURPASSABLE MANNER THE IDEA OF hTHE INl NITE VALUE OF THE HUMAN SOULv 4HE ESSENCE OF #HRISTIANITY IS AC CORDING TO (ARNACK TO HAVE GIVEN HUMANITY THE AWARE NESS OF THEIR OWN INDIVIDUALITY BY PLACING INDIVIDUALS IN DIRECT RELATIONSHIP WITH 'OD THE &ATHER $ESPITE THE PROPHETS MESSAGE OF AN ETHICAL MONOTHEISM CELEBRATED AS A hTREMENDOUS STEP FORWARD IN THE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS v IN *ESUSS TIME THE ETHICAL SYSTEM hWAS BOTH AMPLE AND PRO FOUNDv BUT SO OVERGROWN WITH RITUAL AND LITURGY THAT hTHE MORALITY OF HOLINESS HAD INDEED BEEN TRANSFORMED INTO SOMETHING THAT WAS THE CLEAN OPPOSITE OF ITv !GAINST THIS TENDENCY *ESUS PROCLAIMED A hHIGHER RIGHTEOUSNESSv THAT Te Historical Jesus • 59 found expression in mercy and love, and not in the Old Testament reckoning of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”99 Because of his prominent position within Protestant theology and also because of his engagement in science pol- icy, Adolf von Harnack was, in the eyes of many Jews, the ambassador of German academic culture par excellence. His controversial position in the battle for the “freedom of science” made him particularly interesting as a historian and as a critic of Christian dogma for modern Jewish the- ology until the first decades of the twentieth century. The anti-Jewish polemic in Harnack’s “Essence of Christian- ity” was intensified—from the Jewish perspective—by the fact that the lecture series was conceived and promoted as open “to students of all schools and departments.”100 The location of the event added further concern—Berlin, the city in which academic anti-Semitism had its roots, the city with the largest Jewish community, and also, next to Frankfurt, the main center for liberal Judaism and the Wis- senschaft des Judentums (Science of Judaism). The Jewish confrontation with Harnack’s “Essence of Christianity” was of a very public nature. There were numerous lectures at various venues—congregations, learned societies, and so forth—on this issue; a number of these lectures were also published. Public discussions of Harnack’s lectures were not limited to professional theological journals such as the Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums (Monthly for History and Study of Judaism), but occurred even more frequently in newspapers, such as the principal organ of liberal Judaism, the Allgemeine Zeitung des Judenthums, (General Newspaper of Judaism; founded by Ludwig Philippson and subtitled “a non-par- tisan organ for all Jewish interests”). Joseph Eschelbacher began his editorial with the following sentence: “We very frequently hear the opinions of Christians about Judaism and the Jewish religion, while opinions of Jews and in 60 • Jesus Reclaimed
PARTICULAR OF *EWISH THEOLOGIANS CONCERNING #HRISTENDOM AND THE #HRISTIAN RELIGION ARE VERY RAREv 2EACTION TO THE EDITORIAL IN THE *EWISH PRESS WAS GENERALLY POSITIVEFOR EXAMPLE A REVIEW ON THE FRONT PAGE OF Ost und West %AST AND 7EST IN &EBRUARY 4HE (ARNACK LECTURES ACTED AS A CATALYST FOR THE RENEWAL OF SPIRITUAL AND ACADEMIC STRUCTURES WITHIN *UDAISM !LREADY IN THE Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaft des Judentums 3OCIETY FOR THE 0ROMOTION OF THE 3CIENCE OF *UDAISM WAS FOUNDED IN "ERLIN )TS TASK WAS THE PREPARATION AND PUBLICATION OF A CONCEPTUAL DE SIGN OF A hSCIENCE OF *UDAISMv ,EO "AECKS AND *OSEPH %S CHELBACHERS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE h%SSENCE OF #HRISTIANITYv DEBATE WERE THE l RST TITLES PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY )N THE SAME YEAR THE Liberaler Verein für die Angelegenheiten der jüdischen Gemeinde zu Berlin ,IBERAL !SSOCIATION FOR THE !FFAIRS OF THE "ERLIN *EWISH #OMMUNITY FOUNDED IN OFFERED A PRIZE IN THE "ERLIN DAILY Tageblatt FOR THE BEST WORK ON THE hESSENCE OF *UDAISMv 4HE *EWISH CLAIM TO EQUALITY AND THE ACCEPTANCE OF A LIVING *EWISH FAITH BOTH AT THE TIME OF *ESUS AND IN MODERN TIMES WAS AT THE CENTER OF THE *EWISH CONTRIBUTION TO THE h%SSENCE OF #HRISTIANITYv DEBATE !ND *EWISH SCHOLARS SUCH AS ,EO "AECK WERE WILL ING TO ENGAGE IN THIS DEBATE WHICH FOR BOTH *EWISH AND FOR #HRISTIAN THINKERS GRADUALLY DESCENDED INTO AN ARGUMENT ABOUT THE SUPERIORITY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE RELIGIONS )N ADDITION TO ,EO "AECKS CONTRIBUTIONS THE MOST IM PORTANT WRITINGS WERE Was lehrt uns Harnack? 7HAT #AN WE ,EARN FROM (ARNACK BY &ELIX 0ERLES n RABBI OF +ÚNIGSBERG Die jüngsten Urteile über das Judentum 4HE -OST 2ECENT *UDGMENTS ABOUT *UDAISM BY -ARTIN 3CHREINER n !RABIC SCHOLAR AND PROFESSOR OF *EWISH HISTORY AND LITERATURE AT THE "ERLIN Lehranstalt für die Wissenschaft des Judentums !CAD EMY FOR *EWISH 3TUDIES AND TWO WORKS BY THE "RESLAU RABBI *OSEPH %SCHELBACHER n Das Judentum und Te Historical Jesus • 61
das Wesen des Christentums (Judaism and the Essence of Christianity, 1904) and Das Judentum im Urteil der mod- ernen protestantischen Theologie (Judaism in the Judg- ments of Modern Protestant Theology, 1907).103 The main target for Jewish criticism was Harnack’s thesis, borrowed from Julius Wellhausen, of a religious degeneration process in postexilic Judaism. As a result, it was claimed, Christianity’s origins in Judaism were played down. This meant a twofold negation of Judaism, that is, of historical as well as modern Judaism because modern Judaism should only be understood as part of the continuum of the history of Judaism.104 The reasons for this judgment from a Jewish perspec- tive were as follows:105
1. Disregard of research from the science of Judaism, above all regarding the relation between Jesus or early Christianity and the Judaism of the time (Jü- dische Leben-Jesu-Forschung).106 2. The lack of awareness of rabbinic literature (e.g., Harnack’s equating of halakha and aggadah was criticized). Jewish authors invariably accused Har- nack of not differentiating between ritual and ethi- cal provisions in the Talmud.107
Against the background of the particular historical situa- tion of the Jews at the turn of the twentieth century, Har- nack’s theses, with their anti-Jewish polemics, could only be understood as a serious threat by the Jewish community. From Harnack’s perspective it was irrelevant if Je- sus taught something new. Important to him was the fact that Jesus proclaimed his teachings in a unique fashion, “pure” and “powerful.”108 One must not believe in Jesus, but believe as he believed, in the paternal love of God and the infinite value of the human soul. A contemporary of Har nack’s, Paul Wernle (1872–1939), put it as follows: 62 • Jesus Reclaimed h4HE HISTORY OF RELIGION DOES NOT PRIMARILY PROGRESS IN THAT COMPLETELY NEW IDEAS EMERGE BUT IN THAT AN ENTIRELY NEW SERIOUSNESS IS MADE OF THE OLD IDEASv 7HOEVER UN DERSTANDS *ESUS AS REVITALIZER IS IN DANGER OF PATHOLOGIZING *UDAISM 4HIS IS WHAT 7ILHELM "OUSSET n DID IN AN EARLY WORK IN WHICH HE SOUGHT TO SEPARATE *ESUSS LIV ING MESSAGE FROM ITS HISTORICAL *EWISH ENVIRONMENT %RNST 4ROELTSCH RIGHTLY CRITICIZED HIS FRIEND FOR IT h9OU HAVE RE POSITIONED THE UNIQUENESS OF *ESUS FROM THE DOCTRINAIRE INTO THE VIRTUAL PERSONAL OF AWARENESS OF LIFE v BUT IN THE PROCESS hYOU PAINTED *UDAISM COMPLETELY BLACKv /NE OF THE MOST SUSTAINABLE RESPONSES TO (ARNACKS LECTURES CAME FROM ,EO "AECK 7ITH STALWART AND STURDY POLEMIC "AECK DEVELOPED THE OUTLINE OF AN ESSENCE OF *U DAISM FROM THE CRITICISM OF #HRISTIANITY (ARNACK HAD POR TRAYED IN HIS LECTURES &OR "AECK *ESUS WAS hA GENUINELY *EWISH PERSONALITYv "AECK WITH REFERENCE TO !BRAHAM 'EIGER CONSIDERED (ARNACKS DENIAL OF THE *EWISHNESS OF THIS l GURE A TYPICAL INSTANCE OF THE ACADEMIC hSPECIAL TREATMENTv OF *UDAISM (E CRITICIZED THE CONTEMPT WITH WHICH (ARNACK DISMISSED *EWISH SCHOLARSHIP AND LITERA TURE 4HIS NEGLECT LEADS ACCORDING TO "AECK TO A FALSE VIEW OF *UDAISM AT THE TIME OF *ESUS AND AN ERROR OF JUDGMENT CONCERNING THE 0HARISEES ,EO "AECK COUNTERED (ARNACKS PRESENTATION OF *UDA ISM WITH THE IMAGE OF A hSPIRITUALv AND DEEPLY UNIVERSAL *EWISH FAITH THAT IS DETERMINED BY ETHICAL STANDARDS AND WHOSE PIETY IS CHARACTERIZED BY GOOD WORKS AND CONl DENCE 4HE hESSENCE OF *UDAISMv WAS FOR HIM GROUNDED IN THE ETHICAL MONOTHEISM OF THE PROPHETS 7AS IT NECES SARY FOR 'OD TO SEND THE WORLD A SAVIOR IN THE FORM OF *E SUS #HRIST !ND WHAT VALIDITY DID THE OLD PATH OF BIBLICAL COMMANDMENT RETAIN AFTER THAT &OR "AECK THIS REMAINS THE CORE QUESTION OF THE *EWISH IDENTITY CRISIS SINCE 0AUL )N AT THE HEIGHT OF .ATIONAL 3OCIALISM ,EO "AECK PUBLISHED Das Evangelium als Urkunde der jüdischen Te Historical Jesus • 63
Glaubensgeschichte (The Gospel as a Document of the History of Jewish Faith), in which he tried to prove that, throughout his life, Jesus remained a devout Jew to whom it would never have occurred to found a new religion, let alone to have himself worshiped as a god: “In this old tra- dition we behold a man who is Jewish in every feature and trait of his character, manifesting in every particular what is pure and good in Judaism. This man could only have developed on the soil of Judaism; and only on this soil, too, could he find his disciples and followers as they were. Here alone, in this Jewish sphere, in a Jewish atmo- sphere of trust and longing, could this man live his life and meet his death—a Jew among Jews.”114 Baeck made his intentions clear in the preface:
The question how the Gospels in the New Tes- tament could have developed out of the ancient message of Jesus the messiah has been much dis- puted. But like the question of the original mean- ing of these tidings, it can really be approached in one way only by way of the sphere in which all these events took shape. Only in terms of its own space and time will everything become clear to us. We must understand the nature of oral tradition as it was then alive in Palestinian Judaism. We must penetrate its very soul and grasp the essentially poetic manner in which tradition in those days was handed down and apprehended. Only then will harmony and discrepancy in our Gospels be grasped, too. For the Gospels must be understood, not in terms of textual sources out of which they might have been composed, but in terms of the tradition out of which they originated. … A life of Jesus can be written, if at all, only after one has determined what the first generation after Jesus related and handed down. … Our conclusion was 64 • Jesus Reclaimed
NOT SUMMONED IT APPEARED 4HE 'OSPEL EMERGES AS A PIECE NOT INCONSIDERABLE OF *EWISH HISTORY A TESTIMONY OF *EWISH FAITH
"AECKS PURSUIT OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS EXEMPLIl ES *EW ISH ATTEMPTS TO UNDERSTAND THE TEACHINGS OF *ESUS AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF *EWISH TRADITION AND HISTORY "AECKS CRI TIQUE OF #HRISTIANITY UNFOLDS LIKE A MODEL OF THE hPOLARITYv OR CONTRAST BETWEEN hCLASSICALv AND hROMANTICv RELIGION AND THE TENSION BETWEEN hMYSTERYv AND hCOMMANDMENTv IN EVERY RELIGION /UT OF THIS POLARITY ONE CAN DEDUCE THE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA FOR A DEEPER ANALYSIS OF *UDAISM AND #HRISTIANITY "AECK IDENTIl ED AND DISTINGUISHED TWO DIF FERENT PRIMARY CURRENTS OF TRADITION FOR #HRISTIANITY 0AUL !UGUSTINE AND -ARTIN ,UTHER REPRESENT THE ELEMENT OF MYSTERY THE DOMAIN OF ROMANTIC RELIGION *ESUS 0ELAGIUS AND #ALVIN REPRESENT THE ELEMENT OF COMMANDMENT THE DOMAIN OF CLASSICAL RELIGION "UT WHEREAS IN THE hTRADI TIONALv RELIGIONS TO WHICH *UDAISM BELONGED THERE WAS A PERFECT BALANCE BETWEEN MYSTERY AND COMMANDMENT #HRISTIANITY WAS PRIMARILY FORMED BY 0AUL AND ,UTHER AND CONSEQUENTLY EMBODIES THE ROMANTIC RELIGION THAT ULTI MATELY DENIES HUMAN BEINGS THE ABILITY OF MORAL CREATIVE POWER "AECKS TYPOLOGY MAY REMOVE MAJOR SUPPORTIVE PIL LARS FROM #HRISTIANITY BUT IT ALSO POINTS IN AN IMPORTANT DIRECTION FOR UNDERSTANDING HIS CONCERN THE MEANING OF HUMANITY &OR THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN *UDAISM AND #HRIS TIANITY DOES NOT LIE IN THE PERSON OF *ESUS FOR "AECK h4HE FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN *UDAISM AND #HRISTIAN ITY AS IT DERIVES FROM THE 0AULINE THEOLOGY HAS ITS CRUCIAL STARTING POINT IN THE TEACHING OF HUMAN NATURE )T IS THE OLD BIBLICAL VIEW x THAT MAN WAS CREATED IN THE LIKENESS OF 'OD THAT A CREATIVE POWER LIVES INSIDE HIM AND AN ABILITY TO MAKE DECISIONS THE FREEDOM GIVEN TO HIM IS SUCH THAT THE COMMANDMENT OF 'OD BEFORE HIM AS A MORAL TASK MAY Te Historical Jesus • 65 draw near.”116 A man can freely choose between good and evil during his lifetime. If he errs, he is free to correct this. And because he can, he should. This view is diametrically opposed to the Pauline doctrine of grace within Christian- ity and its insistence on humanity’s need for redemption. And it is here, in the area of morals and ethics, that the actual gap between Judaism and Christianity can be seen. At the center of the dispute was the question of the messi- ahship of Jesus. Time and again in this context, Harnack’s claim was cited that there was “nothing new” in the Gos- pel of Jesus. Regarding this statement, Jewish theologians and scholars emphasized that the elements dividing Judaism and Christianity were only introduced into Christianity by Paul. From the Jewish perspective, that meant (1) the Christian acceptance of Jesus through the dogmatic inter- pretation of his teachings in terms of Logos Christology, (2) the emptying of the concept of monotheism by the doctrine of the Trinity, and (3) the limiting of the ethical content of Jesus’s message by dogmatizing it. The develop- ment of the dogma was traced to the repression of Judaism, that is, of Jewish Christianity, by the universal Christian- ity of Paul’s grace, and the process set into motion by this formation. This not only refers to an irrefutable link be- tween the Jewish position and arguments presented by Harnack’s critique of dogma. But it also infers that this Jewish critique of Pauline Christianity and liberal Prot- estant theology unite in their opposition to the estab- lished, authoritative interpretation of Christianity found in Catholicism and conservative Protestantism. Basically, Judaism is uncomfortable with the emphasis on central founders in religions. While for Harnack Christianity’s uniqueness lay in the power of the personality of Jesus himself, Hermann Cohen (1842–1918) asked if religion needed founding figures at all. At the Weltkongress für Freies Christentum und Re- 66 • Jesus Reclaimed ligiösen Fortschritt &IFTH #ONFERENCE OF THE #OUNCIL OF 5NITARIAN AND /THER ,IBERAL 4HINKERS AND 7ORKERS IN "ERLIN IN #OHEN GAVE A LECTURE ON h$IE "EDEUTUNG DES *UDENTUMS FàR DEN RELIGIÚSEN &ORTSCHRITT DER -ENSCH HEITv 4HE 3IGNIl CANCE OF *UDAISM FOR 2ELIGIOUS 0ROGRESS AND SAID h7HEREVER RELIGION IS CLOSELY LINKED TO A PER SONALITY IT FACES A MAJOR PROBLEM IT IS IN DANGER OF BEING MYTHOLOGIZED &OR MYTH MEANS BASICALLY A PERSONIl CATION OF THE NON PERSONAL 4HE FACT THAT *UDAISM DOES NOT EX PECT THE HOPED FOR AND ULTIMATE DIVINE ACTUNIl CATION OF 'ODS CHILDREN IN HARMONY AND FAITHFULNESSTO BE AC COMPLISHED BY A PERSON SHOWS HOW DIFFERENT IT IS FROM MYTHv #ONSTRUCTIVE *EWISH CRITIQUE FROM (ARNACK FOCUSED IN ON THE CONTINUITY BETWEEN PRE AND POSTEXILIC *UDAISM AND THE RESULTING CONSTITUTIVE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN *ESUS AND THE *UDAISM OF HIS TIME 4HIS CONTINUITY ENSURES ESPECIALLY IN VIEW OF THE THEOLOGICAL CONTENTTHAT *UDA ISM CAN IN NO WAY BE VIEWED AS AN OBSOLETE PRECURSOR OF #HRISTIANITY BUT RATHER AS THE CRUCIAL FOUNDATION FOR TO DAYS #HRISTIANITY 4HE (ARNACK "AECK DEBATE MARKS THE l RST ENCOUNTER AND CONTROVERSY BETWEEN A #HRISTIAN AND A *EWISH THEOLOGIAN ON THE FORMATIVE PERIOD OF #HRISTIANITY )T WAS A STRONG ATTEMPT ON THE *EWISH SIDE TO POINT OUT THE LASTING RELEVANCE OF *UDAISM IN LINE WITH THE BELIFES OF *E SUS OF .AZARETH HIMSELF 4HE *ERUSALEM "IBLE SCHOLAR 9EHEZKEL +AUFMANN n OUTLINED IT IN THIS WAY h4HE ATTITUDE OF *E SUS TOWARD THE 4ORAH IS THE SAME AS THAT OF THE MASTERS OF THE (ALACHAH AND !GGADAH THE TRADITION THE 0HARISEES FOLLOWED 4HE 4ORAH IS THE ETERNAL BASIS OF THEIR OWN POSI TIONS AND TEACHINGS EVEN IF THEY APPEAR TO DIVERGE SHARPLY FROM THE LITERAL MEANING x *ESUS BELIEVED THAT HIS TEACH INGS WERE ONLY A COMPLETION OR EXPLICATION OF THE TEACH ING OF THE 4ORAH SIGNPOSTS TO INVITE US PEOPLE HOW WE SHOULD LIVE AND BEHAVE IN THEIR SPIRITv 4HE EVIDENCE FOR Te Historical Jesus • 67
Jesus’s rabbinic Jewish heritage—his profound knowledge in this field—served at the same time as an argument for the existence of a modern Judaism in Christian-dominated contemporary culture. Another goal was to ascertain the right to equality with the Christian denominations and the proof that Judaism represented an enrichment of the “national spirit” and consequently constituted a genuine asset for Germany. Outside of Germany too, liberal Jews attempted to build bridges of understanding with Christianity across the confrontation with the Jewish Jesus. The British scholar Claude G. Montefiore (1858–1938), who later be- came president of the World Union for Progressive Juda- ism, wrote a positive study on the Gospels in 1909, and in his two-volume work The Synoptic Gospels (1909) he attempted to include Jesus in the series of the great prophets of Israel.119 Ten years earlier, Kaufmann Kohler (1843–1926), a leading German-born representative of the American Reform movement, treated Jesus of Nazareth as a reformer in his time.120 Kohler understood Jesus as one of many messiahs, whose death could not be accepted by “the excited imagination” of his followers. Paul was pri- marily responsible for the negative development of Chris- tianity by introducing a pagan mythology into Christian doctrine with his interpretation of the Crucifixion of Jesus as God’s Son’s atoning sacrifice.121 The exemplary arguments presented here are by no means passé. Even modern Christian theologians face the challenge of explaining how Jesus could found something new when everything he said and did had Jewish paral- lels. In The First Followers of Jesus: A Sociological Analy- sis of the Earliest Christianity,122 the Heidelberg Protestant theologian Gerd Theissen describes Jesus’s innovation as “the revitalization of the Jewish religion by Jesus.” In A Theory of Primitive Christian Religion he expands this. The originality of Jesus lay in the fact that the old was 68 • Jesus Reclaimed revitalized from a central tenet, the belief in the one and only God.123
What we can observe is a revitalizing of the Jewish sign language. In other words: Jesus lived, thought, worked and died as a Jew. One of the most impor- tant results of 200 years of modern research into Je- sus is that he belongs to two religions: to Judaism, to which he was attached with all his heart, and to Christianity, whose central point of reference he be- came after his death—on the basis of interpretations of his person which his Jewish followers gave.124
As we have seen, this was the same view taken by Har- nack and others in the nineteenth century, and this in turn provides evidence for Christian-Jewish agreement when it remains beyond the dogmatic claim of a kerygmatic Christ. This is not altogether without risk; if one ascribes more vitality to Jesus, do you not, then, deny any vital- ity to the very Jewish environment which later developed into modern Judaism?
Te Jewish Quest from Joseph Klausner to Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich
I will now turn to some more recent Jewish efforts to ac- knowledge and identify the historical Jesus. What is re- markable is the variety of German Jewish scholars within the wider concert of international voices. After three waves of the quest, some Christian schol- ars today tend to emphasize the limitations of an his- torical approach toward Jesus. As we have seen, this tendency was epitomized in the twentieth century by examples such as the Protestant New Testament scholar Rudolf Bultmann’s. In the following chapter Te Historical Jesus • 69 we shall see that Joseph Ratzinger took a similar approach in the twenty-first century when he addressed the topic from a Catholic perspective in his Jesus trilogy (published in 2007, 2011, and 2012). Analogously, the Jewish side is growing more and more interested in the historical Jesus. Joseph Klausner’s (1874–1958) Hebrew Jesus mono- graph Yeshu ha-Notsri appeared in 1922 in Jerusalem; it created a sensation and was sharply attacked. The Ger- man translation was published in 1930 and it was quickly acknowledged as “the first large-scale scholarly represen- tation of the life and teachings of Jesus from the Jewish perspective.”125 In his summary to the six-hundred-page book, Klausner argued that the differences between Juda- ism and the teachings of Jesus “Ex nihilo nihil fit.” If the teachings of Jesus did not contain the opposite to Juda- ism, it would have been impossible for Paul to use them to justify abolishing the ceremonial laws and to break through the barriers of particularistic Judaism. His con- clusion: “On the one hand, this doctrine led, even though it was influenced by the spirit of prophetic and partly also of Pharisaic Judaism, to the denial of all practical and re- ligious Jewish necessities of life, and on the other hand, it also increased spiritual Judaism to such an extreme that it flipped almost dialectically into its own opposite. So before us arises the strange picture: Judaism gave birth to Christianity in its original form (as a teaching of Jesus), but it disowned the daughter, as she attempted to smother her mother in a deadly embrace.”126 Nevertheless, “Jesus is, for the Jewish nation, a great teacher of morality and an artist in parable. He is the moralist for whom, in the religious life, morality counts as—everything.”127 By 1931 more than four hundred critical essays had appeared in twelve languages about Klausner’s book. It was the first time that all the then-known material about Jesus, including previously unacknowledged sources, had been compiled. The attempt to reconstruct, or rather to 70 • Jesus Reclaimed
CONSTRUCT A HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE OF *ESUS ON THE BA SIS OF THE 'OSPELS WAS NOT ONLY MET WITH APPROVAL h(ERE THE FUNDAMENTAL ASSUMPTION OF THE AUTHOR THAT THE 'OS PELS CAN SERVE AS HISTORICAL SOURCES MUST DEl NITELY BE DIS PUTED v ARGUED THE 6IENNESE RABBI "ENJAMIN -URMELSTEIN IN HIS REVIEW /NE UNIQUE VOICE WAS THE BIOCHEMIST AND SCHOLAR OF RELIGION %DUARD 3TRAUSS n A KEY MEMBER OF THE Freies Jüdisches Lehrhaus )NDEPENDENT *EWISH !CADEMY FOR !DULT 3TUDIES IN &RANKFURT THE SCHOOL WAS FOUNDED AND CHAIRED BY &RANZ 2OSENZWEIG )N THE S 3TRAUSS DISCUSSED THE .EW 4ESTAMENT "UDDHISM AND MYSTICISM IN THE RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD 7E STILL HAVE FOUR OF HIS LEC TURES ON #HRISTIANITY 4HE PLANNED BOOK WAS NEVER PUB LISHED AND A LOT OF THE UNDATED MATERIAL CAN BE FOUND AT THE ,EO "AECK )NSTITUTE IN .EW 9ORK (IS LECTURES ON h*ESUS OF .AZARETH v h0AUL THE 0ROSELYTIZER v AND h!UGUS TINE THE #ONVERTv WERE PUBLISHED BY -ARTIN "UBER IN HIS JOURNAL Der Jude 4HE *EW THE ONE ON h&RANCIS OF !SSISIv WAS PUBLISHED IN Die Kreatur 4HE #REATURE 3TRAUSSS CRI TIQUE *ESUS COMES hBETWEEN 'OD AND MAN BETWEEN THE ,ORD AND HIS ETERNAL PEOPLEv *ESUSS hBUT ) SAY UNTO YOUv DROWNS OUT THE hWE THE PEOPLE OF THE /NE v AND WHEN *ESUS CONFRONTS hTHE *EWISH @WE WITH HIS @) WITH THE SAME CLAIM OF ETERNITY HE STEPS OUT OF THE COVENANT OF 'OD WITH US INTO AN INDIVIDUAL COVENANT AND LEAVES *UDAISMv (OW *ESUS REPRESENTS HIS INDIVIDUALISTIC PATH AS A MODEL hIS SOLITARY AND MUST IN SOLITARY CONCEPTION CONTINUOUSLY CREATE FOR ITSELF NEW SOLITARY ONES AS WITNESSES v SUCH AS 0AUL 4HE PHILOSOPHER OF RELIGION -ARTIN "UBER n IS OFTEN QUOTED REGARDING HIS REFERENCE TO HIMSELF AS THE BROTHER OF *ESUS
&ROM MY YOUTH ONWARDS ) HAVE FOUND IN *ESUS MY GREAT BROTHER 4HAT #HRISTIANITY HAS REGARDED T e Historical Jesus • 71
HIM AND DOES REGARD HIM AS 'OD AND 3AVIOUR HAS ALWAYS APPEARED TO ME A FACT OF THE HIGHEST IM PORTANCE WHICH FOR HIS SAKE AND MY OWN ) MUST ENDEAVOUR TO UNDERSTAND -Y OWN FRATERNALLY OPEN RELATIONSHIP TO HIM HAS GROWN EVER STRONGER AND CLEARER AND TODAY ) SEE HIM MORE STRONGLY AND CLEARLY THAN EVER BEFORE ) AM MORE THAN EVER CER TAIN THAT A GREAT PLACE BELONGS TO HIM IN )SRAELS HISTORY OF FAITH AND THAT THIS PLACE CANNOT BE DE SCRIBED BY ANY OF THE USUAL CATEGORIES
4HE BRIDGE BUILDER "UBER ALSO STRESSED THE DIVISIVE h*ESUS IS MY OLDER BROTHER BUT THE #HRIST OF THE CHURCH IS A CO LOSSUS WITH FEET OF CLAYv )N NO WAY DOES "UBER ATTRIBUTE MESSIAHSHIP TO *ESUS
) l RMLY BELIEVE THAT THE *EWISH #OMMUNITY DURING ITS REBIRTH WILL RECEIVE *ESUS AND NOT JUST AS A GREAT MAN OF THEIR RELIGIOUS HISTORY BUT ALSO IN THE LIVING CONNECTION OF A MESSIANIC EVENT THAT EXTENDS OVER MILLENNIA THAT WILL CULMINATE IN THE REDEMPTION OF )SRAEL AND THE WORLD "UT ) ALSO BELIEVE l RMLY THAT WE WILL NEVER ACKNOWLEDGE *ESUS AS THE -ES SIAH WHO HAS COME BECAUSE THAT WOULD CONTRADICT THE INNERMOST SENSE OF OUR MESSIANIC PASSION x .O KNOT HAS BEEN TIED IN THE MIGHTY ROPE OF OUR FAITH IN OUR -ESSIAH THAT ATTACHED TO A ROCK ON -OUNT 3INAI STRETCHES UP TO A PYLON STILL INVIS IBLE BUT DRIVEN INTO THE VERY FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH x &OR US THERE IS NO CAUSE OF *ESUS 'OD IS OUR ONLY CAUSE
4OGETHER WITH -ARTIN "UBERS UNDERSTANDING OF *ESUS AS BROTHER THE PIONEERING WORK OF *OSEPH +LAUSNER PAVED THE WAY FOR A NUMBER OF OTHER BOOKS BY *EWISH AUTHORS ABOUT *ESUS OF .AZARETH 4HESE INCLUDE WORKS BY 3CHALOM 72 • Jesus Reclaimed
"EN #HORIN AND 0INCHAS ,APIDE WHO HAVE BECOME VERY POPULAR IN 'ERMAN SPEAKING REGIONS &OR THE *EWISH PHILOSOPHER OF RELIGION AND JOURNAL IST 3CHALOM "EN #HORIN n BORN IN -UNICH IN AS &RITZ 2OSENTHAL AND LATER EMIGRATED FROM THERE TO 0ALESTINE *ESUS WAS A hCENTRAL l GURE IN *EWISH HISTORY v NAMELY AN hARCH MARTYR v OR A hPROTOTYPE v WHO EMBOD IES THE h*EWISH DESTINY OF SUFFERINGv 7HILE 3CHALOM "EN #HORIN DOES NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE .EW 4ESTAMENT AS A hHOLY SCRIPTURE IN THE CANONICAL SENSE v HE AGREES WITH ,EO "AECKS NOTION THAT THE 'OSPEL IS A DOCUMENT hTHAT BELONGS TO THE HISTORY OF *EWISH FAITHv 4HIS MAKES *ESUS WORTHY OF REINTEGRATION INTO THE CONTEXT OF THE *EWISH PEO PLE )N HIS MOST FAMOUS BOOK Bruder Jesus: Der Nazarener in jüdischer Sicht "ROTHER *ESUS 4HE .AZARENE THROUGH *EWISH %YES "EN #HORIN CREATED AN IMAGE OF *ESUS OF .AZARETH AS DEEPLY ROOTED IN THE TRADITION OF THE 0HARI SEES h;)=T IS PROBABLY NOT WRONG TO RECKON *ESUS AMONG THE 0HARISEES ALBEIT AS PART OF AN INTERNAL OPPOSITION MOVE MENT WITHIN THIS LARGEST *UDAIC GROUP OF HIS DAYv "EN #HORIN NOT ONLY APPROACHES *ESUS THROUGH EX EGESIS BUT ALSO THROUGH INTUITION BASED ON HIS hLIFELONG FAMILIARITY WITH THE TEXTv &OR *UDAISM ACCORDING TO "EN #HORIN *ESUS CANNOT BE THE -ESSIAH BECAUSE THE WORLD HAS NOT CHANGED FOR THE BETTER AFTER HIS SACRIl CE ON THE CROSS "EN #HORIN REJECTS *ESUS AS SAVIOR WHO HAS SUFFERED for US (E CAN RELATE HOWEVER TO A *ESUS WHO HAS SUF FERED like HIS *EWISH PEOPLE "Y DEMYTHOLOGIZING *ESUS "EN #HORIN GIVES NEW REALITY TO THE *EWISH TRAITS OF THE .AZARENE *ESUS HAD BEEN FAR TOO SPIRITUALIZED BY A DOG MATIC #HRISTIAN ELEVATION GENERATING THE RISK OF CREATING A SPECTER (OWEVER IN HIS INTENT TO BRING *ESUS HOME TO *UDAISM HE RESORTS TO SPECULATION WHEN HE DISAGREES WITH THE 'OSPELS AND STATES THAT *ESUS IN NO WAY BROKE WITH *EWISH TRADITION &OR EXAMPLE HE PROVIDES NO EVIDENCE T e Historical Jesus • 73
FOR HIS HYPOTHESIS THAT h*ESUS WAS MARRIED LIKE ANY RABBI IN )SRAELv AND HAD CHILDREN !CCORDING TO "EN #HORIN h)N THE *EWISH HISTORICAL VIEW *ESUS ENDS UP A TRAGIC FAILURE 4HAT DOES NOT HOW EVER BELITTLE HIS GREATNESS NOT EVEN IN TERMS OF *EWISH HIS TORICAL UNDERSTANDINGv (E CREATES A PICTURE OF *ESUS AS A HUMAN BEING PAR EXCELLENCE h! MAN SUCH AS YOU AND ) A TYPICAL HUMAN BEING IN HIS OR HER LOWLINESS 4HIS IS THE KIND OF MAN *ESUS UNDERSTOOD HIMSELF TO BE A MAN WHO LIVES AS A MAN A TYPICALLY HUMAN LIFE WITHOUT POSSESSIONS AND SUBJECT TO PAIN )N DESIGNATING HIMSELF @3ON OF -AN *ESUS DOES NOT STAND BEFORE US AS A PROPHET OR THE -ESSIAH BUT AS OUR BROTHER !ND SINCE HE IS THE SON OF MAN THE HUMAN QUESTION ERUPTS WITHIN HIM @7HO AM ) v /UT OF A DEEP SENSE OF KINSHIP WITH THE l GURE OF *ESUS AND THE *EWISH WORLD IN WHICH HE LIVED "EN #HORIN CONCLUDES
*ESUS IS FOR ME AN ETERNAL BROTHERNOT ONLY MY HUMAN BROTHER BUT MY Jewish brother. ) SENSE HIS BROTHERLY HAND CLASPING MINE AND ASKING ME TO FOLLOW HIM )T IS NOT IN THE HAND OF THE -ESSIAH THIS HAND MARKED BY A WOUND IT IS CERTAINLY no divine hand. )T IS RATHER A human HAND IN WHOSE LINES THE DEEPEST SORROW IS INSCRIBED x (IS BE LIEF HIS UNCONDITIONAL BELIEF HIS SIMPLE TRUST IN 'OD THE &ATHER HIS WILLINGNESS TO HUMBLE HIMSELF COMPLETELY BEFORE THE WILL OF 'ODTHAT IS THE AT TITUDE OF WHICH *ESUS IS THE SUPREME EXAMPLE THE ATTITUDE THAT CAN JOIN US *EWS AND #HRISTIANS TO GETHER 4HE BELIEF OF *ESUS UNIl ES US BUT THE BELIEF IN *ESUS DIVIDES US
"ORN IN 6IENNA 0INCHAS % ,APIDE n WAS A *EWISH SCHOLAR RESPECTED BY %UROPEAN #HRISTIANS (E READ THE 'OSPELS UNDER THE MOTTO h,ET US TWO STUDY with 74 • Jesus Reclaimed one another AND DISCOVER THE EARTHLY *ESUS FROM BELOWv ,APIDE STUDIED *UDAISM AND EARLY #HRISTIANITY IN *ERU SALEM UNDER THE INm UENCE OF -ARTIN "UBER WAS IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE OF )SRAEL AND EARNED HIS 0H$ IN AFTER DOING RESEARCH IN #OLOGNE ON h4HE 5SE OF (EBREW IN #HRISTIAN #OMMUNITIES WITH 0ARTICULAR 2EFERENCE TO THE #OUNTRY OF )SRAELv *UST AS "UBER HAD CALLED *ESUS OF .AZARETH HIS GREAT BROTHER IN FAITH SO ,APIDE WANTED TO BRING *ESUS HOME WITH HIS BOOK Der Rabbi von Nazaret: Wandlungen des jüdischen Jesusbildes IN 4HE 2ABBI OF .AZARETH 4RANSFORMATIONS OF THE *EWISH )MAGE OF *E SUS FOLLOWING 3CHALOM "EN #HORIN IN THIS ATTEMPT (E ALSO SIDED WITH THE HYPOTHESES OF THE !MERICAN HISTO RIAN *OEL #ARMICHAEL n PUBLISHER OF THE :IONIST JOURNAL Midstream, WHO HAD PORTRAYED *ESUS OF .AZARETH AS A MILITANT *EWISH REBEL IN HIS BOOK The Death of Jesus IN .O DOUBT STEMMING FROM HIS OWN SUPPORT FOR THE *EWISH NATIONAL MOVEMENT ,APIDE MADE *ESUS INTO A PIOUS *EWISH 0HARISEE AND FREEDOM l GHTER
)T IS CERTAIN THAT HE WAS *EWISH IN SPIRIT IN AT LEAST SIX RESPECTS IN HIS HOPE IN HIS ESCHATOLOGY IN HIS *EWISH ETHOS IN HIS BLIND TRUST IN 'OD IN HIS VERY *EWISH MESSIANIC IMPATIENCE ANDLAST BUT NOT LEASTIN HIS *EWISH SUFFERING x 4HE FACT THAT HE OFTEN PRESENTED A CONTRAST WITH HIS MILIEU ALSO MAKES HIM *EWISH FOR ) KNOW NO LUMINARY OF *U DAISM FROM -OSES ONWARDS WHO DID NOT PROVOKE LIVELY OPPOSITION AMONG THE *EWISH PEOPLE
"UT IF *ESUS WAS SO TRUE TO THE 4ORAH WHY WAS HE CRUCI l ED (IS hMESSIANIC :IONISMv MADE HIM AN ENEMY OF THE 2OMANS WHO FOR ,APIDE BEAR SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS DEATH (E SUMS UP THE DEBT HE BELIEVED #HRISTIANS OWED *UDAISM AS SUCH T e Historical Jesus • 75
&OR EIGHTEEN HUNDRED YEARS THE #HURCH HAS DONE THREE THINGS TO *ESUS IT HAS DE JUDAIZED HIM IT HAS HELLENIZED HIM AND IT HAS EFFECTIVELY PUT US OFF HIM 4HIS IT HAS DONE BY COMPULSORY SERMONS COMPULSORY BAPTISMS KIDNAPPING CHILDREN x !S ) SEE IT #HRISTIANITY OWES ITS FOUNDATION TO THE SUBLIME IMAGE OF *ESUS IN THE PRIMITIVE #HURCH IN THAT *EWISH COMMUNITY WHICH SAW IN HIM BESIDES THE PROPHET A JUST MAN AND A LUMINARY OF )SRAEL OR THE -ESSIAHALL MORTAL SONS OF )SRAEL
,APIDE A .EW 4ESTAMENT SCHOLAR PUBLISHED HIS MOST POIGNANT AND STRIKING HYPOTHESES IN HIS Der Jude Je- sus: Thesen eines Juden; Antworten eines Christen 4HE *EW *ESUS 4HESES OF A *EW !NSWERS FROM A #HRISTIAN
s *ESUS DID NOT MAKE HIMSELF KNOWN TO HIS PEOPLE AS THE -ESSIAH s (IS PEOPLE DID NOT REJECT *ESUS s *ESUS DID NOT REJECT HIS PEOPLE
"Y TRANSLATING THE +OINE 'REEK OF THE 'OSPELS BACK INTO (EBREW 0INCHAS ,APIDE TRIED TO REACH AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE PRIMORDIAL SOURCES IN THEIR *EWISH CONTEXT
4HE VINE AND THE VINEYARD THE l G TREE THE CHIL DREN OF THE KINGDOM THE WICKED HUSBAND MEN THE PRODIGAL SON ANDIF YOU WANTA HUNDRED OTHER METAPHORS OF *ESUS ARE STRAIGHTFORWARD AL LUSIONS MEANT ONLY FOR THE *EW FAMILIAR WITH THE "IBLE AND FOR HIS EARS !S SOON AS THEY ARE TRANS LATED INTO 'REEK ORSTILL MOREINTO A MODERN %UROPEAN LANGUAGE THEY SOUND NOT ONLY STRANGE BUT DISTORTED AND UNNATURAL 76 • Jesus Reclaimed
,APIDE DID NOT TOLERATE ANY CONTRADICTION OF THIS CON SCIOUSLY SUBJECTIVE PICTURE OF *ESUS
7HO WISHES TO REPURPOSE THIS LIFE AFl RMING "IBLE INSPIRED .AZARENE WHO WAS l LLED WITH LOVE FOR )SRAEL INTO AN OTHERWORLDLY PREACHER AND THEOLO GIAN A MAN WHO ALLEGEDLY REFUSES TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DESPERATE RESISTANCE STRUGGLE OF HIS *EWS x WHO MANAGES THAT IN THE NAME OF THEOLOGY COM MITS AN INSULT OF *ESUS THAT BORDERS ON CHARACTER ASSASSINATION IF NOT ANTI *UDAISM
)N HIS BOOK Auferstehung: Ein jüdisches Glaubenser- lebnis 4HE 2ESURRECTION OF *ESUS ! *EWISH 0ERSPECTIVE ,APIDE GOES SO FAR AS TO DECLARE %ASTER A *EWISH MOMENT OF FAITH THAT OPENS A PATH TO 'OD FOR THE 'ENTILE WORLD 7HEN ASKED WHAT COULD BRING THE CONTINUITY OF SALVATION HISTORY HOME AFRESH HE REPLIED
;&=OR THE *EWS OF MY GENERATION OURS IS FUNDA MENTALLY A PASCHAL SELF UNDERSTANDING )T BELONGS TO %ASTER BECAUSE FOR ALL *EWS OF OUR TIME EVEN FOR THOSE WHO WERE NEVER IN %UROPE !USCHWITZ REALLY MEANS WHAT 'OOD &RIDAY MUST BE FOR DE VOUT #HRISTIANS A 'OLGOTHA ON A NATIONAL SCALE 4HE FOUNDATION OF THE 3TATE OF )SRAEL ON THE OTHER HAND IS %ASTER 3UNDAY THE RESURRECTION FROM THE RUINS OF THE WHOLE PEOPLE WHICH l NDS ITS WAY OUT OF THIS MASS 'OLGOTHA BACK TO ITS BIBLICAL HOME LAND EXACTLY AS TWENTY SEVEN PROPHESIES IN THE /LD 4ESTAMENT PREDICT &OR *EWS WHO WERE AL WAYS PERSECUTED WHO WERE ALWAYS THE l RST VIC TIMS OF MENS INJUSTICE AND WANT OF LOVE WHENEVER WORLD HISTORY WAS IN THE MAKING WHO ALL TOO OFTEN HAD TO BEAR THE CROSS IN WHICH #HRISTIANS BELIEVE WHODESPITE ALL POWER AND ALL VIOLENCEWERE T e Historical Jesus • 77
ABLE TO ENDURE AS A HOLY REMNANT FOR THIS *EWISH PEOPLE WHAT BETTER EMBODIMENT COULD YOU l ND THAN THIS POOR RABBI OF .AZARETH x )S NOT THIS RABBI BLEEDING ON THE CROSS THE AUTHENTIC INCAR NATION OF THIS SUFFERING PEOPLE ALL TOO OFTEN MUR DERED ON THE CROSS OF THIS HATRED OF *EWS WHICH WE HAD TO FEEL OURSELVES WHEN WE WERE YOUNG
4HIS CONTRASTS DRASTICALLY WITH THE VIEW OF 3AMUEL 3ANDMEL n PROFESSOR OF "IBLE AND (ELLENISTIC LITERATURE AT (EBREW 5NION #OLLEGE IN #INCINNATI )N HIS VIEW THE .EW 4ESTAMENT WRITINGS PERMIT NO REAL VIEW OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS BUT ONLY PROVIDE A FEW SPARSE FACTS
;4=HE .EW 4ESTAMENT IS A RELIGIOUS BOOK THE PROD UCT OF A RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY WHICH BELIEVED THAT IT HAD RECEIVED A HERITAGE OF 'ODS REVELATION )N THIS SENSE IT IS NOT HISTORY THOUGH HISTORY IS IN IT NOR A STORY BOOK THOUGH STORIES ARE IN IT 2ATHER IT IS A TESTIMONY TO THE ASSUMPTION THAT ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO 'OD AND THEREFORE IT IS ALSO A RECORD OF THOSE THINGS WHICH IT BELIEVED HAPPENED
3ANDMEL RAISES THE QUESTION OF WHETHER THE .EW 4ESTA MENT CAN BE A RELIABLE SOURCE TO IDENTIFY THE HISTORICAL *E SUS AT ALL )N CONTRAST TO MANY VOICES WE HAVE HEARD HE SUSPECTS THAT THERE IS LITTLE BASIS FOR A TRULY HISTORICAL AC COUNT h4HE HISTORIAN IS REQUIRED TO l LL IN BLANK PLACES AT FREQUENT JUNCTURES AND TO MAKE PERILOUS DEDUCTIONS FROM HAZY CLUESv )NSTEAD IT IS ONLY POSSIBLE TO REPORT WHAT THE EVANGELISTS WROTE ABOUT *ESUSAND THEN ALREADY FROM A POSITION OF FAITH
#ERTAIN BARE FACTS ARE HISTORICALLY NOT TO BE DOUBTED *ESUS WHO EMERGED INTO PUBLIC NOTICE IN 'ALILEE WHEN (EROD !NTIPAS WAS ITS 4ETRARCH WAS A REAL 78 • Jesus Reclaimed
PERSON THE LEADER OF A MOVEMENT (E HAD FOLLOW ERS CALLED DISCIPLES 4HE CLAIM WAS MADE EITHER BY OR FOR HIM THAT HE WAS THE LONG AWAITED *EWISH -ESSIAH (E JOURNEYED FROM 'ALILEE TO *ERUSALEM POSSIBLY IN OR AND THERE HE WAS EXECUTED CRUCIl ED BY THE 2OMANS AS A POLITICAL REBEL !FTER HIS DEATH HIS DISCIPLES BELIEVED THAT HE WAS RESUR RECTED AND HAD GONE TO HEAVEN BUT WOULD RETURN TO EARTH AT THE APPOINTED TIME FOR THE l NAL DIVINE JUDGMENT OF MANKIND
&ROM THESE BARE FACTS NO PICTURE OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS EMERGES h4HE PRIMARY INTEREST OF *ESUS FOLLOWERS x WAS NOT IN WHAT *ESUS SAID OR DID BUT RATHER IN WHAT HE WASv 4HE HISTORIAN REACHES A BARRIER HERE /N THE ONE HAND *E SUS WAS A TEACHER BUT ON THE OTHER HAND HIS TEACHING WAS WITHOUT APPARENT ORIGINALITY /N THE ONE HAND *ESUS CON SIDERED HIMSELF THE -ESSIAH BUT ON THE OTHER HAND HE DIED A 2OMAN MARTYR 4HEREFORE 3ANDMEL CANNOT DETECT OR RECONSTRUCT *ESUS AS A HISTORICAL l GURE
4HE QUEST FOR THE PRECISE HUMAN *ESUS HAS NOT BEEN SUCCESSFUL )NDEED WE CAN SEE NOW THAT IT WAS FOREDOOMED TO FAILURE SINCE IT ESSAYED SOMETHING IMPOSSIBLE ON AN ATTRACTIVE BUT DECEPTIVE PREM ISE THAT LITERARY MATERIALS CREATED OUT OF SUPERNAT URAL BELIEFS WOULD SUBMIT TO SCHOLARLY SIFTING AND YIELD A NATURALISTIC RESIDUUM x /NLY IF ONE WANTS A SEMI HISTORICAL ANSWER OR AN UNCONSCIOUSLY OR DELIBERATELY MENDACIOUS ONE OR A CARELESS SUM MARY CAN ONE STOP AT THE STATEMENT *ESUS SAID THIS OR *ESUS TAUGHT THAT )T IS POSSIBLE TO REPORT ON *ESUS ONLY AS THE EVANGELISTS REPORT ON HIM
)N ADDITION ANOTHER CRITIQUE SHOULD BE ADDED TO EAR LIER *EWISH HOMAGES TO *ESUS #OMPARED TO *EWISH VOICES Te Historical Jesus • 79
from the quest of the historical Jesus which attribute uniqueness and incomparability, and peerlessness to Je- sus (e.g., David Flusser, 1917–2000160), Sandmel empha- sizes that, for a religious Jew, these characteristics can only be attributed to God, never a human being. A human being, according to Jewish understanding, can at best be “great.”161 Such “greatness” Sandmel willingly attributes to Jesus: “Only a Jew whose unique combination of quali- ties was extraordinary could have been thought by other Jews to have been accorded a special resurrection.”162 A position close to Samuel Sandmel can be found in the work of the Judaic scholar and theologian Ernst Lud- wig Ehrlich (1921–2007) from Basel, Switzerland. He ar- gued that the New Testament sources did not say enough about the man and Jew Jesus because their authors saw only the Christ of faith. Thus, the historical Jesus could not be identified by searching behind the kerygma of the New Testament. “Despite intensive scientific research we will probably never succeed in regaining a full picture of the ‘historical Jesus.’”163 In contrast to many other Jew- ish interpreters of Jesus, Ehrlich sees only two certain results: the truisms that Jesus was a Jew and that Jesus died on the cross.164 The real challenge of Jesus’s life con- sists in his proclamation of the nearness of the Kingdom of God and his claim to fulfill the will of God as he un- derstood it. “As a result of this apocalyptic mind-set,” Ehrlich says, “Jesus was critical of the law,”165 probably more in the prophetic tradition, and therefore distin- guished himself radically from his Pharisaic environment. Here Ehrlich conforms with Erlangen historian of religion Hans-Joachim Schoeps (1909–1980), who saw in Jesus “sharp criticism and condemnation of certain Jewish practices.”166 Schoeps sees the cause of Jesus’s conflict with the Pharisees as rooted in his alternative assessment “of the Old Testament Law.”167 With this perception both Ehrlich and Schoeps differ radically from a vast majority 80 • Jesus Reclaimed
OF THEIR *EWISH COLLEAGUES ESPECIALLY 3CHALOM "EN #HORIN AND 0INCHAS ,APIDE WHO RECOGNIZE THE hBROTHERv IN *ESUS RATHER THAN THE 0HARISAIC STAMP 3CHOEPS ALSO BELIEVES THAT THERE IS A DIRECT LINE BE TWEEN THE *ESUS TRADITION AND EARLY #HRISTIAN COMMU NITIES .EITHER 0AUL NOR *OHN THE %VANGELIST WERE THE BASIS FOR THE FORMATION OF THE #HRISTIAN CHURCH BUT *ESUS /NE OF 3CHOEPSS l RST PUBLICATIONS The Jewish-Christian Argument: A History of Theologies in Confl ict, IS WORTH MENTIONING HERE 4HE BOOK WAS PUBLISHED IN IN "ERLINS 6ORTRUPP PUBLISHING HOUSE QUASI EXCLUDING THE NON *EWISH PUBLIC IN THE YEAR BEFORE HIS ESCAPE TO 3WE DEN )N THIS BOOK 3CHOEPS PRESENTS THE HISTORY OF THE DIS CUSSION BETWEEN )SRAEL AND THE CHURCH IN THE MIRROR OF THE CONTROVERSIES FROM NINETEEN CENTURIES AND CONCLUDES WITH HIS EXPECTATION OF A FUTURE UNION OF *UDAISM AND #HRIS TIANITY h"OTH ARE UNITED BY ONE COMMON EXPECTATION THAT THE TRUTH WHICH WE DO NOT KNOW WHICH WE CAN ONLY GUESS IS yet to come, IN THAT HOUR WHEN THE BEGINNING IS SWALLOWED UP IN THE ENDv &OR 3ANDMEL %HRLICH AND 3CHOEPS AS WE HAVE SEEN ONLY A FEW DEl NITE STATEMENTS CAN BE MADE ABOUT THE hHIS TORICAL *ESUSv 3CHOEPSS IMAGE OF *ESUS IS DERIVED FROM 3ANDMELS AND %HRLICHS INSIGHT hTHAT THE 2ECONSTRUCTION OF AN @5RJESUS A *ESUS AS HE ORIGINALLY WAS IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR US IN LIGHT OF THE PRESENT SOURCE MATERIAL FROM THE 'OS PELS ACCESSIBLE TO USv )N THIS CHAPTER ) HAVE SOUGHT TO GIVE A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE VARIOUS STRANDS OF THE *EWISH QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 3OME *EWS WHO ATTEMPTED TO REINTEGRATE *ESUS INTO EARLY *UDAISM AS A CHARISMATIC RELIGIOUS LEADER WERE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THEIR QUEST OTHERS CONSIDERED THE ATTEMPT FUTILE -Y PRIMARY INTEREST IS TO SHOW WHY *EWS INVESTIGATED THIS *ESUS MORE CLOSELY 4HE INTENTION ) BELIEVE WAS PREDOMINANTLY APOLOGETIC *EWS WANTED TO REMAIN *EWS AND YET BE PART OF THE WIDER #HRIS T e Historical Jesus • 81
TIAN SOCIETY (OW FORTUNATE THEN THAT *ESUS HIMSELF WAS A *EW 4HIS CHAPTER CANNOT l NISH WITHOUT MENTIONING 'ÏZA 6ERMES n ONE OF THE MAJOR *UDAIC SCHOLARS OF OUR TIME !RCHBISHOP 2OWAN 7ILLIAMS SAID OF HIM IN THE Guardian IN h'EZA 6ERMES IS THE UNCHALLENGED DOYEN OF SCHOLARSHIP IN THE %NGLISH SPEAKING WORLD ON THE *EWISH LITERATURE OF THE AGE OF *ESUS ESPECIALLY THE $EAD 3EA 3CROLLSv ! (UNGARIAN CHILD WITH A SECULAR *EWISH BACKGROUND THIS LONGTIME HEAD OF THE &ORUM FOR 1UM RAN 2ESEARCH AT THE /XFORD #ENTRE FOR (EBREW AND *EWISH 3TUDIES CONVERTED WITH HIS PARENTS TO #ATHOLICISM WHEN HE WAS SIX YEARS OLD (E WAS ORDAINED AS A PRIEST AFTER THE (OLOCAUST BUT LATER FOUND HIS WAY BACK TO *UDAISM 6ERMES HAD BEEN DISCUSSING *ESUSHIS PERSON HISTORY AND TEACHINGSSINCE THE S AND MAY WELL BE COUNTED AMONG THE OPTIMISTS WHEN IT COMES TO *ESUS AS A HISTORI CALLY IDENTIl ABLE *EW &IVE MAJOR VOLUMES BEST SUMMARIZE HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE *EWISH QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS (IS l RST BOOK ON THE SUBJECT Jesus the Jew: A Historian’s Reading of the Gospels ATTRACTED WORLDWIDE ATTEN TION AND APPEARED IN SEVERAL EDITIONS )T WAS TRANSLATED INTO NUMEROUS LANGUAGES INCLUDING 'ERMAN IN )N HE WROTE Jesus and the World of Judaism, AND IN The Religion of Jesus the Jew. ! FRESH APPROACH FOL LOWED IN WITH A REEXAMINATION OF THE SOURCES IN The Changing Faces of Jesus. ! COMPANION VOLUME BECAME HIS l FTH BOOK ON THE MATTER IN The Authentic Gospel of Jesus. &INALLY 6ERMES ALSO LOOKED AT *ESUS AND THE EARLY CHURCH IN Christian Beginnings: From Nazareth to Nicaea (AD 30–325). )N ALL OF HIS BOOKS 'ÏZA 6ERMES ATTEMPTS TO OUTLINE THE PERSONALITY OF THE REAL *ESUS AS A *EWISH HOLY MAN AND THE QUINTESSENCE OF HIS AUTHENTIC ESCHATOLOGICAL 'OSPEL AS HE TRIES TO RECONSTRUCT IT THROUGH LITERARY ANALYSIS 6ERMES ROOTS *ESUS IN THE MILIEU OF *EWISH CHARISMATICS WHO AP 82 • Jesus Reclaimed
PEAR AS EXORCISTS MIRACLE WORKERS AND POPULAR PREACHERS AND ARE REFERRED TO AS Hasidim Rishonim IN THE RABBINIC LITERATURE h)T WOULD SEEM *ESUS CAN BEST BE DEl NED AS AN OUTSTANDING 'ALILEAN CHARISMATIC (ASSIDv h7HEREAS NONE OF THE CLAIMS AND ASPIRATIONS OF *ESUS CAN BE SAID DEl NITELY TO ASSOCIATE HIM WITH THE ROLE OF -ESSIAH NOT TO SPEAK OF THAT OF son of man, THE STRANGE CREATION OF MODERN MYTHMAKERS EVERYTHING COMBINES x TO PLACE HIM IN THE VENERABLE COMPANY OF THE $EVOUT THE ANCIENT (ASIDIMv 4HESE h$EVOUTv WERE VIEWED AS HEIRS TO AN OLD PRO PHETIC TRADITION 4HUS 6ERMES DOES NOT PLACE *ESUS AMONG THE 0HARISEES %SSENES :EALOTS OR 'NOSTICS BUT IN A CHAR ISMATIC CONTEXT AS A HOLY MIRACLE WORKER OF 'ALILEE )NSOFAR AS THE #HRISTIAN QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS IS CON CERNED THE h*ESUS THE *EW FORMULATIONv WAS AN EMOTION ALLY LOADED SYNONYM FOR THE *ESUS OF HISTORY IN CONTRAST TO THE DIVINE #HRIST FOR 6ERMES HE ARGUED THAT *ESUS WAS NOT THE ALLEGED FOUNDER OF #HRISTIANITY BUT hSECOND TO NONE IN PROFUNDITY OF INSIGHT AND GRANDEUR OF CHARACTERv AND hAN UNSURPASSED MASTER OF THE ART OF LAYING BARE THE INNER MOST CORE OF SPIRITUAL TRUTHv 7ITH ALL THIS SAYS 6ERMES *ESUS MUST BE CONSIDERED A DEAD MAN NOT A RESURRECTED DEITY 6ERMES LATER WROTE A SCALDING REVIEW OF 0OPE "ENEDICT 86)S l RST VOLUME OF HIS Jesus of Nazareth WHERE 6ERMES CLAIMS THE READER WAS PRESENTED WITH hMOUNTAINS OF PIOUS AND LARGELY FAMILIAR MUSINGSv
)N *OSEPH 2ATZINGER0OPE "ENEDICT 86) PUB LISHED THE l RST VOLUME OF Jesus of Nazareth NOT JUST AS A DEVOTIONAL BOOK A hPERSONAL SEARCH FOR THE FACE OF THE ,ORD v BUT AS ONE WRITTEN IN CONFORMITY WITH hTHE HISTORICAL CRITICAL METHODv 3CHOLARS OF THIS SCHOOL TREAT THE GOSPELS AS ANCIENT LITERATURE AND INVESTIGATE THEM LINGUISTICALLY HISTORICALLY AND DOCTRINALLY IN THE CULTURAL CONTEXT OF THEIR AGE T e Historical Jesus • 83
4HE l RST VOLUME DID NOT REALLY FOLLOW THESE RULES IT WAS DEVOID OF PHILOLOGICAL ANALYSIS AND SHIED AWAY FROM COMPARING CONTRADICTORY STATEMENTS SUCH AS WHETHER THE GOSPELS WERE INTENDED ONLY FOR THE LOST SHEEP OF )SRAEL OR FOR THE WORLD AT LARGE 7E WERE OFFERED AN OLD FASHIONED STORY IN WHICH THE GOSPELS WERE TAKEN QUASI LITERALLY AND INTER PRETED NOT IN THEIR HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK BUT IN LIGHT OF ANY PASSAGE PICKED AD LIB FROM THE /LD AND .EW 4ESTAMENT OR FROM TWO MILLENNIA OF #HRISTIAN THOUGHT )T REPRESENTED BIBLICAL EXEGESIS AS IT WAS PRACTISED IN THE PRE MODERN ERA
Notes *AKOB %MDEN Ez Awot !MSTERDAM !VOT #F !LLEN ( 0ODET A Translation of the Magen Wa-Hereb by Leon Modena, 1571–1648: Christianity through a Rab- bi’s Eyes ,EWISTON .9 %DWIN -ELLEN 0RESS XIIX !BRAHAM 'EIGER Leon da Modena: Rabbiner zu Venedig und seine Stellung zur Kabbalah, zum Thalmud und zum Christentume "RESLAU *OHANN 5RBAN +ERN n -OSES -ENDELSSOHN Jerusalem; or, On Religious Power and Judaism, ED !LLAN !RKUSH (ANOVER .( "RANDEIS 5NIVERSITY 0RESS *OSEPH 3ALVADOR Jésus-Christ et sa doctrine 0ARIS ! 'UYOT ET 3CRIBE )SAAK -ARKUS *OST Allgemeine Geschichte des Israeliti- schen Volkes, Zweiter Teil "ERLIN # & !MELANG F &OR AN OVERVIEW OF THE #HRISTIAN QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS SEE 'ERD 4HEISSEN AND !NNETTE -ERZ The Histori- cal Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide -INNEAPOLIS &ORTRESS 0RESS n -ARKUS 3CHRÚDER h,EBEN *ESU &OR 84 • Jesus Reclaimed
SCHUNG v IN Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, ED (ANS $IETER "ETZ ET AL TH ED 4àBINGEN -OHR 3IEBECK 6ERLAG VOL COL n AND IN Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ED *OSEF (ÚFER UND +ARL 2AHNER &REIBURG (ERDER VOL COL n *OHN -AC QUARRIE h*ESUS #HRISTUS 6) v IN Theologische Realenzy- klopädie, ED 'ERHARD -àLLER ET AL "ERLIN 7ALTER DE 'RUYTER n $IETER 'EORGI h,EBEN *ESU 4HEOLOGIE,EBEN *ESU &ORSCHUNG v IN -àLLER ET AL The- ologische Realenzyklopädie, n #F !MY *ILL ,EVINE h)NTRODUCTION v IN The Historical Jesus in Con- text, ED !MY *ILL ,EVINE $ALE # !LLISON *R AND *OHN $OMINIC #ROSSAN 0RINCETON .* 0RINCETON 5NIVERSITY 0RESS n ,EVINE h)NTRODUCTION v (ERMANN 3AMUEL 2EIMARUS Von dem Zwecke Jesu und seiner Jünger: Noch ein Fragment des Wolfenbüttelschen Ungenannten ;/N THE INTENTIONS OF *ESUS AND HIS DIS CIPLES= ED 'OTTHOLD %PHRAIM ,ESSING "RAUNSCHWEIG INTRODUCED AND TRANSLATED BY 'EORGE 7 "UCHANAN AS The Goal of Jesus and His Disciples ,EIDEN % * "RILL (ERMANN 3AMUEL 2EIMARUS Fragments from Rei- marus: Brief Critical Remarks on the Object of Jesus and His Disciples as Seen in the New Testament, TRANS FROM THE 'ERMAN OF ' % ,ESSING ED #HARLES 6ORSEY ,ONDON 7ILLIAMS AND .ORGATE REPR 0HILADELPHIA &ORTRESS 0RESS n (ERMANN 3AMUEL 2EIMARUS h/N THE )NTENTIONS OF *ESUS AND (IS $ISCIPLES v IN Reimarus: Fragments, ED # ( 4ALBERT 0HILADELPHIA &ORTRESS 0RESS e P $AVID &RIEDRICH 3TRAUSS The Life of Jesus: Critically Ex- amined 0HILADELPHIA &ORTRESS 0RESS 3EE ALSO $A VID &RIEDRICH 3TRAUSS Streitschriften zur Vertheidigung meiner Schrift ueber das Leben Jesu und zur Charakte- ristik der gegenwaertigen Theologie (ILDESHEIM /LMS REPR 4àBINGEN #& /SIANDER $AVID &RIED RICH 3TRAUSS Der Christus des Glaubens und der Jesus der T e Historical Jesus • 85
Geschichte: Eine Kritik des Schleiermacher’schen Leben Jesu 'àTERSLOH 'àTERSLOHER 6ERLAGSHAUS 'ERD -OHN REPR "ERLIN $UNCKER 4HEISSEN AND -ERZ Historical Jesus, #F *AN 2OHLS Protestantische Theologie der Neuzeit 4à BINGEN -OHR 3IEBECK FF #F +ARL -ANNHEIM Ideology and Utopia ,ONDON 0AUL 4RENCH 4RUBNER #F %RNST 4ROELTSCH Religion in History -INNEAPOLIS &ORTRESS 0RESS #F ESPECIALLY 0AUL 4ILLICH Systematic Theology, VOL #HICAGO 5NIVERSITY OF #HICAGO 0RESS 3REN +IERKEGAARD Philosophical Fragments; or, A Frag- ment of Philosophy 0RINCETON .* 0RINCETON 5NIVER SITY 0RESS 3REN +IERKEGAARD h0HILOSOPHISCHE "ROCKEN !BSCHLIEENDE UNWISSENSCHAFTLICHE .ACH SCHRIFT 4EIL UND v IN Gesammelte Werke, TRANS BY (ERMANN 'OTTSCHED AND #HRISTOPH 3CHREMPF VOLS n *ENA $IEDERICHS #F (AYO 'ERDES Das Christus- bild Søren Kierkegaards verglichen mit der Christologie Hegels und Schleiermachers $àSSELDORF $IEDERICHS -ACQUARRIE h*ESUS #HRISTUS 6) v 3REN +IERKEGAARD Abschließende unwissenschaftliche Nachschrift zu den Philosophischen Brocken $àSSEL DORF AND #OLOGNE % $IEDERICHS 3REN +IER KEGAARD Concluding Unscientifi c Postscript to Philo- sophical Fragments, ED AND TRANS (OWARD 6 (ONG AND %DNA ( (ONG 0RINCETON .* 0RINCETON 5NIVERSITY 0RESS 'OTTHOLD %PHRAIM ,ESSING h/N THE 0ROOF OF THE 3PIRIT AND ON 0OWER v IN Lessing’s Theological Writings, ED (ENRY #HADWICK ! ,IBRARY OF -ODERN 2ELIGIOUS 4HOUGHT 3TANFORD #! 3TANFORD 5NIVERSITY 0RESS n %MPHASIS IN ORIGINAL !DOLF (ARNACK What Is Christianity?, TRANS 4HOMAS "AI LEY 3AUNDERS .EW 9ORK (ARPER "ROTHERS F 86 • Jesus Reclaimed
!LBERT 3CHWEITZER The Quest of the Historical Jesus: A Critical Study of its Progress from Reimarus to Wrede, TRANS 7 -ONTGOMERY ,ONDON ! # "LACK *OHANNES 7EISS Die Predigt Jesu vom Reiche Gottes 'ÚT TINGEN 6ANDENHOECK 2UPRECHT RD ED &ERDI NAND (AHN !N %NGLISH TRANSLATION IS AVAILABLE Jesus’ Proclamation of the Kingdom of God, TRANS 2ICH ARD ( (IERS AND $AVID , (OLLAND 0HILADELPHIA &OR TRESS 0RESS REPR #HICAGO 3CHOLARS 0RESS -ACQUARRIE h*ESUS #HRISTUS 6) v #F !LBRECHT 2ITSCHL The Christian Doctrine of Justifi cation and Reconcilia- tion, VOLS n #LIFTON .* 2EFERENCE "OOK 7ILHELM (ERRMANN Systematic Theology (Dogmatik) .EW 9ORK -ACMILLAN e 7ILHELM (ERRMANN The Communion of the Christian with God 0HILADEL PHIA &ORTRESS 0RESS -ARTIN +ÊHLER The So-Called Historical Jesus and the His- toric Biblical Christ 0HILADELPHIA &ORTRESS 0RESS 2UDOLF "ULTMANN Jesus "ERLIN $EUTSCHE "IBLIOTHEK 2UDOLF "ULTMANN Das Verhältnis der urchristli- chen Christusbotschaft zum historischen Jesus, 3ITZUNGS BERICHTE DER (EIDELBERGER !KADEMIE DER 7ISSENSCHAFTEN 0HILOSOPHISCH (ISTORISCHE +LASSE NO (EIDEL BERG 5NIVERSITÊTSVERLAG # 7INTER 2UDOLF "ULT MANN Jesus Christ and Mythology ,ONDON 3#- 0RESS 4HE l RST BOOK ON THE HISTORICAL *ESUS PRODUCED IN THE "ULTMANN SCHOOL SINCE "ULTMANNS OWN Jesus and the Word WAS 'àNTHER "ORNKAMM Jesus von Nazareth 3TUTTGART +OHLHAMMER TRANSLATED AS Jesus of Nazareth .EW 9ORK (ARPER "ROTHERS 2UDOLF "ULTMANN The History of the Synoptic Tradition .EW 9ORK (ARPER AND 2OW 2UDOLF "ULTMANN Jesus and the Word, TRANS ,OUISE 0 3MITH AND %RMINIE ( ,ANTERO .EW 9ORK #HARLES 3CRIB NERS 3ONS PRINTED IN THE ORIGINAL 'ERMAN IN AS Jesus )BID T e Historical Jesus • 87
)BID 2UDOLF "ULTMANN Theology of the New Testament, TRANS +ENDRICK 'ROBEL .EW 9ORK #HARLES 3CRIBNERS 3ONS #F *AMES 2OBINSON B WHO ARGUES THAT hNEW QUESTv PROPER BEGINS AFTER %RNST +ÊSEMANN SEE ALSO ,EANDER % +ECK h4HE 3ECOND #OMING OF THE ,IBERAL *ESUS v IN Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith, ED -ARCUS "ORG 3AN &RANCISCO (ARPER3AN&RANCISCO !N OTHER REPRESENTATIVE OF THIS hTHIRD QUESTv IS *OHN $OMINIC #ROSSAN B COFOUNDER OF THE CONTROVERSIAL *ESUS 3EMINAR IN #ALIFORNIA WHICH DESCRIBES ITSELF AS DEDICATED TO THE SEARCH OF AUTHENTIC MATERIAL ABOUT *ESUS OF .AZA RETH 3EE ALSO 'EORGI h,EBEN *ESU 4HEOLOGIE v F %RNST +ÊSEMANN Jesus Means Freedom: A Polemical Sur- vey of the New Testament ,ONDON 3#- 0RESS %RNST +ÊSEMANN h4HE 0ROBLEM OF THE (ISTORICAL *ESUS v IN Essays in New Testament Themes ,ONDON 3#- 0RESS 3EE *AMES - 2OBINSON A New Quest of the Historical Je- sus, 3TUDIES IN "IBLICAL 4HEOLOGY ,ONDON 3#- 0RESS 'ERHARD %BELING h$IE &RAGE NACH DEM HISTORISCHEN *ESUS UND DAS 0ROBLEM DER #HRISTOLOGIE v Zeitschrift für Theol- ogie und Kirche n (ANS +àNG Justifi cation: The Doctrine of Karl Barth and a Catholic Refl ection 0HILADELPHIA 7ESTMINSTER *OHN +NOX 0RESS (ANS +àNG On Being a Christian, TRANS %DWARD 1UINN ,ONDON 3#- 0RESS %MPHASIS IN ORIGINAL )BID %MPHASIS IN ORIGINAL )BID (ANS +àNG AND 0INCHAS ,APIDE Brother or Lord? A Jew and a Christian Talk Together 'LASGOW 7ILLIAM #OLLINS 3ONS F +àNG On Being a Christian, %MPHASIS IN ORIGINAL 88 • Jesus Reclaimed
)BID )BID +àNG AND ,APIDE Brother or Lord?, %RNST +ÊSEMANN Perspectives on Paul 0HILADELPHIA &ORTRESS 0RESS ,ONDON 3#- 0RESS CITED IN +àNG On Being a Christian, #F +ARL 2AHNER h:UR 4HEOLOGIE DES 3YMBOLS v IN Sämt- liche Werke, ED +ARL ,EHMANN ET AL &REIBURG (ERDER (ENRY "ETTENSON Documents of the Christian Church .EW 9ORK /XFORD 5NIVERSITY 0RESS -ACQUARRIE h*ESUS #HRISTUS 6) v +àNG On Being a Christian, #F 7ALTER +ASPER Jesus the Christ ,ONDON "URNS /ATES .EW 9ORK 0AULIST 0RESS I 7OLFHART 0ANNENBERG Grundzüge der Christologie 'à TERSLOH 'àTERSLOHER 6ERLAGSHAUS 'ERD -OHN 7OLFHART 0ANNENBERG Jesus: God and Man 0HILADELPHIA 7ESTMINSTER 0RESS 7OLFHART 0ANNENBERG Revelation as History .EW 9ORK -ACMILLAN -ACQUARRIE h*ESUS #HRISTUS 6) v F *OSEPH 2ATZINGER Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfi guration .EW 9ORK $OUBLEDAY XIInXIII )MMANUEL +ANT Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone .EW 9ORK (ARPER 2OW &OR (EGEL THE FUNDAMENTAL CONTENT OF #HRISTIANITY IS THE INCARNATION OF 'OD IN *ESUS h4HIS BECOMING HUMAN OF DIVINE ESSENCE x IS THE SIMPLE CONTENT OF THE ABSOLUTE ;OR #HRISTIAN= RELIGIONv 'EORG 7ILHELM &RIEDRICH (EGEL Phenomenology of Spirit, TRANS ! 6 -ILLER WITH ANAL YSIS OF THE TEXT AND FOREWORD BY * . &INDLAY ;/XFORD #LARENDON 0RESS = COL n 4HUS hDIVINE NATURE IS THE SAME ;THING= AS HUMAN ;NATURE= AND THIS UNITY IS WHAT IS VIEWEDv IN *ESUS (EGEL Phenomenol- ogy of Spirit, COL n #F $ANIEL 0 *AMROS h(EGEL T e Historical Jesus • 89
ON THE )NCARNATION 5NIQUE OR 5NIVERSAL v Theological Studies n $AVID &RIEDRICH 3TRAUSS Die christliche Glaubenslehre in ihrer geschichtlichen Entwicklung und im Kampfe der modernen Wissenschaft 4àBINGEN /SIANDER REPR $ARMSTADT 7ISSENSCHAFTLICHE "UCHGESELLSCHAFT &ALK 7AGNER h#HRISTOLOGIE ALS EXEMPLARISCHE 4HEORIE DES 3ELBSTBEWUSSTSEINS v IN Die Realisierung der Frei- heit: Beiträge zur Kritik der Theologie Karl Barths, ED 4RUTZ 2ENDTORFF 'àTERSLOH 'àTERSLOHER 6ERLAGSHAUS 'ERD -OHN n 0AUL 4ILLICH The New Being .EW 9ORK 3CRIBNER 0AUL 4ILLICH h#HRISTOLOGIE UND 'ESCHICHTSDEUTUNG v IN Gesammelte Werke, VOL Der Widerstreit von Raum und Zeit: Schriften zur Geschichtsphilosophie 3TUTTGART %VANGELISCHES 6ERLAGSWERK n !LOIS %MANUEL "IEDERMANN Christliche Dogmatik, ND ED VOLS n "ERLIN 2EIMER n #F ,EONARDO "OFF Jesus Christ Liberator: A Critical Christology for Our Time .EW 9ORK /RBIS "OOKS $OROTHEE 3ÚLLE AND ,UISE 3CHOTTROFF Jesus of Nazareth ,OUISVILLE 7ESTMINSTER *OHN +NOX 0RESS 4HE l RST QUEST USUALLY DENOTES THE VARIOUS NINETEENTH CENTURY EFFORTS TO WRITE hLIVESv OF *ESUS AS A GREAT RELIGIOUS PERSONALITY !LBERT 3CHWEITZERS BOOK The Quest of the Historical Jesus IS GENERALLY UNDERSTOOD TO MARK THE END OF THE l RST QUEST $URING THE l RST HALF OF THE TWEN TIETH CENTURY THE FOCUS SHIFTED FROM THE *ESUS OF HISTORY ONTO THE EARLY COMMUNITIES THAT SHAPED AND TRANSMITTED THE TRADITIONS BEHIND THE CANONICAL 'OSPELS $URING THE S AND S a “New Quest” WAS INITIATED BY SOME OF 2UDOLF "ULTMANNS PUPILS EG %RNST +ÊSEMANN 'ERHARD %BELING 'UNTER "ORNKAMM). .EW ARCHAEOLOGICAL l NDS AND A REASSESSMENT OF l RST CENTURY *UDAISM IN THE LIGHT OF SOCIAL HISTORY TRIGGERED OFF A h4HIRD 1UESTv AND NEW ATTEMPTS TO RECOVER *ESUS AS A HISTORICAL l GURE #F &ER 90 • Jesus Reclaimed
NANDO "ERMEJO 2UBIO HAS COGENTLY ARGUED AGAINST USING THE THREE QUESTS PARADIGM IN HIS ESSAY h4HE &ICTION OF THE @4HREE 1UESTS !N !RGUMENT FOR $ISMANTLING A $UBI OUS (ISTORIOGRAPHICAL 0ARADIGMv Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus n /THERS INCLUDING (ELEN + "OND ARGUE FOR THREE QUESTS WITH FOUR PHASES SEE The Historical *ESUS ,ONDON "LOOMSBURY 7ILLIAM (ORBURY h*ESUS #HRISTUS v IN Religion in Ge- schichte und Gegenwart, ED (ANS $IETER "ETZ ET AL TH ED 4àBINGEN -OHR 3IEBECK VOL COL 3CHRÚDER h,EBEN *ESU &ORSCHUNG v VOL COLS n 4HEISSEN AND -ERZ Historical Jesus, 7ERNER 6OGLER Jüdische Jesusinterpretationen in christli- cher Sicht 7EIMAR (ERMANN "ÚHLAUS .ACHFOLGER X *ULIUS 7ELLHAUSEN Einleitung in die drei Evangelien "ER LIN 'EORG 2EIMER 3EE #RAIG %VANS DISCUSSION OF THE hSURPRISING LACK OF IN TERESTv #HRISTIAN 3CHOLARS SHOWED IN *ESUSS *EWISH BACK GROUND AND THE CONSEQUENCES THIS HAD ON LATER RESEARCH IN h!SSESSING 0ROGRESS IN THE 4HIRD 1UEST OF THE (ISTORI CAL *ESUSv IN Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 6OL FF !BRAHAM 'EIGER Das Judentum und seine Geschichte n REPR "RESLAU 7ILHELM *ACOBSOHN F #F 3USANNAH (ESCHEL Abraham Geiger and the Jew- ish Jesus #HICAGO 5NIVERSITY OF #HICAGO 0RESS 'EIGER Das Judentum, #F 7ALTER (OMOLKA Jewish Identity in Modern Times: Leo Baeck and German Protestantism 0ROVIDENCE 2) "ERGHAHN "OOKS n #F -ICHAEL ! -EYER Great Debate on Antisemitism: Jewish Reaction to New Hostility in Germany, 1879–1881 .EW 9ORK ,EO "AECK )NSTITUTE (EINRICH VON 4REITSCHKE h5NSERE !USSICHTEN v Preußi- sche Jahrbücher NO .OVEMBER (EINRICH 'RAETZ Geschichte der Juden, VOL ,EIPZIG ,EINER PREFACE T e Historical Jesus • 91
h#OURT 0REACHER !DOLF 3TÚCKER )NTRODUCES !NTISEMITISM TO THE #HRISTIAN 3OCIAL 7ORKERS 0ARTY 3EPTEMBER v IN German History in Documents and Images, VOL Forging an Empire: Bismarckian Germany, 1866–1890, HTTPGERMANHISTORYDOCSGHI DCORGSUB?DOCUMENTCFM DOCUMENT?ID !CCESSED *ULY 4HE ONLY SATIRICAL MAGAZINE IN "ERLIN TO SURVIVE THE REVOLUTION !DOLF 3TOECKER h5NSERE &ORDERUNGEN AN DAS MODERNE *U DENTHUM v IN Das moderne Judenthum in Deutschland, besonders in Berlin: Zwei Reden in der christlich-socialen Arbeiterpartei, ND ED "ERLIN n 3OURCE OF %NGLISH TRANSLATION 2ICHARD 3 ,EVY Antisemitism in the Modern World: An Anthology of Texts ,EXINGTON -! $ # (EATH n 4REITSCHKE h5NSERE !USSICHTEN v n 3OURCE OF %NGLISH TRANSLATION ,EVY Antisemitism in the Modern World, n #F +ARSTEN +RIEGER ED Der “Berliner Antisemitismus- streit” 1879–1881: Eine Kontroverse um die Zugehörig- keit der deutschen Juden zur Nation, +OMMENTIERTE 1UEL LENEDITION -UNICH + ' 3AUR n #F 2EDE DES (ERRN 0RÊSIDENTEN *ACOBSON h&EYERLICHE %INWEIHUNG DES *ACOBS 4EMPELS IN 3EESEN v Sulamith NO ,UDWIG 'EIGER ED Abraham Geiger’s Nachgelassene Schriften, VOL NO "RESLAU REPR (ILDESHEIM /LMS #ITED BY -ARTIN &AASS AND (ENRIKE -UND h3TURM DER %NTRàSTUNG +UNSTKRITIK 0RESSE UND ÚFFENTLICHE $ISKUS SION v IN Der Jesus-Skandal: Ein Liebermann-Bild im Kreuzfeuer der Kritik, ED -ARTIN &AASS "ERLIN -AX ,IEBERMANN 6ERANSTALTUNGS 'MB( #F (ARNACK What Is Christianity?, )N !LFRED ,OISY ATTEMPTED A hDETERMINATION OF THE ESSENCEv OF #HRISTIAN ITY FROM A #ATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE WITH HIS WORK The Gospel and the Church 0HILADELPHIA &ORTRESS 0RESS (ARNACK What Is Christianity?, 92 • Jesus Reclaimed
)BID )BID )BID n #F #ARL *àRGEN +ALTENBORN Adolf von Har- nack als Lehrer Dietrich Bonhoeffers, 4HEOLOGISCHE !R BEITEN "ERLIN %VANGELISCHE 6ERLAGSANSTALT (ARNACK What Is Christianity?, #F !DOLF VON (ARNACK hÃBER DIE 3ICHERHEIT UND DIE 'RENZEN GESCHICHTLICHER %RKENNTNIS v IN Reden und Aufsätze 'IEEN 4ÚPELMANN n ESP SEE ALSO (ARNACK What Is Christianity?, n !DOLF VON (ARNACK History of Dogma "OSTON ,ITTLE "ROWN !LTHOUGH AT THE BEGINNING OF HIS WORK What Is Chris- tianity? (ARNACK EMPHASIZES THE RESTRICTION OF ALL HU MAN BEINGS TO THEIR PECULIAR DISPOSITION AND TIME LATER THE WEIGHT OF HIS ARGUMENT SHIFTS TO THE hEMINENT EPOCH MAKING PERSONALITIESv WHO ARE PRIMARILY JUDGED BY WHAT OF THEM CONTINUES TO LIVE ON IN HISTORY )BID F )BID )BID )BID )BID )BID 4HE TITLE PAGE OF THE 'ERMAN Das Wesen des Chris- tentums STATES h4HE FOLLOWING LECTURES WERE HELD DURING THE LAST WINTER SEMESTER BEFORE AN AUDIENCE OF APPROXIMATELY SIX HUNDRED STUDENTS FROM ALL DE PARTMENTSv $IE FOLGENDEN 6ORLESUNGEN SIND IM VER GANGENEN 7INTERSEMESTER VOR EINEM +REIS VON ETWA SECHSHUNDERT 3TUDIERENDEN ALLER &AKULTÊTEN GEHALTEN WORDEN *OSEPH %SCHELBACHER Das Judentum und das Wesen des Christentums: Vergleichende Schriften, 3CHRIFTEN DER 'ESELLSCHAFT DER 7ISSENSCHAFT DES *UDENTUMS "ERLIN 0OPPELAUER T e Historical Jesus • 93
- ' h$AS *UDENTUM UND DAS 7ESEN DES #HRISTEN TUMS v Ost und West: Illustrierte Monatsschrift für mod- ernes Judentum, NO &EBRUARY n #F *OSEPH %SCHELBACHER Das Judentum und das We- sen des Christentums: Vergleichende Studien, ND ED 3CHRIFTEN "ERLIN 0OPPELAUER n -ARTIN 3CHREINER Die jüngsten Urteile über das Judentum kritisch untersucht "ERLIN #RONBACH F 4HE HISTORICAL CRITICAL RESEARCH HAS BEEN CLOSELY WATCHED AMONG *EWISH THEOLOGIANS SEE %SCHELBACHER Das Juden- tum und das Wesen des Christentums: Vergleichende Schriften, n %SCHELBACHER Das Judentum im Urteile der modernen protestantischen Theologie, 3CHRIFTEN ,EIPZIG &OCK n 3EE ALSO THE TREATMENT OF THE DISPUTE BETWEEN &ELIX 0ERLES AND 7ILHELM "OUSSET IN (EINRICH (OLTZMANN h"ESPRECHUNG DER +ONTROVERSE ZWISCHEN & 0ERLES UND 7 "OUSSET v Theologische Lit- eraturzeitung n !CCORDING TO &ELIX 0ERLES Was lehrt uns Harnack? &RANKFURT * +AUFFMANN F &OR THE FOLLOWING CF 3CHREINER Die jüngsten Urteile, VnVII 'ÚSTA ,INDESKOG Die Jesusfrage im neuzeitlichen Ju- dentum: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Leben-Jesu- Forschung $ARMSTADT 7ISSENSCHAFTLICHE "UCHGESELL SCHAFT #F IBID n 0ERLES Was lehrt uns Harnack?, F %SCHELBACHER Das Judentum und das Wesen des Chris- tentums: Vergleichende Schriften, CF ALSO -ICHAEL 'UTTMAN Das Judentum und seine Umwelt "ERLIN 0HI LO 6ERLAG FF (ARNACK What Is Christianity?, #F *OHANN (INRICH #LAUSSEN REFERRING TO 0AUL 7ERNLE Jesus 4àBINGEN -OHR IN h$IE $ORNENKRONE WAR NICHT IM 0AKET v Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, -AY 94 • Jesus Reclaimed
*OHANN (INRICH #LAUSSEN REFERRING TO 7ILHELM "OUSSET Jesus 'ÚTTINGEN 'EBAUER 3CHWETSCHKE IN h$IE $ORNENKRONE WAR NICHT IM 0AKETv ,EO "AECK h(ARNACKS 6ORLESUNGEN àBER DAS 7ESEN DES #HRISTENTUMS v Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wis- senschaft des Judentums NO )BID "AECK CITES !BRAHAM 'EIGER AS FOLLOWS h0ASSING DEROGATORY JUDGMENTS ON OBJECTS OF STUDY FOR WHICH THE REQUIRED PRECONDITIONS AND QUALIl CATIONS FOR IN DEPENDENT APPRAISAL ARE LACKING WOULD IN ALL OTHER l ELDS SURELY FORCE ONE TO RECONSIDER HIS ACTIONS ONLY IN RELATION TO *UDAISM DOES ONE WITH CONl DENT CAPRICE BELIEVE HE CAN GET STUCK INv hAbsprechend über Gegen- stände zu urtheilen, zu deren selbständiger Erforschung es an den nöthigen Voraussetzungen und Fähigkeiten gebricht, würde man sich wahrlich auf jedem anderen Gebiete doppelt und dreifach bedenken; nur dem Ju- denthum gegenüber glaubt man mit souveräner Willkür zu Werke gehen zu dürfen.v )BID ,EO "AECK h4HE 'OSPEL AS A $OCUMENT OF (ISTORY v IN Judaism and Christianity: Essays by Leo Baeck, TRANS 7ALTER +AUFMANN 0HILADELPHIA *EWISH 0UBLICATION 3O CIETY OF !MERICA )N ADDITION "AECK ALSO WORKED INTENSIVELY ON 0AUL #F %LIAS ( &àLLENBACH h6OM 0AULUS ZUM 3AULUS #HRISTLICHE UND JàDISCHE 0AULUSAUSLEGUNG IM *AHRHUNDERT v Wort und Ant- wort n ,EO "AECK h4HE 'OSPEL AS A $OCUMENT OF (ISTORY v IN Judaism and Christianity: Essays by Leo Baeck, TRANS 7ALTER +AUFMANN 0HILADELPHIA *EWISH 0UBLICATION 3O CIETY OF !MERICA F ,EO "AECK h!BWEICHUNGEN DER CHRISTLICHEN 2ELIGIONEN VOM *UDENTUM IN DEN 'RUNDGEDANKEN %INLEITUNG v IN Die Lehren des Judentums nach den Quellen, Fünfter Teil (Judentum und Umwelt) "ERLIN 3CHWETSCHKE 3OHN T e Historical Jesus • 95
%VA *OSPE ED Reason and Hope: Selections from the Jewish Writings of Hermann Cohen .EW 9ORK .ORTON 9EHEZKEL +AUFMANN Goleh ve-nekhar 4EL !VIV $EVIR #LAUDE ' -ONTEl ORE The Synoptic Gospels ,ON DON -ACMILLAN #F 7ALTER *ACOB ,EO "AECK AND #LAUDE -ONTEl ORE h$IE %VANGELIEN AUS JàDISCHER 3ICHT v IN Leo Baeck: Zwischen Geheimnis und Gebot; Auf dem Weg zu einem progressiven Judentum der Mod- erne, ED 7ALTER (OMOLKA (ERRENALBER &ORUM +ARLS RUHE %VANGELISCHE !KADEMIE "ADEN n +AUFMANN +OHLER Jesus from Nazareth from a Jewish Point of View .EW 9ORK &UNK 7AGNALLS +AUFMANN +OHLER Jewish Theology, Systematically and Historically Considered .EW 9ORK +TAV 'ERD 4HEISSEN The First Followers of Jesus: A Socio- logical Analysis of the Earliest Christianity, TRANS *OHN "OWDEN ,ONDON 3#- 0RESS &OR hTHE REVITALIZATION OF THE *EWISH RELIGION BY *ESUSv AS A CONCEPT SEE 'ERD 4HEISSEN A Theory of Primitive Christian Religion ,ONDON 3#- 0RESS )BID *OSEPH +LAUSNER h$IE 'EGENSÊTZE ZWISCHEN DEM *U DENTUM UND DER ,EHRE *ESU v Menorah, NOS n -AY n )BID *OSEPH +LAUSNER Jesus of Nazareth: His Life, Times and Teachings .EW 9ORK "LOCH "ENJAMIN -URMELSTEIN h*OSEPH +LAUSNER *ESUS VON .AZARETH v Menorah, NOS n .OVEMBER n %DUARD 3TRAUSS h*ESUS VON .AZARETH v Der Jude NO n n %DUARD 3TRAUSS h0AULUS DER "EKEHRER v Der Jude NO n 96 • Jesus Reclaimed
-ARTIN "UBER Two Types of Faith ,ONDON 2OUTLEDGE +EGAN 0AUL F 3CHALOM "EN #HORIN Zwiesprache mit Martin Buber 'ERLINGEN "LEICHER -ARTIN "UBER Pfade in Utopia (EIDELBERG 3CHNEIDER #LEMENS 4HOMA h)N MEMORIAM 3CHALOM "EN #HORIN n v Freiburger Rundbriefe: Zeitschrift für christlich-jüdische Begegnung, NS 3CHALOM "EN #HORIN Brother Jesus: The Nazarene through Jewish Eyes !THENS 5NIVERSITY OF 'EORGIA 0RESS 3CHALOM "EN #HORIN Bruder Jesus: Der Nazarener in jüdischer Sicht -UNICH ,IST 6ERLAG "EN #HORIN Brother Jesus, 3CHALOM "EN #HORIN Das Judentum im Ringen um die Gegenwart (AMBURG %VANGELISCHER 6ERLAG (ERBERT 2EICH 7ERNER 6OGLER Jüdische Jesusinterpretationen in christ- licher Sicht 7EIMAR (ERMANN "ÚHLAUS .ACHFOLGER h7E MUST NOW ASK IF *ESUS HAD BEEN UNMARRIED WOULD HIS DISCIPLES NOT HAVE QUESTIONED HIM ABOUT THIS FAULT %VEN MORE WOULD HIS OPPONENTS NOT HAVE USED AGAINST HIM THE FACT THAT IN HIS OWN LIFE HE HAD LEFT UNFULl LLED THE l RST OF THE OBLIGATIONS OR mitzvoth, IN THE 4ORAH @"E FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY 'EN v "EN #HORIN Brother Jesus, )BID )BID )BID F (ANS +àNG AND 0INCHAS ,APIDE Brother or Lord? A Jew and a Christian Talk Together 'LASGOW 7ILLIAM #OL LINS 3ONS %MPHASIS IN ORIGINAL 0INCHAS ,APIDE Der Rabbi von Nazareth: Wandlungen des jüdischen Jesusbildes 4RIER 3PEE 6ERLAG T e Historical Jesus • 97
*OEL #ARMICHAEL The Death of Jesus .EW 9ORK -AC MILLAN +àNG AND ,APIDE Brother or Lord?, h.EITHER ,UKE NOR -ARK NOR -ATTHEW HOWEVER IN THEIR ACCOUNTS OF THE ACTION OF *ESUS ASSERT THAT A SINGLE PRE CEPT WAS EVER INFRINGED OR STILL LESS BROKEN )N THIS RE SPECT YOU MUST BELIEVE ME FOR ) DO KNOW MY 4ALMUD MORE OR LESS x 4HIS *ESUS WAS AS FAITHFUL TO THE LAW AS ) WOULD HOPE TO BEv +àNG AND ,APIDE Brother or Lord?, )BID 0INCHAS ,APIDE Der Jude Jesus: Thesen eines Juden; Antworten eines Christen :àRICH "ENZINGER +àNG AND ,APIDE Brother or Lord?, )BID 0INCHAS ,APIDE Auferstehung: Ein jüdisches Glauben- serlebnis 3TUTTGART #ALWER -UNICH +ÚSEL TRANS LATED BY 7ILHELM # ,INSS AS The Resurrection of Jesus: A Jewish Perspective %UGENE /2 7IPF AND 3TOCK +àNG AND ,APID Brother or Lord?, 3AMUEL 3ANDMEL A Jewish Understanding of the New Testament, RD ED 7OODSTOCK 64 *EWISH ,IGHTS )BID )BID )BID )BID F #F $AVID &LUSSER The Sage from Galilee: Rediscovering Jesus’ Genius 'RAND 2APIDS -) %ERDMANS 3ANDMEL A Jewish Understanding of the New Testa- ment, )BID %RNST ,UDWIG %HRLICH h%INE JàDISCHE !UFFASSUNG VON *ESUS v IN “Was uns trennt, ist die Geschichte”: Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich—Vermittler zwischen Juden und Chris- 98 • Jesus Reclaimed
ten, ED (ANSPETER (EINZ AND (ANS (ERMANN (ENRIX -UNICH 6ERLAG .EUE 3TADT n )BID )BID (ANS *OACHIM 3CHOEPS Die großen Religionsstifter und ihre Lehren, RD ED $ARMSTADT 7ISSENSCHAFTLICHE "UCHGESELLSCHAFT (ANS *OACHIM 3CHOEPS h*ESUS UND DAS JàDISCHE 'E SETZ v IN Studien zur unbekannten Religions und Geis- tesgeschichte, 6ERÚFFENTLICHUNGEN D 'ESELLSCHAFT FàR 'EISTESGESCHICHTE 'ÚTTINGEN -USTERSCHMIDT n )BID &IRST PUBLISHED IN 'ERMAN (ANS *OACHIM 3CHOEPS Jüdisch-christliches Religionsgespräch in neunzehn Jahrhunderten: Geschichte einer theologischen Ausei- nandersetzung "ERLIN 6ORTRUPP 6ERLAG (ANS *OACHIM 3CHOEPS The Jewish-Christian Argu- ment: A History of Theologies in Confl ict ,ONDON &ABER &ABER %MPHASIS IN ORIGINAL 3CHOEPS Die großen Religionsstifter und ihre Lehren, 2OWAN 7ILLIAMS h2EVIEW OF Christian Beginnings, BY 'ÏZA 6ERMES v Guardian, *ULY 'ÏZA 6ERMES Jesus the Jew: A Historian’s Reading of the Gospels ,ONDON #OLLINS 'ÏZA 6ERMES Jesus and the World of Judaism -INNE APOLIS &ORTRESS 0RESS 'ÏZA 6ERMES The Religion of Jesus the Jew -INNEAPO LIS &ORTRESS 0RESS 'ÏZA 6ERMES The Changing Faces of Jesus ,ONDON !L LEN ,ANE 'ÏZA 6ERMES The Authentic Gospel of Jesus ,ONDON !LLEN ,ANE 'ÏZA 6ERMES Christian Beginnings: From Nazareth to Nicaea (AD 3–325) ,ONDON !LLEN ,ANE .EW (AVEN #4 9ALE 5NIVERSITY 0RESS T e Historical Jesus • 99
'ÏZA 6ERMES Jesus in the Jewish World ,ONDON 3#- 0RESS 'ÏZA 6ERMES Jesus the Jew, #LAUDE -ONTEl ORE -EMORIAL ,ECTURE ,ONDON ,IBERAL *EWISH 3YNAGOGUE 6ERMES Jesus in the Jewish World, %MPHASIS IN ORIGINAL 6ERMES Jesus the Jew A Historian’s Reading of the Gos- pels, 3EE ALSO 'ÏZA 6ERMES h*ESUS THE *EW v IN Jesus’ Jewish- ness: Exploring the Place of Judaism in Early Judaism, ED * ( #HARLESWORTH .EW 9ORK #ROSSROADS n 6ERMES Jesus the Jew: A Historian’s Reading of the Gos- pels, 'ÏZA 6ERMES h2EVIEW OF Jesus of Nazareth, 0ART Holy Week, BY 0OPE "ENEDICT 86) v Guardian, -ARCH
Chapter 3 Jesus the Jew and Joseph Ratzinger’s Christ A T eological U-Turn
Jesus Was a Jew: A Cultural Coincidence?
$ESPITE HARSH JUDGMENT FROM 'ÏZA 6ERMES THE QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS FROM BOTH #HRISTIANS AND *EWS HAS BEEN GIVEN NEW WIND DUE TO *OSEPH 2ATZINGERS B *ESUS TRILOGY WHICH BEGAN TO BE PUBLISHED IN )S IT NOT INCREDIBLE THAT THERE HAVE BEEN ALMOST NO COMMENTS ON 2ATZINGERS BOOK FROM THE *EWISH PERSPECTIVE TO DATE !S ) WAS UNABLE TO l ND ANYTHING ) ASKED MY COLLEAGUE 2ABBI -ICHAEL ! 3IGNER n A PROFESSOR AT THE #ATHOLIC 5NIVERSITY OF .OTRE $AME AND ONE OF THE INITIA TORS OF hDabru Emet ! *EWISH 3TATEMENT ON #HRISTIANS AND #HRISTIANITYv FROM 7ITH THE NOTABLE EXCEPTION OF *A COB .EUSNER B WHICH WILL BE DISCUSSED LATER HE DID NOT KNOW OF ANY SIGNIl CANT *EWISH COMMENTS ON THE POPES BOOK ON *ESUS EITHER 'IVEN THAT *OSEPH 2ATZINGER PLACED A DEVOTIONAL IMAGE OF *ESUS AS THE h#HRIST v SPE CIl CALLY DESIGNED TO BRIDGE THE GAPS LEFT BY THE HISTORICAL CRITICAL APPROACH AT THE CENTER OF HIS BOOK IT PROBABLY AROUSED LITTLE SERIOUS INTEREST FROM *EWISH SCHOLARS )N FACT FOR *OSEPH 2ATZINGER THE HISTORICAL *ESUS WE INHERITED FROM RESEARCH FROM THE LAST TWO CENTURIES HAD BECOME TOO LEAN 102 • Jesus Reclaimed
(E NOTES THIS AT THE BEGINNING OF HIS BOOK
4HE GAP BETWEEN THE hHISTORICAL *ESUSv AND THE h#HRIST OF FAITHv GREW WIDER AND THE TWO VISIBLY FELL APART x !S HISTORICAL CRITICAL SCHOLARSHIP AD VANCED IT LED TO l NER AND l NER DISTINCTIONS BE TWEEN LAYERS OF TRADITION IN THE 'OSPELS BENEATH WHICH THE REAL OBJECT OF FAITHTHE l GURE ;Gestalt= OF *ESUSBECAME INCREASINGLY OBSCURED AND BLURRED !T THE SAME TIME THOUGH THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THIS *ESUS WHO COULD ONLY BE DISCOVERED BY GO ING BEHIND THE TRADITIONS AND SOURCES USED BY THE %VANGELISTS BECAME MORE AND MORE INCOMPATIBLE WITH ONE ANOTHER AT ONE END OF THE SPECTRUM *E SUS WAS THE ANTI 2OMAN REVOLUTIONARY x AT THE OTHER END HE WAS THE MEEK MORAL TEACHER
4HE DIVERGENT RESULTS OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS STUDIES TENDED TO CREATE IDEALIZED IMAGES OF THEIR AUTHORS RATHER THAN UN COVERING THE REAL *ESUS h;4=HE l GURE OF *ESUS HIMSELF HAS FOR THAT VERY REASON RECEDED EVEN FARTHER INTO THE DISTANCE x )NTIMATE FRIENDSHIP WITH *ESUS ON WHICH EVERYTHING DEPENDS IS IN DANGER OF CLUTCHING AT THIN AIRv #ARDINAL #HRISTOPH 3CHÚNBORN B MADE CLEAR DURING THE BOOK PRESENTATION IN 2OME THAT *ACOB .EUS NERS A Rabbi Talks with Jesus HAD INSPIRED THE POPE TO WRITE THIS NEW WORK .EUSNER POINTED OUT THAT HE HAD BEEN IN VOLVED IN A LITERARY DISPUTATION WITH THE POPE
$ISPUTATION WENT OUT OF STYLE WHEN RELIGIONS LOST THEIR CONl DENCE IN THE POWER OF REASON TO ESTABLISH THEOLOGICAL TRUTH x 4HE HERITAGE OF THE %NLIGHTEN MENT WITH ITS INDIFFERENCE TO THE TRUTH CLAIMS OF RELIGION FOSTERED RELIGIOUS TOLERATION AND RECIPRO CAL RESPECT IN PLACE OF RELIGIOUS CONFRONTATION AND CLAIMS TO KNOW 'OD x &OR THE PAST TWO CENTURIES Jesus the Jew and Joseph Ratzinger’s Christ • 103
*UDEO #HRISTIAN DIALOGUE SERVED AS THE MEDIUM OF A POLITICS OF SOCIAL CONCILIATION NOT RELIGIOUS IN QUIRY INTO THE CONVICTIONS OF THE OTHER
#ONTRARY TO THIS TREND 2ATZINGERLIKE .EUSNER HIMSELF IS A hTRUTH SEEKERv .EVERTHELESS THE #HRISTIAN DEBATER HAS TO COPE WITH THE FACT THAT .EUSNER WOULD NOT HAVE FOLLOWED *ESUS h) EXPLAIN IN A VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD AND UNAPOLO GETIC WAY WHY IF ) HAD BEEN IN THE ,AND OF )SRAEL IN THE l RST CENTURY AND PRESENT AT THE 3ERMON ON THE -OUNT ) WOULD NOT HAVE JOINED THE CIRCLE OF *ESUS DISCIPLES ) WOULD HAVE DISSENTED ) HOPE COURTEOUSLY AND ) AM SURE WITH SOLID REASON AND ARGUMENT AND FACT )F ) HEARD WHAT HE SAID IN THE 3ERMON ON THE -OUNT FOR GOOD AND SUBSTANTIVE REA SONS ) WOULD NOT HAVE BECOME ONE OF HIS DISCIPLESv /NE MUST GIVE 2ATZINGER CREDIT THAT HE ALLOWS A *EW ISH POSITION TO CONFRONT HIS POSITION OF FAITH &OR AS WE HAVE SEEN CONTRIBUTIONS FROM *EWISH *ESUS RESEARCHERS HAVE NOT USUALLY BEEN VIEWED AS HELPFUL CHALLENGES TO THE #HRISTIAN POSITION OR EVEN AS AN INVITATION TO DIALOGUE BUT RATHER AS PRESUMPTIVE ARROGANCE 5NFORTUNATELY *ACOB .EUSNER IS THE ONLY *EWISH SPARRING PARTNER WHO APPEARS IN *OSEPH 2ATZINGERS WORK 4HIS BOOK WOULD HAVE BEEN VASTLY ENRICHED IF THE AUTHOR HAD NOT LIMITED HIMSELF TO THIS ONE SINGULAR REFERENCE BUT HAD RATHER ENGAGED THE GENERAL *EWISH QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS ) TAKE THIS AS AN INDICATION THE THEOLOGIAN FORMERLY ON THE PAPAL THRONE WAS NOT REALLY CONCERNED WITH THE *EWISH QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS AS HE DEVELOPED HIS PORTRAIT OF *ESUS 7HAT IS CLEAR HOWEVER IS THAT *OSEPH 2ATZINGER OWES THE *EWISH POSITION GREATER DISCUSSION ! PARALLEL CAN BE FOUND IN HIS Introduction to Christianity WHERE HE WRITES OF HUMANITYS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE EARTH AND THAT IN THE END THEY WOULD BE JUDGED hBY THEIR WORKSv (E ALSO DREW AN EXPLICIT PARALLEL TO *UDAISM h)T MIGHT BE USE FUL IN THIS CONTEXT TO RECALL CERTAIN THINGS SAID BY THE GREAT 104 • Jesus Reclaimed
*EWISH THEOLOGIAN ,EO "AECK 4HE #HRISTIAN WILL NOT EN TIRELY AGREE WITH THEM BUT HE CANNOT DISREGARD THEIR SE RIOUSNESSv 2ATZINGER RESOLVES THE TENSION BETWEEN THE #HRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF GRACE AND THE *EWISH DEMAND FOR AC TIVELY SHAPING THE WORLD WITHOUT HOWEVER MENTIONING INCONGRUITIES WITH THE SAVING MESSAGE OF *UDAISM !ND HE ACCOMPLISHES THIS EVEN THOUGH HE CLEARLY UNDERSTANDS THE UNIVERSAL CLAIM OF THE ETHICS OF *UDAISM h"AECK THEN SHOWS HOW THIS UNIVERSALISM OF SALVATION FOUNDED ON THE DEED CRYSTALLIZED MORE AND MORE l RMLY IN THE *EWISH TRA DITION AND l NALLY EMERGED CLEARLY IN THE @CLASSICAL SAYING @%VEN THE PIOUS WHO ARE NOT )SRAELITES SHARE IN THE ETERNAL BLISSv 2ATZINGERS RESOLUTION IS SUCCINCT h0ERHAPS IN THE LAST ANALYSIS IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ESCAPE A PARADOX WHOSE LOGIC IS COMPLETELY DISCLOSED ONLY TO THE EXPERIENCE OF A LIFE BASED ON FAITHv /NE HAS THE IMPRESSION THAT WE ARE LISTENING TO SOMEONE WHO HAS INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF THE *EWISH POSITION "UT IT DOES NOT CONCERN HIM h)T IS NOT PART OF OUR TASK TO CONSIDER IN DETAIL HOW THIS STATEMENT CAN COEXIST WITH THE FULL WEIGHT OF THE DOCTRINE OF GRACEv )F HOWEVER 'ODS SALVATION HISTORY WITH HIS PEOPLE HAS NOT ENDED IF *UDAISM CONTINUES TO BEAR TESTIMONY TO ITS COVENANT WITH 'OD AND IF IT IS FRATERNALLY CONNECTED TO #HRISTIANITY THEN WHY IS 2ATZINGER SO CASUAL IN HIS AP PRAISAL OF THE *EWISH POSITION 2ATZINGERS STARTING POINT WITH .EUSNER IS NONETHELESS INTERESTING BECAUSE IT SHOWS THAT *EWISH PREOCCUPATION WITH *ESUS CAN ALSO MOTIVATE #HRISTIANS TO THINK ABOUT THIS IMPORTANT *EW AND TO REMIND THEM THAT HIS *EWISH HERITAGE WAS NO CULTURAL COINCIDENCE BUT A PART OF #HRISTIAN SALVATION HISTORY )N HIS h!DDRESS TO THE 0ARTICIPANTS OF THE 6ATICAN #OLLOQUIUM ON THE 2OOTS OF !NTI *UDAISM IN #HRISTIANITYv IN 0OPE *OHN 0AUL )) PUT IT THUS 4HOSE hWHO REGARD THE FACT THAT *ESUS WAS A *EW AND THAT HIS MILIEU WAS THE *EWISH WORLD AS MERE CULTURAL ACCIDENTS FOR WHICH ONE COULD SUBSTITUTE ANOTHER RELIGIOUS TRADITION FROM WHICH THE ,ORDS PERSON COULD BE Jesus the Jew and Joseph Ratzinger’s Christ • 105
SEPARATED WITHOUT LOSING ITS IDENTITY NOT ONLY IGNORE THE MEANING OF SALVATION HISTORY BUT MORE RADICALLY CHALLENGE THE VERY TRUTH OF THE )NCARNATION AND MAKE A GENUINE CON CEPT OF ENCULTURATION IMPOSSIBLEv
T e “Rabbi Jesus”: For Christians Only Important as Christ?
*OSEPH 2ATZINGER HIMSELF POINTS OUT EVERYTHING THAT A *EW COULD SAY ABOUT *ESUS hTHAT WE HAVE VERY LITTLE CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE ABOUT *ESUS AND THAT ONLY AT A LATER STAGE DID FAITH IN HIS DIVINITY SHAPE THE IMAGE WE HAVE OF HIM 4HIS IMPRESSION HAS BY NOW PENETRATED DEEPLY INTO THE MINDS OF THE #HRISTIAN PEOPLE AT LARGE v WARNS THE POPE 4HIS IS hA DRAMATIC SITUATION FOR FAITH BECAUSE ITS POINT OF REF ERENCE IS BEING PLACED IN DOUBTv h"UT WHAT CAN FAITH IN *ESUS AS THE #HRIST POSSIBLY MEAN IN *ESUS AS THE 3ON OF THE LIVING 'OD IF THE man *ESUS WAS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM THE PICTURE THE %VANGELISTS PAINTED OF HIM AND THAT THE CHURCH ON THE EVIDENCE OF THE 'OSPELS TAKES AS THE BASIS OF HER PREACHING v *OSEPH 2ATZINGER ASKS HIMSELF 9ESWHAT 4HE POPE WANTS TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT THOSE *ESUS IM AGES WERE ONLY hPHOTOGRAPHSv OF THEIR AUTHORS NOT AN UN COVERING OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS OF THE "IBLE (IS ANSWER IS CLEAR IF 'OD STEPS INTO ACTUAL HISTORY hINCARNATUS EST v BE LIEF MUST ALSO SUBJECT ITSELF TO HISTORICAL RESEARCH 4HIS IS NOT A NEW INSIGHT HE ALREADY CAME TO THE SAME CONCLUSION IN HIS Introduction to Christianity BACK IN :
4HE ATTEMPT TO OUTm ANK HISTORICAL #HRISTIANITY AND FROM THE HISTORIANS RETORTS TO CONSTRUCT A PURE *E SUS BY WHOM ONE SHOULD THEN BE ABLE TO LIVE IS INTRINSICALLY ABSURD -ERE HISTORY CREATES NO PRES ENT IT ONLY CONl RMS WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST 106 • Jesus Reclaimed
)N THE LAST ANALYSIS THE ROMANTIC APPROACH TO *ESUS IS JUST AS DEVOID OF VALUE FOR THE PRESENT OR FUTURE AS THE m IGHT TO THE PURE VERBAL EVENT WAS BOUND TO BE x 9ET THE SHUTTLE MOVEMENT OF THE MODERN MIND BETWEEN *ESUS AND #HRIST x WAS NOT ENTIRELY WASTED
)N THIS MANNER 2ATZINGER RECOGNIZES THE l NDINGS OF MOD ERN EXEGESIS BUT HE HAS DOUBTED ITS REACH FOR DECADES &OR HIM HISTORICAL CRITICAL RESEARCH IS INCAPABLE OF GRASPING THE BELIEF THAT *ESUS AS A HUMAN BEING WAS 'OD
“Reading the Whole Bible in the Light of Christ”: Joseph Ratzinger’s Hermeneutics
*OSEPH 2ATZINGER IS BASICALLY CONCERNED WITH VIEWING THE PROCESS THAT SHAPES SCRIPTURE hIN THE LIGHT OF *ESUS #HRISTv &ROM THIS PERSPECTIVE IT CAN BE SEEN THAT THE WHOLE POINTS IN ONE DIRECTION AND THE h/LD 4ESTAMENT AND .EW 4ES TAMENT BELONG TOGETHERv (AD #HRISTIANS ABANDONED THE /LD 4ESTAMENT AS !DOLF VON (ARNACK SUGGESTED IN THE WAKE OF -ARCION hOUR .EW 4ESTAMENT WOULD BE MEAN INGLESS IN ITSELFv h)T IS CLEAR THAT A #HRISTIAN REJECTION OF THE /LD 4ESTAMENT WOULD NOT ONLY PUT AN END TO #HRIS TIANITY ITSELF AS INDICATED ABOVE BUT IN ADDITION WOULD PREVENT THE FOSTERING OF POSITIVE RELATIONS BETWEEN #HRIS TIANS AND *EWS PRECISELY BECAUSE THEY WOULD LACK COM MON GROUND v SAYS 2ATZINGER IN HIS PREFACE TO THE OPINION OF THE 0ONTIl CAL "IBLICAL #OMMISSION OF The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible. !T THE SAME TIME FOR 2ATZINGER THE #HRISTIAN HERMENEUTICS OF THE /LD 4ESTAMENT WHICH MUST BE DISTINGUISHED FROM THAT OF *UDAISM STILL REPRESENT A WAY OF INTERPRETING THESE TEXTS *OSEPH 2ATZINGERS POSITION ON THE RELATIONSHIP BE TWEEN FAITH IN THE /LD AND .EW 4ESTAMENTS IS CATEGORICALLY Jesus the Jew and Joseph Ratzinger’s Christ • 107
AN A PRIORI FAITH (E STARTS OUT FROM THE FACT THAT ONLY FAITH MAKES *ESUS #HRIST THE hKEY FOR THE WHOLEv FOR /LD AND .EW 4ESTAMENTS BY ITSELF THE HISTORICAL METHOD CANNOT PRODUCE THIS UNDERSTANDING 4HIS HAD ALREADY BEEN IM PLIED IN HIS PREFACE FROM WHERE THE WORDS OF SCRIP TURE ARE SUPPORTED BY AN hINNER DEEPER VALUE v A MULTI DIMENSIONALITY OF HUMAN LANGUAGE THAT IS NOT l XED ON A PARTICULAR MOMENT IN HISTORY BUT ANTICIPATES THE FUTURE (E IS INTERESTED IN hHOW THE 7ORD OF 'OD CAN AVAIL OF THE HUMAN WORD TO CONFER ON A HISTORY IN PROGRESS A MEAN ING THAT SURPASSES THE PRESENT MOMENT AND YET BRINGS OUT PRECISELY IN THIS WAY THE UNITY OF THE WHOLEv )N THE l RST VOLUME OF HIS *ESUS TRILOGY HE BUILDS ON HIS EARLIER COM MENTS h4HE AUTHOR IS NOT SIMPLY SPEAKING FOR HIMSELF ON HIS OWN AUTHORITY (E IS SPEAKING FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A COMMON HISTORY THAT SUSTAINS HIM AND THAT ALREADY IM PLICITLY CONTAINS THE POSSIBILITIES OF ITS FUTURE OF THE FUR THER STAGES OF ITS JOURNEYv 4HEREFORE *EWS AND #HRISTIANS HAVE A COMMON FOUN DATION IN SCRIPTURE BUT ARE SEPARATED BY THEIR DIFFERENT WAYS OF READING *OSEPH 2ATZINGERS CRITIQUE OF THE HISTORI CAL CRITICAL RESEARCH IS THEREFORE LOGICAL h4HAT THE BIBLICAL AUTHORS IN THE CENTURIES BEFORE #HRIST WRITING IN THE /LD 4ESTAMENT INTENDED TO REFER IN ADVANCE TO #HRIST AND .EW 4ESTAMENT FAITH LOOKS TO THE MODERN HISTORICAL CONSCIOUS NESS AS HIGHLY UNLIKELYv ) AM TEMPTED TO REMARK HERE THAT THIS ALSO SEEMS VERY UNLIKELY EVEN FOR A *EW 4HERE FORE BASED ON THE hSHARED SCRIPTUREv ARGUMENT THERE IS NO SUBSTANTIAL PROXIMITY BETWEEN *EWS AND #HRISTIANS
Christian Faith and “Historical Reason”
&OR *EWS *OSEPH 2ATZINGERS ASSERTION THAT THIS ACT OF FAITH IS BASED ON hHISTORICAL REASONv IS VERY PROBLEMATIC )N HIS ENCYCLICAL LETTER Spe Salvi OF .OVEMBER *OSEPH 108 • Jesus Reclaimed
2ATZINGER FORMULATED THIS INTERWEAVING OF FAITH AND REASON AS A CENTRAL THOUGHT h2EASON THEREFORE NEEDS FAITH IF IT IS TO BE COMPLETELY ITSELF REASON AND FAITH NEED ONE ANOTHER IN ORDER TO FULl LL THEIR TRUE NATURE AND THEIR MISSIONv "UT IF #HRISTIANITY WISHES TO DEMAND ANY SIGNIl CANT CLAIM TO THE TRUTH AT LEAST SINCE THE %NLIGHTENMENT THEN IT MUST SUBMIT TO THE SAME PROCEDURE OF TESTING AND VERIl CA TION AS IS EXPECTED IN THE SECULAR SCIENCES 2ABBI !BRAHAM 'EIGER SUMMARIZED THE *EWISH UNDERSTANDING OF REASON WELL /N A PORTRAIT MADE DURING HIS YEARS AS A RABBI AT THE LOCAL 3TORCHEN 3YNAGOGUE IN 7ROCAW WHICH PROBABLY DATES TO WE l ND HIS MOTTO h4HROUGH INVESTIGATION OF THE PARTICULAR TO KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNIVERSAL THROUGH ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE PAST TO UNDERSTANDING OF THE PRES ENT TIME THROUGH REASON TO FAITHv *OSEPH 2ATZINGERS TRIL OGY ON *ESUS SEEMS TO SUGGEST THAT ONE OUGHT TO PROCEED IN EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE WAY 7ITHOUT DOUBT 2ATZINGERS TRILOGY HAS GIVEN NEW SPLENDOR TO THE RISEN #HRIST FOR THE CHURCH AND ITS FAITH &OR THE *EWISH READER IT IS CLEAR THAT THE AUTHOR IS NOT JUST PERSONALLY IN SEARCH OF FAITH BUT AL READY UNDER THE PRESUPPOSITION OF FAITH )N THIS RESPECT HE IS FOLLOWING THE TRADITION OF THOSE WHO WISH TO SUPERSEDE THE QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS *EWS ON THE OTHER HAND HAVE COME TO LOOK UPON *ESUS AS ONE OF US WHO HAS COME A LONG WAY AS A HUMAN TO BRING CLOSER 'ODS WILL TO ALL HUMA NKIND
Notes *OSEPH 2ATZINGER Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfi guration ,ONDON "LOOMSBURY XInXII )BID XII *ACOB .EUSNER h-Y !RGUMENT WITH THE 0OPE v Jerusalem Post, -AY P Jesus the Jew and Joseph Ratzinger’s Christ • 109
)BID *OSEPH 2ATZINGER Introduction to Christianity, TRANS BY * 2 &OSTER 3AN &RANCISCO )GNATIUS 0RESS )BID )BID )BID )BID 3EE -ARVIN -EYER AND #HARLES (UGHES EDS Jesus Then & Now: Images of Jesus in History and Christology (ARRISBURG 0! 4RINITY 0RESS )NTERNATIONAL h!NSPRACHE AN DIE 4EILNEHMER DES VATIKANISCHEN +OLLOQUIUMS àBER DIE 7URZELN DES !NTIJUDAISMUS IM CHRISTLICHEN "EREICH v IN Die Kirchen und das Judentum, VOL Dokumente von 1986– 2000, ED (ANS (ERMANN (ENRIX AND 7OLFGANG +RAUS 0A DERBORN "ONIFATIUS *OSEPH 2ATZINGER Jesus of Nazareth, XII )BID )BID XI %MPHASIS IN ORIGINAL )BID XV 2ATZINGER Introduction to Christianity, 2ATZINGER Jesus of Nazareth, XIX )BID *OSEPH 2ATZINGER h0REFACE v IN The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible, ED 0ONTIl CAL "IBLI CAL #OMMISSION 6ATICAN #ITY ,IBRERIA %DITRICE 6ATICANA h4HE DOCUMENT OF THE 0ONTIl CAL "IBLICAL #OM MISSION INTRODUCED BY THIS 0REFACE DECLARES @7ITHOUT THE /LD 4ESTAMENT THE .EW 4ESTAMENT WOULD BE AN UNINTEL LIGIBLE BOOK A PLANT DEPRIVED OF ITS ROOTS AND DESTINED TO DRY UP AND WITHERv NO )BID n 4HE COMMISSION STATES ON P h#HRIS TIAN READERS WERE CONVINCED THAT THEIR /LD 4ESTAMENT HERMENEUTIC ALTHOUGH SIGNIl CANTLY DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF *UDAISM CORRESPONDS NEVERTHELESS TO A POTENTIALITY OF MEANING THAT IS REALLY PRESENT IN THE TEXTSv NO )BID 2ATZINGER Jesus of Nazareth, XX 110 • Jesus Reclaimed
2ATZINGER h0REFACE v 2ATZINGER Jesus of Nazareth, XIX "ENEDICT 86) Encyclical Letter Spe Salvi of the Supreme Pon- tiff, Benedict XVI, to the Bishops, Priests and Deacons, Men and Women Religious and All the Lay Faithful on Christian Hope 6ATICAN #ITY ,IBRERIA %DITRICE 6ATICANA *AKOB * 0ETUCHOWSKI New Perspectives on Abraham Geiger #INCINNATI +TAV CF (ARTMUT "OMHOFF Abraham Geiger: Durch Wissen zum Glauben "ERLIN (ENTRICH (EN TRICH Conclusion
/VER THE LAST TWO THOUSAND YEARS *EWISH PERCEPTIONS OF *ESUS HAVE UNDERGONE AN EXCITING TRANSFORMATION FROM CONFRONTATION DISTANCE DISSOCIATION AND ANXIETY TO A CAU TIOUS REPATRIATION 7HAT BEGAN AS A DEFENSIVE ATTITUDE HAS NOW BECOME A LARGELY SELF CONl DENT AFl LIATION WITH *ESUS WHERE *ESUS IS PRESENTED AS ONE OF THE MANY VOICES WITHIN THE *EWISH WORLD OF HIS TIME 4HIS HAS BEEN THE RESULT OF AN IMPRESSIVELY LARGE BODY OF *EWISH RESEARCH ESPECIALLY SINCE THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES 0ARALLEL TO THIS AND OFTEN WITHOUT ANY REAL RECIPROCITY THE #HRISTIAN QUEST ATTEMPTED TO STRIP #HRIST OF HIS DOGMATIC VEIL IN OR DER TO CATCH A GLIMPSE OF THE HISTORICAL l GURE BENEATH IT *ESUS OF .AZARETH 4HE FRUITS OF THIS QUEST HAVE BEEN PERCEIVED QUITE DIFFERENTLY WITHIN #HRISTIANITY OVER THE PAST TWO CENTU RIES AND ANY ATTEMPT TO REVEAL THE HISTORICAL *ESUS HAS ALL TOO OFTEN BEEN MET WITH SUSPICION 4HE l NAL CHAPTER OF THIS BOOK LOOKED IN DETAIL AT THE MOST RECENT EXAMPLE OF #HRISTIAN MISGIVING TOWARD THE HISTORICAL *ESUS NAMELY *OSEPH 2ATZINGERS *ESUS TRILOGY $ESPITE THESE APPARENTLY INTRANSIGENT VIEWS AND POSITIONS 6ELI -ATTI +ÊRKKÊINEN NEVERTHELESS EMPHASIZES A USEFUL CONTINUITY ACROSS THE #HRISTIAN QUESTS
7HILE THERE ARE RADICAL IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE VARIOUS STAGESAND ONE ALMOST QUES TIONS THE WISDOM OF CONNECTING THEM TERMINOLOG ICALLYTHEY SHARE THE DESIRE OF QUESTIONING MUCH 112 • Jesus Reclaimed
OF TWO THOUSAND YEARS OF ECCLESIASTICAL AND THEO LOGICAL FORMULATIONS OF #HRISTOLOGY
)F QUESTIONING WHICH LEADS TO PROGRESS CAN BE DESCRIBED AS THE TRUE NATURE OF THE QUEST THEN INDEED THERE ARE GROUNDS FOR OPTIMISM *AMES $UNN SUCCINCTLY SUMMARIZED THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE #HRISTIAN QUEST SINCE THE S
h)N THE CLOSING DECADES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY THE MOST HELPFUL ADVANCE IN LIFE OF *ESUS RESEARCH WAS THE RECOGNITION THAT THE QUEST MUST PRIMAR ILY HAVE IN VIEW Jesus the Jew AND A CLEARER AND l RMER GRASP OF THE CON SEQUENCES 7HAT DISTINGUISHES THIS @THIRD QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS IS THE CON VICTION THAT ANY ATTEMPT TO BUILD UP A HISTORICAL PICTURE OF *ESUS OF .AZARETH SHOULD AND MUST BE GIN FROM THE FACT THAT HE WAS A l RST CENTURY *EW OPERATING IN A l RST CENTURY MILIEUx 7HAT MORE NATURAL ONE MIGHT THINK WHAT MORE INEVITABLE THAN TO PURSUE A QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS THE *EW v
*EWISH INTEREST IN *ESUS THE *EW CERTAINLY AT THE BE GINNING WAS PRIMARILY DRIVEN BY AN APOLOGETIC IMPULSE BUT ALTHOUGH *EWISH SCHOLARS WERE INITIALLY DEFENSIVE THEY ALWAYS PURSUED A COMMON STRATEGIC GOAL NAMELY THE JUSTIl CATION OF *UDAISM AS A CONTEMPORARY EXPRESSION OF FAITH WITHIN THE h#HRISTIAN STATEv ) HAVE SHOWN HOW THIS APOLOGIA WAS MET BY DETERMINED AND OFTEN ANTI 3EMITIC OPPOSITION 4HIS WAS ESPECIALLY TRUE IN THE PERIOD AFTER THE FOUNDATION OF THE 3ECOND 'ERMAN %MPIRE ALTHOUGH IT PERSISTED WELL ON INTO THE 7EIMAR 2EPUBLIC AND BEYOND /VER THE COURSE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY THERE WAS A SIGNIl CANT SHIFT IN FOCUS AND GENUINE CURIOSITY OR RAP PROCHEMENT RATHER THAN ANY ULTERIOR POLITICAL MOTIVE AP PEARS TO HAVE BECOME THE MAIN CATALYST FOR *EWISH INTEREST Conclusion • 113
IN *ESUS ,EO "AECKS ELABORATE STUDIES ON *ESUS AND #HRIS TIANITY FOR EXAMPLE WERE ATTEMPTS TO DEl NE COMMON GROUND EVEN DURING THE TIME OF THE 4HIRD 2EICH "UT ESPECIALLY IN THE DECADES AFTER THE 3HOAH THE IM AGE OF *ESUS AS CAPTURED BY *EWISH SCHOLARS HAS BECOME MORE FAMILIAR EG h"ROTHER *ESUSv BY 3CHALOM "EN #HORIN 4HIS LATEST DEVELOPMENT IS CREATING COMPLETELY NEW LINES OF INVESTIGATION *ESUSS TEACHING FROM THE *EW ISH (ALAKHA PERSPECTIVE IS ONE AREA WHERE HE IS NOW BEING PERCEIVED AS SOMEBODY ARGUING FROM WITHIN THE TRADITION RATHER THAN AS THE DANGEROUS OUTSIDER OF FORMER CENTURIES 7HAT IS PARTICULARLY STRIKING IS THE FACT THAT *E SUS HAS BECOME A l GURE WITHIN *EWISH LITERATURE AND SO l NALLY HE HAS BECOME A l GURE OF IDENTIl CATION WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF *EWISH CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION 7HILE THESE LITERARY PATHS CONTINUE TO GROW AND CONNECT UP TO EARLIER BIOGRAPHICAL STUDIES FROM *EWISH SCHOLARS THERE HAS BEEN LITTLE CONTEMPORARY MOVEMENT IN THE *EWISH THEOLOGICAL SPHERE 4HIS IS NOT SURPRISING WHEN ONE CONSIDERS THE *EW ISH QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL *ESUS AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF THE CONCEPT OF THE -ESSIAH AS WE l ND IT IN BIBLICAL AND RABBINIC *UDAISM 4HERE ARE STRONG ARGUMENTS WHICH SEEM TO INDICATE A DECLINE IN THE RELEVANCE OF THIS THEOLOGICAL CONCEPT SINCE MEDIEVAL TIMES AND PARTICULARLY SINCE THE *EWISH EMANCIPATION PERIOD *EWISH INTEREST IN *ESUS THE *EW BEGAN TO m OURISH AT EXACTLY THE SAME TIME AS THE -ES SIANIC IDEAAFTER A LONG SERIES OF PSEUDO MESSIANIC DIS APPOINTMENTSBEGAN TO LOSE APPEAL 4HE FACT THAT BY AND LARGE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURY *UDAISM NO LONGER ANTICIPATES A PERSONAL -ESSIAH COULD PLAUSIBLY LEAD ONE TO THE CONCLUSION THAT INTEREST IN *ESUS NEVER HAD MUCH THEOLOGICAL INTENT IN THE l RST PLACE 7HAT IMAGE OF *ESUS CAN WE NOW DRAW FROM THE *EWISH POINT OF VIEW *ESUS MAY HAVE BEEN A GREAT MAN IN HIS TIME BUT HE WAS NOT A PERFECT HUMAN BEING !ND EVEN AS A GREAT MAN HE ASSUMES NO SPECIAL STATUS AFTER ALL *UDAISM HAS 114 • Jesus Reclaimed
PRODUCED MANY GREAT MEN 4HEREFORE *ESUS WARRANTS NO SUPERNATURAL STATUS .EVERTHELESS AS A PHENOMENON AND AN INTEGRAL PART OF 7ESTERN CIVILIZATION HE CANNOT BE OVER LOOKED EVEN BY *EWS %RNST ,UDWIG %HRLICH SEES NO REA SON TO GRANT *ESUS ANY OTHER STATUS BECAUSE HE ARGUES HE CHANGED hNOTHING ABSOLUTELY NOTHINGv %HRLICH ADDS THE INSIGHT THAT h*UDAISM HAS NEVER ACKNOWLEDGED A SINGLE TEACHER ONLY THE CHAIN OF TEACHERS THE STREAM OF TRADITION )T HAS ALWAYS RESISTED PLACING ONE PERSON AT THE CENTERv h4HE DEEPEST MISUNDERSTANDING BETWEEN *EWS AND #HRIS TIANS v HE CONTINUES CONSISTS IN THE FACT THAT *EWS CAN LEAD hFULL m EDGED RELIGIOUS LIVES WITHOUT EVER HAVING HEARD OF *ESUS AND HAVING HEARD THE GOSPELv )F IT IS TRUE THAT 'OD IS THE ,ORD OF HISTORY THEN THE HISTORICAL IMPACT OF #HRISTIANITY MUST BE RECOGNIZED AS A RELIGION CLOSELY LINKED WITH *UDAISM 3OME *EWISH SCHOL ARS REMINDED US *EWS OF THIS FACT WHEN THEY ENGAGED IN *EWISH #HRISTIAN DIALOGUE 4HEY REINFORCED THE INSIGHT THAT FOR THE SAKE OF THEIR COMMON HERITAGE #HRISTIANITY AND *UDAISM HAVE TO BE OPEN TO DIALOGUE NOW THAT THE LONG PERIOD OF SILENCE HAS BEEN OVERCOME 7HAT CAN BE SAID ABOUT *ESUS THE .AZARENE FROM A *EW ISH POINT OF VIEW 7AS HE A 0HARISEE AND SCRIBE -AYBE 7AS HE SIGNIl CANT 7ITHOUT A DOUBT 7AS HE THE -ESSIAH OR EVEN THE 3ON OF 'OD !CCORDING TO THE *EWISH UNDER STANDING NO
Notes 3EE %VANS h!SSESSING 0ROGRESS IN THE 4HIRD 1UEST OF THE (ISTORICAL *ESUS v FF 6ELI -ATTI +ÊRKKÊINEN Christology 'RAND 2APIDS -) *AMES $UNN Jesus Remembered; Christianity in the Mak- ing Vol. 1 'RAND 2APIDS -) Conclusion • 115
#F $AVID .OWAK FOR AN ENLIGHTENING DISCUSSION OF HOW #HRISTIAN *EWISH $IALOGUE IN RELATION TO THE l GURE OF *E SUS BEGAN IN .ORTH !MERICA AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TWEN TIETH CENTURY MUCH EARLIER THAN IN #ONTINENTAL %UROPE h4HE 1UEST FOR THE *EWISH *ESUSv Modern Judaism NO n 3EE #HAIM 3AIMAN h*ESUS ,EGAL 4HEORY ! 2ABBINIC 2EADINGv Journal of Law and Religion NO n $AVID ! 3KEEL *R h7HAT WERE *ESUS AND THE 0HARISEES 4ALKING ABOUT 7HEN 4HEY 4ALKED ABOUT ,AW v Journal of Law and Religion NO n !N EARLY #HRISTIAN EXAMPLE OF SUCH INTERPRETATION IS (ER MANN , 3TRACK0AUL "ILLERBECK Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrasch VOL -UNICH n 3EE -ELISSA 7EININGER h!N %THICAL :IONIST *ESUS IN ! ! +ABAKS "EMISHOL HATSARv Prooftexts: A Journal of Jewish Literary History NO n +ARL *OSEF +USCHEL h!FTERWORDv TO THE NEW EDITION OF -AX "RODS h$ER -EISTERv ;= IN Max Brod – Ausgewählte Werke %D (ANS 'ERD +OCH AND (ANS $IETER :IMMERMANN 'ÚTTINGEN .ETA 3TAHL Other and Brother: Jesus in the 20th-century Jewish literary landscape. /XFORD .EW 9ORK 7ALTER (OMOLKA h$IE -ESSIASVORSTELLUNGEN IM *UDEN TUM DER .EUZEIT v IN Der Messias, Berliner Theologische Zeitschrift )SSUE ,EIPZIG n %HRLICH h%INE JàDISCHE !UFFASSUNG VON *ESUS v )BID
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(OMOLKA 7ALTER h$IE -ESSIASVORSTELLUNGEN IM *UDENTUM DER .EUZEIT v IN Der Messias Berliner Theologische Zeitschrift 6OL ,EIPZIG %VANGELISCHE 6ERLAGSAN STALT Jewish Identity in Modern Times: Leo Baeck and German Protestantism 0ROVIDENCE 2) "ERGHAHN "OOKS (ORBURY 7ILLIAM h*ESUS #HRISTUSv Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, EDITED BY (ANS $IETER "ETZ $ON 3 "ROWNING AND "ERND *ANOWSKI TH ED VOL 4àBIN GEN -OHR 3IEBECK *ACOB 7ALTER ,EO "AECK AND #LAUDE -ONTEl ORE h$IE %VANGELIEN AUS JàDISCHER 3ICHTv Leo Baeck: Zwischen Geheimnis und Gebot; Auf dem Weg zu einem pro- gressiven Judentum der Moderne, EDITED BY 7ALTER (OMOLKA (ERRENALBER &ORUM +ARLSRUHE %VANGE LISCHE !KADEMIE "ADEN *ACOBSON 2EDE DES (ERRN 0RÊSIDENTEN h&EYERLICHE %IN WEIHUNG DES *ACOBS 4EMPELS IN 3EESENv Sulamith NO *AMROS $ANIEL 0 h(EGEL ON THE )NCARNATION 5NIQUE OR 5NIVERSAL v Theological Studies h*ESUSv Encyclopaedia Judaica, VOL *ERUSALEM +ETER *OSEPHUS Jewish Antiquities: Books XVIII–XIX 4RANSLA TION BY ,OUIS ( &ELDMAN #AMBRIDGE -! (ARVARD 5NIVERSITY 0RESS *OSPE %VA ED Reason and Hope: Selections from the Jew- ish Writings of Hermann Cohen .EW 9ORK .ORTON *OST )SAAK -ARKUS Allgemeine Geschichte des Israeli- tischen Volkes, Zweiter Teil "ERLIN # & !MELANG +ÊHLER -ARTIN The So-Called Historical Jesus and the Historic Biblical Christ 0HILADELPHIA &ORTRESS 0RESS 124 • Bibliography
+ALTENBORN #ARL *àRGEN Adolf von Harnack als Lehrer Dietrich Bonhoeffers 4HEOLOGISCHE !RBEITEN "ER LIN %VANGELISCHE 6ERLAGSANSTALT +ANT )MMANUEL Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone .EW 9ORK (ARPER 2OW +ÊRKKÊINEN 6ELI -ATTI Christology. 'RAND 2APIDS -) "AKER !CADEMIC +ÊSEMANN %RNST h4HE 0ROBLEM OF THE (ISTORICAL *ESUSv Essays in New Testament Themes. ,ONDON 3#- 0RESS Jesus Means Freedom: A Polemical Survey of the New Testament ,ONDON 3#- 0RESS Perspectives on Paul. 0HILADELPHIA &ORTRESS 0RESS ,ONDON 3#- 0RESS +ASPER 7ALTER Jesus the Christ ,ONDON "URNS /ATES .EW 9ORK 0AULIST 0RESS +AUFMANN 9EHEZKEL Goleh ve-nekhar 4EL !VIV $EVIR +ECK ,EANDER % h4HE 3ECOND #OMING OF THE ,IBERAL *E SUSv Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The His- torical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith, EDITED BY -ARCUS "ORG 3AN &RANCISCO (ARPER3AN &RANCISCO +IERKEGAARD 3REN h0HILOSOPHISCHE "ROCKEN !BSCHLIE ENDE UNWISSENSCHAFTLICHE .ACHSCHRIFT 4EIL UND v Gesammelte Werke, TRANSLATED BY (ERMANN 'OTT SCHED AND #HRISTOPH 3CHREMPF VOLS n *ENA $IE DERICHS Abschließende unwissenschaftliche Nachschrift zu den Philosophischen Brocken $àSSELDORF AND #O LOGNE % $IEDERICHS Philosophical Fragments; or, A Fragment of Philos- ophy 0RINCETON .* 0RINCETON 5NIVERSITY 0RESS Concluding Unscientifi c Postscript to Philosoph- ical Fragments %DITED AND TRANSLATED BY (OWARD 6 Bibliography • 125
(ONG AND %DNA ( (ONG 0RINCETON .* 0RINCETON 5NIVERSITY 0RESS +ILCHER !NDREAS h'ESETZ UND !USLEGUNG $IE -ISCHNA DAS %LEMENTARBUCH DER JàDISCHEN $IASPORA IM 6ERLAG DER 7ELTRELIGIONENv Neue Zürcher Zeitung, NO !UGUST +IMCHI *OSEPH Sefer Ha’Berit #ONSTANTINOPLE #ITED IN 0INCHAS ,APIDE Ist das nicht Josephs Sohn? 'àTERSLOH 'àTERSLOHER 6ERLAGSHAUS 'ERD -OHN +LAUSNER *OSEPH Jesus of Nazareth: His Life, Times and Teachings. .EW 9ORK "LOCH /RIGINAL (EBREW EDITION PUBLISHED AS Yeshu ha-Notsri, zemano, hayav ve torato. 9ERUSHALAYIM 3HTIBEL ≥ h$IE 'EGENSÊTZE ZWISCHEN DEM *UDENTUM UND DER ,EHRE *ESUv Menorah, NOS n -AY h*ESUS VON .AZARETHv Encyclopaedia Judaica, VOL "ERLIN %SCHKOL +OHLER +AUFMANN Jesus from Nazareth from a Jewish Point of View .EW 9ORK &UNK 7AGNALLS Jewish Theology, Systematically and Historically Considered .EW 9ORK +TAV +OLLMANN "ERND h0AULUS ALS 7UNDERTÊTERv Paulinische Christologie, EDITED BY 5DO 3CHNELLE UND 4HOMAS 3ÚD ING 'ÚTTINGEN 6ANDENHOECK 2UPRECHT +RAUSS 3AMUEL Das Leben Jesu nach jüdischen Quellen "ERLIN 3 #ALVARY h.EUERE !NSICHTEN àBER @4OLDOTH *ESCHUv Mo- natsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Ju- dentums NO n +RIEGER +ARSTEN ED Der “Berliner Antisemitismusstreit” 1879–1881: Eine Kontroverse um die Zugehörigkeit der deutschen Juden zur Nation +OMMENTIERTE 1UEL LENEDITION VOLS -UNICH + ' 3AUR n +ROCHMALNIK $ANIEL h0ARSCHANDATA 2ASCHI UND SEINE :EITv Jüdisches Leben in Bayern: Mitteilungsblatt des 126 • Bibliography
Landesverbandes der israelitischen Kultusgemeinden in Bayern, !PRIL +àNG (ANS On Being a Christian 4RANSLATED BY %DWARD 1UINN ,ONDON 3#- 0RESS Justifi cation: The Doctrine of Karl Barth and a Catholic Refl ection 0HILADELPHIA 7ESTMINSTER *OHN +NOX 0RESS +àNG (ANS AND 0INCHAS ,APIDE Brother or Lord? A Jew and a Christian Talk Together 'LASGOW 7ILLIAM #OL LINS 3ONS +USCHEL +ARL *OSEF h!FTERWORDv Max Brod – Der Meister -AX "ROD n !USGEWÊHLTE 7ERKE. %DITED BY (ANS 'ERD +OCH AND (ANS $IETER :IMMERMANN 'ÚTTINGEN 7ALL STEIN 6ERLAG FORTHCOMING ;= ,APIDE 0INCHAS Auferstehung: Ein jüdisches Glaubenser- lebnis 3TUTTGART #ALWER -UNICH +ÚSEL 4RANS LATED BY 7ILHELM # ,INSS AS The Resurrection of Jesus: A Jewish Perspective. %UGENE /2 7IPF AND 3TOCK Ist das nicht Josephs Sohn? Jesus im heutigen Judentum. 'àTERSLOH 'àTERSLOHER 6ERLAGSHAUS 'ERD -OHN Der Jude Jesus: Thesen eines Juden; Antworten eines Christen :àRICH "ENZINGER Der Rabbi von Nazareth: Wandlungen des jüdi- schen Jesusbildes 4RIER 3PEE 6ERLAG ,ESSING 'OTTHOLD %PHRAIM h/N THE 0ROOF OF THE 3PIRIT AND ON 0OWERv Lessing’s Theological Writings, EDITED BY (ENRY #HADWICK ! ,IBRARY OF -ODERN 2ELIGIOUS 4HOUGHT 3TANFORD #! 3TANFORD 5NIVERSITY 0RESS ,EVINE !MY *ILL h)NTRODUCTIONv The Historical Jesus in Context, EDITED BY !MY *ILL ,EVINE $ALE # !LLISON *R AND *OHN $OMINIC #ROSSAN 0RINCETON .* 0RINCETON 5NIVERSITY 0RESS Bibliography • 127
,EVY 2ICHARD 3 Antisemitism in the Modern World: An Anthology of Texts ,EXINGTON -! $ # (EATH ,IMOR /RA h2ELIGIONSGESPRÊCHE JàDISCH CHRISTLICHv Theo- logische Realenzyklopädie, EDITED BY 'ERHARD +RAUSE 'ERHARD -ULLER AND (ORST 2 "ALZ VOL "ERLIN 7ALTER DE 'RUYTER ,INDESKOG 'ÚSTA Die Jesusfrage im neuzeitlichen Judentum: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Leben-Jesu-Forschung $ARMSTADT 7ISSENSCHAFTLICHE "UCHGESELLSCHAFT ,OISY !LFRED The Gospel and the Church 0HILADELPHIA &ORTRESS 0RESS -ACQUARRIE *OHN h*ESUS #HRISTUS 6)v Theologische Realenzyklopädie EDITED BY 'ERHARD +RAUSE AND 'ER HARD -ULLER VOL "ERLIN 7ALTER DE 'RUYTER -AGONET *ONATHAN Talking to the Other: Jewish Interfaith Dialogue with Christians and Muslims. ,ONDON ) " 4AURIS -AIER *OHANN Jesus von Nazareth in der talmudischen Überlieferung. ND ED $ARMSTADT 7ISSENSCHAFTLICHE "UCHGESELLSCHAFT Judentum von A bis Z: Glauben, Geschichte, Kul- tur. &REIBURG (ERDER -ANNHEIM +ARL Ideology and Utopia ,ONDON 0AUL 4RENCH 4RUBNER -ARGOLIES 2EUVEN ED Vikuah R. Yehiel mi-Pariz ,WOW -ENDELSSOHN -OSES Jerusalem; or, On Religious Power and Judaism %DITED BY !LLAN !RKUSH (ANOVER .( "RANDEIS 5NIVERSITY 0RESS -ETZGER "RUCE - AND 2OLAND -URPHY The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha. .EW 9ORK /X FORD 5NIVERSITY 0RESS -EYER -ARVIN AND #HARLES (UGHES EDS Jesus Then & Now: Images of Jesus in History and Christology (AR RISBURG 0! 4RINITY 0RESS )NTERNATIONAL 128 • Bibliography
-EYER -ICHAEL ! Great Debate on Antisemitism: Jewish Reaction to New Hostility in Germany, 1879–1881 .EW 9ORK ,EO "AECK )NSTITUTE -ONTEl ORE #LAUDE ' The Synoptic Gospels. ,ONDON -ACMILLAN -URMELSTEIN "ENJAMIN h*OSEPH +LAUSNER Jesus von Naz- arethv Menorah, NOS n .OVEMBER -UTIUS (ANS 'EORG VON hDie christlich-jüdische Zwangs- disputation zu Barcelona” Judentum und Umwelt 5 &RANKFURT 0ETER ,ANG .EUSNER *ACOB h-Y !RGUMENT WITH THE 0OPEv Jerusalem Post, -AY .OVAK $AVID h4HE 1UEST FOR THE *EWISH *ESUSv Modern Judaism NO 0ANNENBERG 7OLFHART Grundzüge der Christologie 'à TERSLOH 'àTERSLOHER 6ERLAGSHAUS 'ERD -OHN Jesus: God and Man 0HILADELPHIA 7ESTMINSTER 0RESS Revelation as History .EW 9ORK -ACMILLAN 0ERLES &ELIX Was lehrt uns Harnack? &RANKFURT * +AUFF MANN 0ETUCHOWSKI *AKOB * New Perspectives on Abraham Gei- ger #INCINNATI +TAV 0ODET !LLEN ( A Translation of the Magen Wa-Hereb by Leon Modena, 1571–1648: Christianity through a Rabbi’s Eyes ,EWISTON .9 %DWIN -ELLEN 0RESS 0ORTON 'ARY ' h4HE 0ARABLE IN THE (EBREW "IBLE AND 2ABBINIC ,ITERATUREv The Historical Jesus in Context, EDITED BY !MY *ILL ,EVINE $ALE # !LLISON *R AND *OHN $OMINIC #ROSSAN 0RINCETON .* 0RINCETON 5NI VERSITY 0RESS 2AHNER +ARL h:UR 4HEOLOGIE DES 3YMBOLSv Karl Rahner: Sämtliche Werke, ED BY +ARL ,EHMANN *OHANN "AP TIST -ETZ + ( .EUFELD ! 2AFFELT ( 6ORGRIMTER AND ! 2 "ATLOGG VOL &REIBURG (ERDER Bibliography • 129
2ATZINGER *OSEPH h0REFACEv The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible, EDITED BY THE 0ONTIl CAL "IBLICAL #OMMISSION 6ATICAN #ITY ,IBRERIA %DITRICE 6ATICANA Introduction to Christianity 4RANSLATED BY * 2 &OSTER 3AN &RANCISCO )GNATIUS 0RESS Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfi guration .EW 9ORK $OUBLEDAY 2EIMARUS (ERMANN 3AMUEL Von dem Zwecke Jesu und seiner Jünger: Noch ein Fragment des Wolfenbüttel- schen Ungenannten ;/N THE )NTENTIONS OF *ESUS AND HIS $ISCIPLES= %DITED BY 'OTTHOLD %PHRAIM ,ESSING "RAUNSCHWEIG )NTRODUCED AND TRANSLATED BY 'EORGE 7 "UCHANAN AS The Goal of Jesus and His Dis- ciples. ,EIDEN % * "RILL Fragments from Reimarus: Brief Critical Remarks on the Object of Jesus and His Disciples as Seen in the New Testament 4RANSLATED FROM THE 'ERMAN OF ' % ,ESSING %DITED BY #HARLES 6ORSEY ,ONDON 7ILLIAMS AND .ORGATE 2EPRINT 0HILADELPHIA &ORTRESS 0RESS h/N THE )NTENTIONS OF *ESUS AND (IS $ISCIPLESv Reimarus: Fragments, EDITED BY # ( 4ALBERT 0HILA DELPHIA &ORTRESS 0RESS 2ITSCHL !LBRECHT The Christian Doctrine of Justifi cation and Reconciliation. 6OLS n #LIFTON .* 2EFERENCE "OOK 2OBINSON *AMES - A New Quest of the Historical Jesus 3TUDIES IN "IBLICAL 4HEOLOGY ,ONDON 3#- 0RESS 2OHLS *AN Protestantische Theologie der Neuzeit VOL 4àBINGEN -OHR 3IEBECK 2OLOFF *àRGEN h*ESUS VON .AZARETHv Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, EDITED BY (ANS $IETER "ETZ $ON 3 "ROWNING "ERND *ANOWSKI AND %BERHARD *àNGEL TH ED VOL 4àBINGEN -OHR 3IEBECK 130 • Bibliography
3AIMAN #HAIM h*ESUS ,EGAL 4HEORY ! 2ABBINIC 2EAD INGv Journal of Law and Religion NO 3ALVADOR *OSEPH Jésus-Christ et sa doctrine 0ARIS ! 'UYOT ET 3CRIBE 3ANDMEL 3AMUEL A Jewish Understanding of the New Testament 7OODSTOCK 64 *EWISH ,IGHTS 3CHÊFER 0ETER Jesus in the Talmud 0RINCETON .* 0RINCE TON 5NIVERSITY 0RESS 3CHOEPS (ANS *OACHIM Jüdisch-christliches Religionsge- spräch in neunzehn Jahrhunderten: Geschichte einer theologischen Auseinandersetzung. "ERLIN 6ORTRUPP 6ERLAG Die großen Religionsstifter und ihre Lehren RD ED $ARMSTADT 7ISSENSCHAFTLICHE "UCHGESELLSCHAFT h*ESUS UND DAS JàDISCHE 'ESETZv Studien zur un- bekannten Religions und Geistesgeschichte. 6ERÚFFEN TLICHUNGEN D 'ESELLSCHAFT FàR 'EISTESGESCHICHTE 'ÚTTINGEN -USTERSCHMIDT The Jewish-Christian Argument: A History of The- ologies in Confl ict ,ONDON &ABER &ABER 3CHOLEM 'ERSHOM Origins of the Kabbalah 0HILADEL PHIA *EWISH 0UBLICATION 3OCIETY 3CHREINER -ARTIN Die jüngsten Urteile über das Judentum kritisch untersucht "ERLIN #RONBACH 3CHRÚDER -ARKUS h,EBEN *ESU &ORSCHUNGv Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, EDITED BY (ANS $IETER "ETZ $ON 3 "ROWNING "ERND *ANOWSKI AND %BERHARD *àNGEL TH ED VOL 4àBINGEN -OHR 3IEBECK 6ERLAG 3CHUBERT +URT Jüdische Geschichte. "ECKSCHE 2EIHE -UNICH "ECK 3CHWEITZER !LBERT The Quest of the Historical Jesus: A Critical Study of Its Progress from Reimarus to Wrede 4RANSLATED BY 7 -ONTGOMERY ,ONDON ! # "LACK Bibliography • 131
3KEEL *R $AVID ! h7HAT WERE *ESUS AND THE 0HARISEES 4ALKING ABOUT 7HEN 4HEY 4ALKED ABOUT ,AW v )N Jour- nal of Law and Religion NO 3ÚLLE $OROTHEE AND ,UISE 3CHOTTROFF Jesus of Nazareth. ,OUISVILLE 7ESTMINSTER *OHN +NOX 0RESS 3PERLING 3 $AVID h*EWISH 0ERSPECTIVES ON *ESUSv Jesus Then & Now: Images of Jesus in History and Chris- tology, EDITED BY -ARVIN -EYER AND #HARLES (UGHES (ARRISBURG 0! 4RINITY 0RESS )NTERNATIONAL 3TAHL .ETA Other and Brother: Jesus in the 20th-century Jewish literary landscape /XFORD .EW 9ORK /XFORD 5NIVERSITY 0RESS 3TEGEMANN 7OLFGANG Jesus und seine Zeit 3TUTTGART +OHLHAMMER 3TOECKER !DOLF h5NSERE &ORDERUNGEN AN DAS MODERNE *U DENTHUMv Das moderne Judenthum in Deutschland, besonders in Berlin: Zwei Reden in der christlich- socialen Arbeiterpartei ND ED "ERLIN 3TRACK (ERMANN , AND 0AUL "ILLERBECK Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrasch 6OL UMES -UNICH # ( "ECK n 3TRAUSS $AVID &RIEDRICH Streitschriften zur Vertheidigung meiner Schrift ueber das Leben Jesu und zur Charak- teristik der gegenwaertigen Theologie 4àBINGEN # & /SIANDER 2EPRINT (ILDESHEIM /LMS Die christliche Glaubenslehre in ihrer geschichtli- chen Entwicklung und im Kampfe der modernen Wis- senschaft. 4àBINGEN AND 3TUTTGART /SIANDER 2EPRINT $ARMSTADT 7ISSENSCHAFTLICHE "UCHGESELL SCHAFT Der Christus des Glaubens und der Jesus der Ges- chichte: Eine Kritik des Schleiermacher’schen Leben Jesu "ERLIN $UNCKER 2EPRINT 'àTERSLOH 'àTER SLOHER 6ERLAGSHAUS 'ERD -OHN The Life of Jesus: Critically Examined. 0HILADEL PHIA &ORTRESS 0RESS 132 • Bibliography
3TRAUSS %DUARD h*ESUS VON .AZARETHv Der Jude NO n n h0AULUS DER "EKEHRERv Der Jude NO n 4HEISSEN 'ERD The First Followers of Jesus: A Sociologi- cal Analysis of the Earliest Christianity. 4RANSLATED BY *OHN "OWDEN ,ONDON 3#- 0RESS A Theory of Primitive Christian Religion ,ONDON 3#- 0RESS 4HEISSEN 'ERD AND !NNETTE -ERZ The Historical Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide -INNEAPOLIS !UGSBURG &OR TRESS 0RESS 4HOMA #LEMENS h)N -EMORIAM 3CHALOM "EN #HORIN n v Freiburger Rundbriefe: Zeitschrift für christlich-jüdische Begegnung, NS 4ILLICH 0AUL Systematic Theology VOL #HICAGO 5NI VERSITY OF #HICAGO 0RESS The New Being .EW 9ORK 3CRIBNER h#HRISTOLOGIE UND 'ESCHICHTSDEUTUNGv Gesam- melte Werke, VOL Der Widerstreit von Raum und Zeit: Schriften zur Geschichtsphilosophie 3TUTTGART %VANGELISCHES 6ERLAGSWERK 4OMSON 0ETER * “If This Be from Heaven . . . ”: Jesus and the New Testament Authors in Their Relationship to Judaism 3HEFl ELD 3HEFl ELD !CADEMIC 0RESS 4REITSCHKE (EINRICH VON h5NSERE !USSICHTENv Preußi- sche Jahrbücher NO .OVEMBER n 4REPP ,EO Der jüdische Gottesdienst: Gestalt und En- twicklung 3TUTTGART +OHLHAMMER 4ROELTSCH %RNST Religion in History -INNEAPOLIS &OR TRESS 0RESS 6ERMES 'ÏZA Jesus the Jew: A Historian’s Reading of the Gospels ,ONDON #OLLINS Jesus and the World of Judaism. -INNEAPOLIS &OR TRESS 0RESS Bibliography • 133
h*ESUS THE *EWv Jesus’ Jewishness: Exploring the Place of Judaism in Early Judaism, EDITED BY * ( #HARLESWORTH .EW 9ORK #ROSSROADS h*ESUS THE *EW. #LAUDE -ONTEl ORE -EMORIAL ,EC TURE v ,ONDON ,IBERAL *EWISH 3YNAGOGUE The Religion of Jesus the Jew -INNEAPOLIS &OR TRESS 0RESS The Changing Faces of Jesus ,ONDON !LLEN ,ANE The Authentic Gospel of Jesus ,ONDON !LLEN ,ANE Jesus in the Jewish World ,ONDON 3#- 0RESS h2EVIEW OF Jesus of Nazareth 0ART Holy Week BY 0OPE "ENEDICT 86)v Guardian, -ARCH Christian Beginnings: From Nazareth to Nicaea (AD 30–325). ,ONDON !LLEN ,ANE .EW (AVEN #4 9ALE 5NIVERSITY 0RESS 6OGLER 7ERNER Jüdische Jesusinterpretationen in christ- licher Sicht. 7EIMAR (ERMANN "ÚHLAUS .ACHFOLGER 6ÚGTLE !NTON h*ESUS #HRISTUS NACH DEN GESCHICHTLICHEN 1UELLENv Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, EDITED BY *OSEF (ÚFER AND +ARL 2AHNER ND ED VOL &REIBURG (ERDER 7AGNER &ALK h#HRISTOLOGIE ALS EXEMPLARISCHE 4HEORIE DES 3ELBSTBEWUSSTSEINSv Die Realisierung der Freiheit: Beiträge zur Kritik der Theologie Karl Barths, EDITED BY 4RUTZ 2ENDTORFF 'àTERSLOH 'àTERSLOHER 6ERLAGS HAUS 'ERD -OHN 7EININGER -ELISSA h!N %THICAL :IONIST *ESUS IN ! ! +A BAKS "EMISHOL HATSARv Prooftexts NO 7EISS *OHANNES Die Predigt Jesu vom Reiche Gottes 'ÚTTINGEN 6ANDENHOECK 2UPRECHT RD EDI TION &ERDINAND (AHN 4RANSLATED BY 2ICHARD 134 • Bibliography
( (IERS AND $AVID , (OLLAND AS Jesus’ Proclamation of the Kingdom of God. 0HILADELPHIA &ORTRESS 0RESS 2EPRINT #HICAGO 3CHOLARS 0RESS 7ELLHAUSEN *ULIUS Einleitung in die drei Evangelien "ER LIN 'EORG 2EIMER 7ERNLE 0AUL Jesus 4àBINGEN -OHR 7ILLIAMS *OHN h4HE ,IFE OF *ESUS 2EZA !SLAN 4ALKS ABOUT :EALOTv New York Times, !UGUST HTTPARTS BEATBLOGSNYTIMESCOMTHE LIFE OF JESUS REZA ASLAN TALKS ABOUT ZEALOT !CCESSED *ULY 7ILLIAMS 2OWAN h2EVIEW OF Christian Beginnings BY 'EZA 6ERMESv Guardian, *ULY 7INTER 0AUL On the Trial of Jesus. %DITED BY 4 ! "URKILL AND 'EZA 6ERMES ND ED "ERLIN 7ALTER DE 'RUYTER 9UVAL )SRAEL Two Nations in Your Womb: Perception of Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages "ERKELEY 5NIVERSITY OF #ALIFORNIA 0RESS Index
!DLER ,EVI ,AZARUS "EN 3TADA %GYPTIAN Aleinu PRAYER n MAGICIAN Allgemeine Geschichte "EN #HORIN 3CHALOM des Israelitischen Volkes n N 'ENERAL (ISTORY OF THE "ENEDICT 86) POPE See )SRAELITES *OST 2ATZINGER *OSEPH ANTI #HRISTIAN ATTITUDESTEXTS "ERGER $AVID *EWISH n n See "ETHLEHEM AS BIRTHPLACE OF also POLEMICS *ESUS n ANTI 3EMITISMANTI *UDAISM "IEDERMANN !LOIS %MANUEL XVnXVII XVIII IN 'ERMANY n BIOGRAPHY OF *ESUS n n n See also POLEMICS BLOOD LIBEL STORIES XVInXVII APOCALYPTIC MIND SET OF "OFF ,EONARDO *ESUS BOOK BURNINGS MEDIEVAL APOSTLES see DISCIPLES ARREST OF *ESUS n "OUSSET 7ILHELM !SHKENAZI LITURGY BROTHER *EWS SEEING *ESUS AS !SLAN 2EZA XIX n Auferstehung: Ein jüdisches Bruder Jesus: Der Nazarener Glaubenserlebnis 4HE in jüdischer Sicht "ROTHER 2ESURRECTION OF *ESUS *ESUS 4HE .AZARENE ! *EWISH 0ERSPECTIVE THROUGH *EWISH %YES "EN ,APIDE #HORIN "UBER -ARTIN n "ABYLONIAN 4ALMUD "ULTMANN 2UDOLF XI "AECK ,EO n n BAPTISM OF *ESUS #AIAPHAS "AUER &RITZ n #APERNAUM 136 • Index
#ARMICHAEL *OEL COMMANDMENTS *ESUS ON #ATHOLIC #HURCH ON Concluding Unscientifi c HISTORICAL *ESUS Postscript to Philosophical CELIBACY OF *ESUS n Fragments +IERKEGAARD N CORRELATION METHOD #ELSO #ROSSAN *OHN $OMINIC CENSORSHIP OF *EWISH N LITERATURE n CRUCIl XION OF *ESUS #HALCEDON &OURTH %CUMENICAL #OUNCIL OF DATING n OF CRUCIl XIONDEATH OF CHARISMATICS *EWISH n *ESUS Christ before the High Priest OF THE 'OSPELS PAINTING VAN (ONTHORST $AVIDIC DESCENT OF *ESUS XXI #HRISTIAN SCHOLARSHIP DEATH OF *ESUS ON *ESUS n n The Death of Jesus n n n #ARMICHAEL nN n DEMYTHOLOGIZING *ESUS n DISCIPLES OF *ESUS ON *UDAISM n DISPUTATIONS *EWISH ON /LD 4ESTAMENT #HRISTIAN n #HRISTIAN *EWISH RELATIONS n n See *EWISH #HRISTIAN DISSIMILARITY CRITERION XInXII RELATIONS DOGMAS XVII #HRISTIANITY $ONIN .ICHOLAS ANTI *UDAISM IN XVInXVII $UNN *AMES XVIII n $URAN 0ROl AT FOUNDATION*EWISH ORIGINS OF %ASTER *EWISH VIEWS OF n *EWISH VIEWS OF n %BELING 'ERHARD n n %BENDORFER 4HOMAS #HRISTIANS *EWISH n %GGER !NTON XVI %HRLICH %RNST ,UDWIG #HRISTOLOGY n n #OHEN (ERMANN n %LIEZER BEN (YRCANUS COHERENCE CRITERION XII EMANCIPATION OF *EWS #OHN (AIM Index • 137
%MDEN *AKOB n the Earliest Christianity %MMERICK !NNA +ATHARINA 4HEISSEN XVIII &LUSSER $AVID Encyclopaedia Judaica, FOLK LITERATURE ON *ESUS n n &ORM #RITICISM n %NLIGHTENMENT &OURTH %CUMENICAL #OUNCIL *EWISH n OF #HALCEDON n QUEST FOR HISTORICAL *ESUS IN 'ALILEE %SAU NEGATIVE IMAGES OF 'EIGER !BRAHAM n n n N %SCHELBACHER *OSEPH n 'ENIZAH FRAGMENTS ON *ESUS n @%SSENCE OF #HRISTIANITY 'ERMANY LECTURES VON (ARNACK ANTI 3EMITISM IN n n N n ETHICS *EWISH SCHOLARSHIP IN #HRISTIAN n *EWISH n Geschichte der synoptischen Tradition 4HE (ISTORY OF EVANGELICAL MOVEMENTS THE 3YNOPTIC 4RADITION Das Evangelium als "ULTMANN n Urkunde der jüdischen 'ESELLSCHAFT ZUR &ÚRDERUNG Glaubensgeschichte 4HE DER 7ISSENSCHAFT DES 'OSPEL AS A $OCUMENT OF *UDENTUMS 3OCIETY FOR THE THE (ISTORY OF THE *EWISH 0ROMOTION OF THE 3CIENCE &AITH "AECK n OF *UDAISM EVANGELIZATION OF *EWS 'IBSON -EL XVIII %VANS #RAIG N 'OD EXISTENTIALIST INTERPRETATIONS AS HUMAN XIX OF *ESUS n n N *ESUS AS SON OF FAITH n N AND HISTORICAL *ESUS +INGDOM OF n 'OSPELS n n n (EBREW TRANSLATIONS OF AND REASON n The First Followers of Jesus: *EWISH SCHOLARSHIP ON Sociological Analysis of n 138 • Index
*EWISHNESS OF XII n IMPOSSIBILITY OF STUDY OF n ON LIFE OF *ESUS n *EWISH SCHOLARSHIP ON n n XIII XIXnXX n 3YNOPTIC n n ON WOMEN XII n See also *OHNS 'OSPEL n ,UKES 'OSPEL -ARKS SOURCES n n 'OSPEL -ATTHEWS HISTORICAL CRITICAL APPROACHES 'OSPEL 'RAETZ (EINRICH n n CRITICISM OF 'REGORY )8 POPE n 'UTTMANN *EHOSHUA n HISTORY n N OF #HRISTIANITY Ha’minim Birkat PRAYER OF THE *EWS n OF RELIGION (ARNACK !DOLF VON n History of the Jews 'RAETZ n N N n *EWISH CRITICISM OF Hizzuk Emunah !Fl RMATION OF THE &AITH )SAAC OF 4ROKI Hasidim Rishonim, (EBREW TRANSLATIONS OF THE (OMOLKA 7ALTER XVII 'OSPELS IN (ONTHORST 'ERRIT VAN XXI (EGEL 'EORG 7ILHELM (ORBURY 7ILLIAM &RIEDRICH N HUMAN HERETICS n n CONCEPT OF 'OD AS XIX (ERMANN 7ILHELM n HERMENEUTICAL LENSES XV XVII N (ILLEL *EWISH UNDERSTANDINGS HISTORICAL *ESUS XInXIII XIX OF #HRISTIAN SCHOLARSHIP HUMANITY n ON n n n n n )BN 3HAPRUT 3HEM 4OV BEN nN n )SAAC n )NNOCENT )6 POPE AND FAITH n Introduction to Christianity n 2ATZINGER n n n Index • 139
)SAAC BEN !BRAHAM OF 4ROKI Christian Bible 2ATZINGER N )SLAM *EWISH SCHOLARSHIP ON *ESUS XIX ON #HRISTIANITY n *EWISH VIEWS OF n n n Issak Troki: Ein Apologet n des Judenthums am Ende IN 'ERMANY n des 16 Jahrhunderts !N ON 'OSPELS !POLOGIST FOR *UDAISM AT n THE %ND OF THE 3IXTEENTH ON *ESUS XIII XIXnXX #ENTURY 'EIGER n n n n *ACOBSON )SRAEL n *ASPERS +ARL ON REASON *EFFERSON 4HOMAS *EWISH SOURCES Jesus the Christ +ASPER ON HERETICS n @*ESUS #HRIST IN THE ON *ESUS n n 0ERSPECTIVE OF *UDAISM n ARTICLE (ORBURY USED IN #HRISTIAN ANTI Jesus: God and Man *EWISH POLEMICS n 0ANNENBERG The Jewish-Christian Jesus the Jew: A Historian’s Argument: A History of Reading of the Gospels Theologies in Confl ict 6ERMES 3CHOEPS Jesus of Nazareth "ENEDICT *EWISH #HRISTIAN RELATIONS 86) n XXnXXI Jesus and the Word DIALOGUE n "ULTMANN N *EWISH CHARISMATICS n AND PERCEPTIONS OF *ESUS *EWISH #HRISTIANS n n *EWISH %NLIGHTENMENT n *EWISHNESS *EWISH LITERATURE OF 'OSPELS XII n CENSORSHIP OF n OF *ESUS XIInXIII XIX XXI FOLK n n n RABBINIC n n n n n n The Jewish People and Their n N Sacred Scriptures in the n 140 • Index
John the Baptist, 3–4, 58 Kasper, Walter, 42 John Paul II (pope), 104–105 Kaufmann, Yehezkel, 66 John’s Gospel, 1, 9 kerygma theology, 40 Josephus, Flavius, xii, 1–2 Kierkegaard, Søren, 34–35 Joshua ben Perahyah, 23 Kimchi, David, 20 Jost, Isaak Markus, 31 Kimchi, Joseph, 19–20 Judaism, 13 Kingdom of God, 32, 37, 38 Christian views of, Klausner, Joseph, 2, 6, 16, 57–58, 62–66 69–70 Christianity originating from, Kohler, Kaufmann, 67 61, 65, 69, 75, 80, 107 Krauss, Samuel, 19 ethics/essence of, 58–59, Krochmalnik, Daniel, 14 60, 62, 104 Küng, Hans, 39–41, 42, messiahship in, 113 97n148 and teachings of Jesus, 5–7, 69, 70–71, 75–76, Lapide, Pinchas E., 73–77, 79, 113 80, 97n148 Judas Iscariot, 8, 18 Das Leben Jesu für das Der Jude Jesus: Thesen eines deutsche Volk bearbeitet Juden; Antworten eines (The Life of Jesus for the Christen (Jesus the Jew: German People, Strauss), 33 Theses of a Jew; Answers Leon da Modena: Rabbiner from a Christian, Lapide), 75 zu Venedig und seine Judenstein (Jewstone) story, xvi Stellung zur Kabbalah, Das Judenthum und seine zum Thalmud und zum Geschichte (Judaism and Christentume (Rabbi to its History, Geiger), 48 Venice and His Position on Die Predigt Jesu vom Reiche the Kabbalah, the Talmud Gottes (Jesus’s Proclamation and Christianity, Geiger), of the Kingdom of God, 30–31 Ritschl), 37 Leon de Modena, 30 Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim, Kabbalists, Jesus and his 32, 35 disciples as, 21 Levine, Amy-Jill, 31–32 Kähler, Martin, 37 liberal Christian theology, Kärkkäinen, Veli-Matti, 37, 38 111–112 Liberaler Verein für die Käsemann, Ernst, xi–xii, Angelegenheiten der 38–39, 41 jüdischen Gemeinde zu Index • 141
Berlin (Liberal Association in Judaism, 113 for the Affairs of the Berlin Meyer, Seligmann, 52 Jewish Community), 60 Middle Ages liberation theology, 45 anti-Christian Jewish Liebermann, Max, 55–56 texts/attitudes in, 14, The Life of Jesus: Critically 16–22 Examined (Strauss), 32–33 anti-Jewish polemics in, The Life and Morals of Jesus 19, 22–24 of Nazareth: Extracted censorship of Jewish Textually from the Gospels literature in, 22–23, 24 in Greek, Latin, French and minim (antirabbinic Jews, English (Jefferson), 34 heretics), 13 Limor, Ora, 22 miracles, 35 linguistic suitability Mishnah, 13, 15 criterion, xii Mommsen, Theodor, 54 literacy, of Jesus, 3 Montefiore, Claude G., 67 liturgy, Ashkenazi, 23 multiple attestation criterion, Louis IX (king of France), 23 xii love thy neighbor Murmelstein, Benjamin, 70 commandment, 6 myths Luke’s Gospel, 3, 4, 7, 9 anti-Semitic, xvi–xvii and historical Jesus, 33, Magen wa-Hereb (Sword and 34, 39 Trowel, Leon de Modena), and personification, 66 30 Magonet, Jonathan, xix–xx Nachmanides, 23–24 Maier, Johann, 1, 14, 15, 16, naiveté in faith, 41 17–18 Nascher, Sinai Simon, 52 Mark’s Gospel, 1, 2, 5, 9 Neusner, Jacob, 102–103, Matthew’s Gospel, 2 104 Meir ben Baruch of New Testament see Gospels Rothenburg, 23 Nostra Ætate declaration Menachem Ha-Meiri of (Second Vatican Council), Perpignan, 14 45 Mendelssohn, Moses, 31 Merz, Annette, 47 Old Testament, 106–107, messiahship 109n18, 19. See also Torah of Jesus, Jewish denial On the Proof of the Spirit and of, 71, 73, 114 of Power (Lessing), 35 142 • Index
OTHER CREATION OF XVII 1 SOURCE The Quest of the Historical 0ALESTINIAN 4ALMUD Jesus 3CHWEITZER N 0ANNENBERG 7OLFHART 0ANTERAS AS NAME FOR *ESUS RABBI TITLE FOR *ESUS Der Rabbi von Nazaret: PARABLES OF *ESUS Wandlungen des jüdischen 0ARIS $ISPUTATION Jesusbildes 4HE 2ABBI OF 0ASSION XVIII n .AZARETH 4RANSFORMATIONS The Passion of the Christ OF THE *EWISH )MAGE OF l LM XVIII *ESUS ,APIDE 0AUL RABBINIC ARGUMENTATION OF PERSONIl CATION OF RELIGION *ESUS 0HARISEES RABBINIC *UDAISM *ESUS IN CONm ICT WITH RABBINIC TEXTS ON *ESUS *ESUS l TTING IN TRADITION n n n OF 2ABE *OHANN *ACOB Philosophical Fragments 2AHNER +ARL +IERKEGAARD n 2ASHI 3OLOMON 9ITZHAKI POLEMICS 2ATZINGER *OSEPH POPE ANTI #HRISTIAN n "ENEDICT 86) XVII ANTI *EWISH n n n n n n N POLITICAL ROLE OF *ESUS AND *UDAISM*EWISH 0ONTIUS 0ILATE SCHOLARSHIP n PREACHING OF *ESUS n REASON AND FAITH n Die Predigt Jesu vom 2EIMARUS (ERMANN 3AMUEL Reiche Gottes *ESUSS 0ROCLAMATION OF THE RELIGION +INGDOM OF 'OD 7EISS HISTORY OF PERSONIl CATION OF Preußische Jahrbücher RESURRECTION OF *ESUS 0RUSSIAN 9EARBOOKS n n REVELATION NOTION OF HISTORY PROPHECIES FULl LLED AS 0ROTESTANT #HURCH AND REVOLUTIONARY NATURE OF *ESUS *UDAISM PURIl CATION RITUAL 2ITSCHL !LBRECHT Index • 143
RITUAL PURIl CATION 3TRAUSS $AVID &RIEDRICH 2UBIO &ERNANDO "ERMEJO n N 3TRAUSS %DUARD SUFFERING 3ALVADOR *OSEPH OF *ESUS n 3ANDMEL 3AMUEL n OF THE *EWS 3CHÊFER 0ETER n 3WIDLER ,EONARD XXI 3CHOEPS (ANS *OACHIM 3YNOPTIC 'OSPELS n The Synoptic Gospels 3CHOLEM 'ERSHOM -ONTEl ORE 3CHÚNBORN #HRISTOPH SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY 3CHÚPF 'OTTFRIED XVI 3CHRÚDER -ARK 4ALMUD 3CHWEITZER !LBERT XI n #HRISTIAN CRITICISM OF N n 3CHWÚBEL #HRISTOPH XX ON *ESUS n SCIENTIl C HISTORY XI Te Deum PRAYER n Sefer Ha’Berit "OOK OF THE TEACHINGS OF *ESUS n #OVENANT *OSEPH +IMCHI n *EWISH VIEWS OF Sefer Nizzahon Yashan "OOK n n OF 2EFUTATION 4EMPLE CONm ICT OVER SELF CENSORSHIP *EWISH tevilah PRACTICE RITUAL Sha’ali Serufah Ba’Esh PURIl CATION ELEGY -EIR OF TEXT CRITICAL APPROACHES 2OTHENBURG 4HEISSEN 'ERD n 3HAFER )NGRID XXI THEOLOGY 3IGNER -ICHAEL ! #HRISTIAN LIBERAL 3ÚLLE $OROTHEE KERYGMA SOURCES ON LIFE OF *ESUS LIBERATION 'OSPELS n n SYSTEMATIC n Theory of Primitive Christian *EWISH SOURCES n Religion 4HEISSEN n n n 4ILLICH 0AUL Spe Salvi 2ATZINGER n 4ISHA "!V 3TECHER 2EINHOLD XVInXVII Toledot Yeshu, n 3TOECKER !DOLF n 4ORAH n n *ESUS KNOWLEDGE OF 144 • Index
obligations of (mitzvoth), Vögtle, Anton, 3 96n140 Von dem Zwecke Jesu und See also Old Testament seiner Jünger (The Aims translations, of the Gospels, 75 of Jesus and His Disciples, Treitschke, Heinrich von, Reimarus), 32 49–50, 53–55 trial of Jesus, 8–9 Weiss, Johannes, 37 Trinity doctrine, 43 Wellhausen, Julius, 47, 57, Troeltsch, Ernst, 34, 62 61 truth, xv, 35 Wernle, Paul, 61–62 Tübinger Schule (Tübingen What Is Christianity? (von School), 33 Harnack), 56–59, 92n93 The Twelve-Year-Old Jesus Williams, Rowan, 81 in the Temple (painting, Winter, Paul, 8 Liebermann), 55–56 women, religious statements on, xii ‘Unsere Aussichten’ (essay, Our Prospects, von Yehiel ben Joseph, 23 Treitschke), 49–50, 53–54 Yeshu ha-Notsri (Jesus of Nazareth, Klausner), Vatican Colloquium on the 69–70 Roots of Anti-Judaism in youth of Jesus, 2–3 Christianity, 104–105 Yuval, Israel, 21 Vatican Council, Second, 45 Vermes, Géza, xviii, 81–83 Zealot (Aslan), xviii