Historical Jesus Research as a Field of Biblical Criticism and Study

Historical Jesus research is a field of research that focuses upon the historical identity of Jesus, as well as the question of whether or not it is possible to write and record the life of Jesus. This branch of study utilizes outside sources as well as the gospels to create the most accurate historical framework can be established possible in order to answer this question. Scholars in this field must use historical and biographical approaches as they attempt to reconstruct Jesus' world during the time of his life (1^st century Israel during Roman occupation) and the realities of Judaism during this period, while attempting to avoid anachronisms, narrow agendas, and fads.

In this type of research, the gospels are used very sparingly; although they are certainly historically important, they are not exclusive historical sources for the life of Jesus, and should mainly be used as support of major facts and historical assertations (such as the idea that he was a Galilean Jew of the early 1st century and that he was executed by Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius).

In order to recreate the most accurate picture of Jesus' surroundings, the writings of 1^st century writers (who at that time would have been contemporaries of Jesus) are used in addition to the Gospels themselves. Works such as "The Antiquity of the Jews" by Flavius Josephus, a young Jewish aristocrat who lived in the time of Roman rule, "The Annals" written by Publius Cornelius Tacitus (one of the earliest writers to mention Christianity), Suetonius who wrote about a trouble maker named "Chrestus", and the writings of Pliny the Younger regarding Christians who refused to participate in "emperor worship" are examples of the type of evidence historical Jesus research relies upon.

Certain criteria of authenticity are relied upon heavily in this field of research, namely the criteria of orality, form, dissimilarity, multiple attestation, coherence, and the embarrassment factor. In orality, scholars must differentiate between Jesus' actual sayings and those attributed to him in the written sources, such as the gospels. With form, the distinctive literary form in which Jesus casts his sayings offers a clue to their historicity (for example, the idea that Jesus mainly spoke in parables). With the criteria of dissimilarity, the authenticity of a saying is evaluated based on whether or not it differs significantly from both first-century Jewish attitudes or practices and those of the later Hellenistic church. Multiple attestation as a criteria refers to basing authenticy on whether or not there are multiple independent sources reporting something Jesus said or did. With coherence, information must be consistent with other well-authenticated traditions. With the criteria of the embarrassment factor, ideas not in the interest of the early church such as the reputed irregularity of Jesus' birth, his association with sinners, and his shameful execution by a Roman governor are generally regarded as authentic.

Work Cited
St. Mary's Press College Study Bible. Winowa, Minnesota: St. Mary's Press, 2006.