Overview

The historicity of Jesus is now widely accepted and hardly questioned by most scholars. But this assumption disarms biblical texts of much of their power by privileging an historical interpretation which effectively sweeps aside much theological speculation and allusion. Furthermore, the assumption of historicity gathers further assumptions to it, shaping the interpretation of texts, both denying and adding subtext. Scholars are now faced with an endless array of works on the historical Jesus and few question what has been lost through this wide-spread assumption of historicity. Is This Not the Carpenter? presents a very valuable corrective: a literary rereading of the New Testament.

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9781844657292

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An important example of what we need more of: serious scholarly examinations and debates on the historicity of Jesus and what methods to use in resolving it. It includes papers that for specialists are required reading on this topic - Richard Carrier, author of 'Proving History: Bayes's Theorem and the Quest for the Historical Jesus'. Marks an important milestone in the debate concerning mythicism in New Testament scholarship. - Thomas Bolin, St Norbert College, Wisconsin, USA This volume contributes to a crucial development, namely moving historical investigation beyond the usual restrictions of the historical critical method, particularly beyond reliance on the theory of oral tradition, and bringing it into new terrain, especially that of literature. - Thomas L. Brodie, Dominican Biblical Institute, Limerick

Author Information

Thomas L. Thompson is Professor emeritus, University of Copenhagen. Thomas S. Verenna is an independent researcher and student at Rutgers University.

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