Authenticating Criteria: The Use and Misuse of a Critical Method

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Historical Reconstruction ◽  
Critical Research ◽  
Critical Method ◽  
Historical Authenticity ◽  
General Appeal

AbstractIn this essay I analyse the usual (mis)use(s) of the criteria of historical authenticity in historical Jesus research. Whereas the general appeal to the criteria has pursued at least a semblance of objectivity in historical-critical research, in practice the criteria have provided useful and clearly identifiable windows into how scholars have conceived the task(s) of historical reconstruction (i.e., their particular subjectivity). After surveying the relevant literature, I question the analytical concepts authentic and inauthentic as schemata orientating historical reconstruction. We should recognize and employ the criteria as tools that facilitate and affect the interpretation of historical traditions rather than (merely) their authenticity.

scholarly journals Op die voetspoor van Harold Henry Rowley (1890-1969)

1994 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
I. J.J. Spangenberg
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Academic Career ◽  
Biblical Theology ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Critical Research ◽  
The Road ◽  
Biblical Scholarship ◽  
Critical Method ◽  
The Church

On the trail of Harold Heniy Rowley (1890-1969) H H Rowley can he described as an enigmatic Old Testament scholar. Hailed as one of the leading Old Testament biblical theologians of the forties and fifties, he was also criticized for his ‘middle-of-the-road’ conclusions. This article takes a brief look at his academic career and biblical scholarship, it is argued that he is an exponent of the biblical theology movement in his attempts to reconcile the results of the historical- critical method with the traditional creeds of Christianity. Unfortunately he was not very successful because he did not regard the results of New Testament historical-critical research seriously. He was reluctant to admit that there was a difference between the historical Jesus and Christ as proclaimed by the church. Perhaps there are a few lessons to be learned from his timidity.

More Quests of the Historical Jesus

1960 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 394-409
Author(s):  
Allan Barr
Keyword(s):  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Clear Understanding

On the long journey towards a clear understanding of the historical Jesus it is desirable from time to time to halt and survey the scene, take our bearings and choose the direction for further advance. In this article I do not profess to cover the recent relevant literature, which is vast in extent. The aim rather has been to select a few works representative of different approaches and methods, and to present in this way both the lines of progress and the questions which still await an answer.

scholarly journals Jesus sonder Christus of Christus sonder Jesus?

2002 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
F.P. Viljoen
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Critical Research ◽  
Contemporary Research ◽  
The Bible

Jesus without Christ or Christ without Jesus? Material concerning the so-called “historical Jesus” is widely discussed today. Time and again this discussion has led to a diminishing emphasis on faith in the living Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. The investigation of the life of Jesus has often resulted in isolating the historical Jesus of Nazareth from that which is preached about Christ as God’s Messiah. This article positions the current Jesus research within the frame of its historical development. It becomes clear that the results of contemporary research can be traced back to historical-critical research of more than two centuries, as a result of which the diversity of images of Jesus has grown exceedingly. The consequences and inadequacies of such Jesus research are indicated. This article suggests that a valid hermeneutical key for historical research should be taken from the Bible itself. Furthermore, it is argued that the investigation of the earthly life of Jesus can never be isolated from his life and work as Messiah of God as described in the Gospels.

Writing about the Historical Jesus: Historical Explanation and 'the Big Why Questions', or Antiquarian Empiricism and Victorian Tomes?

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-90
Author(s):  
James Crossley
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Historical Change ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Historical Reconstruction ◽  
The Social ◽  
Historical Reconstructions ◽  
Fact Finding ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Why Questions

AbstractThis article points out that lives of Jesus have been dominated by individualism, fact-finding, exegesis and description. This stands in contrast to the ways in which historical reconstruction has been practised in other disciplines in the humanities and in contrast to the ways in which some biographers and historians see the role of the individual in historical change. Even when there have been attempts to use the social sciences in historical Jesus studies, if the result is not merely descriptive and exegetical, then the reception of such approaches in scholarship still tends to focus on the individual reconstructed rather than on potential methodological developments relating to historical change. This article will suggest ways in which the individual and descriptive emphases can be complemented by wider ranging socio-historical reconstructions designed to explain historical change, or, more generally, how we get from Jesus to Christian origins.

scholarly journals Methods and models in the quest for the historical Jesus: Historical criticism and/or social scientific criticism

2002 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andries Van Aarde
Keyword(s):  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Critical Research ◽  
Historical Criticism ◽  
Ideal Types ◽  
Level Of Abstraction ◽  
The World ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
High Level

In this article a distinction is made between social scientific criticism and historiography. Historiography describes what is unrepeatable, specific and particular. Social scientific criticism is to some extent a phenomenological approach. On a high level of abstraction, it focuses on ideal types. The historiographical quest for Jesus is about the plausibility of a continuity or a discontinuity existing between the Jesus of history and the Jesus of faith. This approach has been broadened by the interdisciplinary application of the results of archaeological, sociohistorical, and cultural anthropological studies of the world of the historical  Jesus. But it does not mean that historical-critical research as such is now dismissed. The aim of the article is to argue that social scientific criticism can complement a historical-critical analysis.

Memory, Orality, and the Fourth Gospel: Three Dead-Ends in Historical Jesus Research

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Foster
Keyword(s):  
Memory Studies ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Significant Advance ◽  
Fourth Gospel ◽  
Historical Authenticity

Three recent approaches to historical Jesus studies are assessed in this article. First, the use of memory studies as a means of validating the historical authenticity of Gospel traditions. Secondly, claims that Gospel traditions should be understood as primarily reaching the evangelists orally, and that this process provides greater confidence in the historicity of such traditions. Thirdly, the Fourth Gospel is seen in some quarters as an important source in historical Jesus research based upon new paradigms and radical redefinitions of historicity. Contrary to such claims, here it is argued that for a series of different reasons that none of these methods offers any significant advance in accessing the ‘historical Jesus’, as that term is usually understood. This is not to say that the methods are without value. Rather, it is the over-confident application of such approaches to the ‘historical Jesus question’ that is critiqued. This is especially the case when it is claimed that they provide a key methodological break-through, enabling reclamation of more Gospel traditions as being securely founded in the ministry of the historical Jesus.

scholarly journals Imagining Jesus, with food

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 47-63
Author(s):  
Michel Desjardins
Keyword(s):  
Religious Life ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
First Century ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Critical Research ◽  
Dietary Restrictions ◽  
Contemporary Life ◽  
Christian Origins ◽  
Food Offerings

This article applies modern, cross-cultural, anthropologically-grounded food data to the historical Jesus. It explores five themes that have emerged from my research on the intersection of spirituality and food in contemporary life, across religions: food offerings, dietary restrictions, fasting, food prepared for special religious occasions, and charity. The analysis brings together previous historical-critical research on Christian origins and current research on food in order to shed new light on the role of food in a first century Jewish person’s life. The result is a more human, possibly more historically-realistic, portrait of Jesus in keeping with broad sectors of religious life across traditions. 

The Quest of the Historical Jesus: A Revisionist History through the Lens of Jewish-Christian Relations

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-86
Author(s):  
Anthony Le Donne
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual History ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Historical Reconstruction ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Revisionist History ◽  
Common Thread ◽  
History Of

This essay challenges the standard paradigm for the intellectual history of ‘Jesus Quests’ popularized by Albert Schweitzer and mimicked by almost every survey since. I argue that historical reconstruction begins at least with Augustine (perhaps sooner) and with an eye to Jewish-Christian relations. By analyzing key moments in the intellectual history of Jesus studies, I argue that a common thread has been Jewish-Christian relations. This thread suggests that an important (perhaps seminal) impetus for study of the historical Jesus before the Enlightenment and through to the modern period has been largely neglected by the standard ‘Jesus Quests’ paradigm.

Memory, Theories of History, and the Reception of Jesus

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 85-107
Author(s):  
Jens Schröter
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Memory ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Historical Reconstruction ◽  
Historical Material ◽  
The Past ◽  
Per Se

In this article it is argued that the concept of cultural memory makes a siginficant contributon to the study of the historical Jesus. Because the past is always perceived from the perspective of the present, historical reconstruction and reception of the past are per se intertwined. Thus, there is no “real” past behind the sources. Instead our view of events and figures from the past is a result of the remains from the past interpreted from the perspective of the present. Moreover, with regard to historical-critical reconstruction, and also to Jesus reserach, it is important to distinguish between the wider category of “reception”, which also encompasses fictional accounts, and historical reconstruction proper. The latter aims at an image of the past based on a critical evaluation of the historical material and thus providing a reasonable, plausible access to the past.

scholarly journals A Panorama of Cloud Platforms for IoT Applications Across Industries

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 2701
Author(s):  
Sami Yangui
Keyword(s):  
Fog Computing ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Critical Research ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
Platform As A Service ◽  
Iot Applications ◽  
Industrial Iot ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Cloud Environments

Internet of Things (IoT) applications can play a critical role in business and industry. Industrial IoT (IIoT) refers to the use of IoT technologies in manufacturing. Enabling IIoT applications in cloud environments requires the design of appropriate IIoT Platform as-a-Service (IIoT PaaS) to support and ease their provisioning (i.e., development, deployment and management). This paper critically reviews the IIoT PaaS architectures proposed so far in the relevant literature. It only surveys the architectures that are suitable for IIoT applications provisioning and it excludes regular IoT solutions from its scope. The evaluation is based on a set of well-defined architectural requirements. It also introduces and discusses the future challenges and the research directions. The critical review discusses the PaaS solutions that focus on the whole spectrum of IoT verticals and also the ones dealing with specific IoT verticals. Existing limitations are identified and hints are provided on how to tackle them. As critical research directions, the mechanisms that enable the secure provisioning, and IIoT PaaS interaction with virtualized IoT Infrastructure as-a-Service (IaaS) and fog computing layer are discussed.

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