Matthew 17.24-27 and its Value for Historical Jesus Research

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 254-274
Author(s):  
Gertraud Harb
Keyword(s):  
Gospel Of Matthew ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
The Temple

AbstractMany scholars have noted that the story of the temple tax in Mt. 17.24-27 could be attributed to the historical Jesus. This article contributes additional details in its support. After a brief discussion of the temple tax and its possible application in the Gospel of Matthew an analysis shows that the oldest pre-Matthean tradition is Mt. 17.25b-26. Next, three criteria of historical Jesus research are applied to these verses: plausibility, contrary tendency and coherence. The conclusion reached is that the saying can and should be attributed to Jesus himself. Thus, though the tax had been widely accepted in Judaism, it is probable that the historical Jesus refused the payment of the temple tax for himself and for his disciples and possibly for all Jews. Hence, the story of the temple tax should be considered and incorporated into the discussion of the historical Jesus and his attitude towards the Temple of Jerusalem.

A Primitive Hebrew Gospel of Matthew and the Tol'doth Yeshu

1988 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Howard
Keyword(s):  
Gospel Of Matthew ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Divine Name ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Name Of God

The Tol'doth Yeshu is a medieval Jewish antigospel which exists in various forms. Basically it says that Jesus was born illegitimate, learned the Name of God in the temple, performed miracles by pronouncing the Divine Name and finally was executed by the Jews. His body was stolen from the tomb by Yehuda the gardener, an act which led to the assertion by the disciples that he had arisen from the dead and had ascended into heaven.The date of the Tol'doth Yeshu is assigned by Krauss to c. 500 CE; it is assigned by Klausner to the tenth century. Some of the traditions it draws upon are much older since they are reflected in such writings as the Talmud and Origen's Contra Celsum.

The Miracles of an Eschatological Prophet

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 131-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Eve
Keyword(s):  
New Age ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Minimal Impact ◽  
Central Aspect ◽  
Historical Figure ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Holy Man

While it has not been a central aspect of his work on the historical Jesus, E.P. Sanders has contributed to the understanding of Jesus’ miracles. In Jesus and Judaism, Sanders argued that Jesus was an eschatological prophet and maintains that he certainly healed people in ways that his contemporaries regarded as miraculous, but that his miracles were not signs of the end, and cannot be used to determine what type of figure he was. The fuller treatment of miracles in the later The Historical Figure of Jesus emphasizes the exorcisms and dismisses the nature miracles as having made minimal impact, leading Sanders to conclude that Jesus’ miracles were not as spectacular as the Gospels suggest, and that they probably led his contemporaries to view Jesus as a holy man like Honi the Circle-Drawer, although Jesus himself probably understood his miracles as signs of the imminent arrival of the new age, and his disciples may have come to see them as a defeat of evil powers and as a legitimation of Jesus’ claims. After summarizing Sanders’s arguments this article goes on to suggest how some of their foundations may be secured while also suggesting that the case for associating Jesus’ miracles with his role as an eschatological prophet may be stronger than Sanders allowed. It then concludes by indicating how Sanders’s account of the role of Jesus’ miracles might be further rounded out first by exploring their possible symbolism (as Sanders does with the Temple incident) and second through various social-scientific approaches.

scholarly journals Andries van Aarde se vaderlose Jesus

2002 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jurie H. Le Roux
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Presence Of God ◽  
The People ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Temple

Andries van Aarde’s fatherless JesusThis article focuses on Andries Van Aarde’s book, “Fatherless in Galilee”, is an important contribution to the historical Jesus study in South Africa. Van Aarde depicted Jesus as someone who grew up fatherless. For Jesus this meant a lifelong struggle against slander and the exclusion from the temple and the presence of God. Jesus nevertheless trusted God who filled Jesus’ emptiness. Jesus was baptized and then started a ministry, focusing on the outcasts of society. He preached that the kingdom of God has come and that the people of this kingdom can experience God, as well as forgiveness of sins. Jesus died but arose in the kerygma. The article also refers to the struggle of the authors of the New Testament writings to understand and express the Jesus event.

A Perhaps Less Halakic Jesus and Purity

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-136
Author(s):  
Thomas Kazen
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
First Century ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
The Temple

Purity practices during the first century ce were widespread in Judaea and Galilee as part of everyday life and not limited to concerns relating to the temple cult. Developments in key water rites were partly triggered by concepts of graded impurity, to which an understanding of defilement via food also belonged. Certain rabbinic characteristics represent later developments and cannot be assumed for the time of Jesus. Hand impurity did not originate as a rabbinic decree to protect tĕrûmâ, and accusations against Pharisees for setting aside Scripture in favour of their own traditions did not originate with the historical Jesus, but suggest later polemics. Jesus’ stance on purity is perhaps better characterized as prophetic than halakic.

scholarly journals Matthew, memory theory and the New No Quest

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeba Crook
Keyword(s):  
Gospel Of Matthew ◽  
Social Memory ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Memory Distortion ◽  
Memory Theory

This article explores the effects of cognitive and social memory theory on the quest for the historical Jesus. It is not the case that all memory is hopelessly unreliable, but it is the case that it commonly is. Memory distortion is disturbingly common, and much worse, there is no way to distinguish between memories of actual events and memories of invented events. The Gospel of Matthew was used to illustrate this very difficulty. This article also draws attention to the fact that although numerous criteria have been developed, refined and used extensively in order to distinguish between original Jesus material and later church material, those criteria have long been unsatisfactory, and most recently, because of the effects of thinking about memory theory and orality, have been revealed to be bankrupt. Since memory theory shows that people are unable to differentiate accurate memory from inaccurate and wholly invented memory, and since the traditional quest criteria do not accomplish what they were intended to, this article argues that scholarship about Jesus has been forced into a new no quest.

scholarly journals Christ and children. Graphic inedita of Norwid

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 English Version ◽  
pp. 147-159
Author(s):  
Edyta Chlebowska
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Gospel Of Matthew ◽  
National Library ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Artistic Legacy

The aim of the article is to present two previously unknown drawings by Norwid, inspired by the New Testament, which have recently been added to the register of his artistic legacy. The first of the sketches Chrystus i dzieci w świątyni jerozolimskiej [Christ and Children in the Temple of Jerusalem] (1855, lost) illustrates a quotation from the Gospel of Matthew (Mt 21, 15-17). The second composition Chrystus błogosławiący dzieci [Christ Blessing Children] (1857, National Library) refers to an episode mentioned several times in the Gospels (Mt 19, 13-15; Mk 10, 13-16; Lk 18,15-17).

Jesus and the Temple Incident: A New Proposal

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-95
Author(s):  
Simon J. Joseph
Keyword(s):  
Causal Factor ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Working Model ◽  
The Temple

The Temple incident was a pivotal moment in the ministry of the historical Jesus, if not the causal factor that led to Jesus’ execution. Yet the incident continues to present interpretive problems, not least of which is determining precisely what Jesus objected to about the Temple and its administration. This study proposes a new working model for Jesus’ critical stance towards the Temple, identifying the Temple incident as a symbolic act of eschatological Temple restoration.

scholarly journals Andries van Aarde as historical Jesus scholar

2011 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jurie Le Roux
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Gospel Of Thomas ◽  
Presence Of God ◽  
The People ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Infancy Gospel Of Thomas ◽  
The Temple

This article focuses on Andries van Aarde’s work on the historical Jesus and especially his book, Fatherless in Galilee, which made an important contribution to historical Jesus study in South Africa. In the first part of the article Van Aarde’s historical and social approaches are highlighted, his ongoing reflection on the resurrection described and his work on the Infancy Gospel of Thomas accentuated. In the second part we discuss Van Aarde’s depiction of Jesus as someone who grew up fatherless. For Jesus this meant a lifelong struggle against slander and exclusion from the temple and the presence of God. Jesus nevertheless trusted God who filled Jesus’ emptiness. Jesus was baptised and then started a ministry, focusing on the outcasts of society. He preached that the kingdom of God had come and that the people of this kingdom could experience God, as well as forgiveness of sins. Jesus died but arose in the kerygma. The article also refers to the struggle of the authors of the New Testament writings to understand and express the Jesus event.

scholarly journals Jesus and politics in contemporary scholarship

1995 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus J. Borg
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Social World ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Social Vision ◽  
Public Activity ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Temple

Until recently, and for a variety of reasons, most historical Jesus scholarship has typically seen Jesus as essentially non-political. Recently, this has begun to change, to a large extent because of the fuller description of the social world of Jesus made possible by the use of interdisciplinary models and insights. Seen within the context of a social world described as a peasant, patriarchal and purity society, many of the Jesus traditions reflect both a sharp critique of society and advocacy of an alternative social vision. Jesus' action in the temple (including E P Sanders view of it) is treated as a case study of the difference made by an interdisciplinary understanding of the social context of Jesus' public activity.

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