Jesus the Messiah

Stein, Robert H. Jesus the Messiah : A Survey of the Life of Christ / Hardcover / Published 1996

Robert H. Stein undertakes to do something which should be done more often: A conservative look at the historical figure of Jesus which tends to take into account historical-critical methodology and criteria for authenticity. In doing so he has managed to write an interesting and engaging book, but I think he has failed of fully accomplishing his goal.

I do not wish to single out Stein for disapprobation in his failure to accomplish that goal because I have nearly the same complaint concerning the materials of the Jesus Seminar. They list criteria, but then when one studies the individual passages it is not obvious how it is that the criteria were applied, and how the seminar came to the conclusions which they did. Then when one examines the criteria themselves, one is led to wonder why those particular criteria as opposed to others. (I do not mean to say that none of the Jesus Seminar members have addressed this issue--indeed they have. I simply find a good deal of circularity in the determination of the criteria, which leads me to find the total reconstruction of the historical Jesus that results unconvincing.)

Stein improves on this in one way, in that he examines the specific criteria fairly carefully, and it appears to me that he makes largely good arguments with reference to them, and to which of them he intends to use. It seems to me, however, that he fails in another direction when, as one follows his work, it becomes clear that it is his intention to apply the criteria in such a way that everything becomes historical. If he fully defined a set of criteria which then resulted in a judgment of "historical" for every event and saying, I might find it convincing, but it appears that the particular criteria change in weight according to the circumstances, i.e. the ones that support historicity in a particular case receive more weight.

Let me note here, lest someone consider this criticism harsher than I intend, that I have thus far found all reconstructions of the historical Jesus unconvincing. This may, therefore, be more a comment on my mind than the evidence. But it seems to me that each of these scholars is systematic, logical and consistent when criticizing his opponents' reconstructions, but fails to convince when writing his own. It seems to me this is the nature of the problem, and that one is unlikely to get consensus for more than the outlines of the solution.

Stein's Jesus the Messiah is, however, an important contribution to the issue, in that it represents a conservative evangelical effort to respond to historical Jesus scholarship constructively and to engage the arguments at the detailed level. It is not the first such effort, but it is more thorough, for example, than the popular work of Tom Wright (I do not here make reference to Wright's scholarly efforts, but to his writing for a popular audience), it engages the issues more directly, and it addresses the right topic range to be read alongside the major popular works of Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan. Also, unlike the criticisms of Luke Timothy Johnson, it tends to constructively address a historical reconstruction of the life of Jesus.

I consider this book an important element in educating oneself on the search for the historical Jesus, and I would consider it a must-read for anyone who intends to criticize evangelical scholarship on the issue.

Other Books by Robert H. Stein

The Method and Message of Jesus' Teachings Robert H. Stein / Paperback / Published 1995

An Introduction to the Parables of Jesus Robert H. Stein / Paperback / Published 1981

The Method and Message of Jesus' Teachings Robert H. Stein / Paperback / Published 1978

Difficult Passages in the New Testament : Interpreting Puzzling Texts in the Gospels and Epistles Robert H. Stein / Published 1990 (Hard to Find)

Difficult Sayings in the Gospels : Jesus' Use of Overstatement and Hyperbole Robert H. Stein / Published 1986 (Hard to Find)