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Some Links to On-line Resources Some On-Line Resources on the Quest for the Historical Jesus |
Portraits
of Jesus in Contemporary and Ancient Debate Instructor Nicola Denzey Institution
Course Level and Type The course was offered at the 200 level with no prerequisites. When it was offered, the course drew students from all four years, including senior religion majors and freshmen taking their first course in religion. Hours of Instruction 39 hours - 3 hours a week over a 13 week semester. Enrolment and Last Year Taught Spring, 1998 (taught in a modified form for a senior special topics seminar at Skidmore College in Fall, 1998). Thirty-five students were enrolled. |
There may be no other figure in Western history who has consumed the minds, the hearts and the imaginations of so many as Jesus. Our fascination with Jesus has produced two divergent streams, from antiquity until the present day. There are those who seek to fill out the opacity of details that surround the Jesus of first-century Palestine. Who was he, precisely? An itinerant, charismatic teacher? A healer and miracle-worker? A social revolutionary? There are also those who believe that Jesus is whomever we wish him to be - an ahistorical figure on whom we may project our own needs and desires. Some expand the opacity of Jesus' life by providing new details, beyond that which the New Testament writings can offer us. In this course, we will examine some of these different "Jesuses" which emerge from the "Quest for Jesus" through the ages, including several interpretations of Jesus in historical studies, and several interpretations of Jesus from art and literature.
Some Links to On-line ResourcesWe will focus on this class on reading primary sources in English translation. I have ordered the following books for purchase at the Textbook Annex:
All these books will also be on reserve in the Hawthorne-Longfellow library. You will also find useful resources via the on-line course guide.
Some On-Line Resources on the Quest for the Historical Jesus(Warning! Not all of these represent academic sites; nor do I necessarily endorse their perspectives!)
(readings available on-line have been highlighted):
Jan 20th: Course Intro: Jesus and "Gen-X"
no readings assigned; look carefully over the syllabus and course requirements
-start your academic study journal with a series of goals and critical questions
Jan 22nd: The Quest for Jesus: Critical Issues and Approaches
Readings: P. Fredriksen, From Jesus to Christ, pp. 3-17; 67-130.
Crossan, The Historical Jesus, pp. xxvii-xxxiv
Lecture Outline: Methodologies
Class Handout: Evidence for Jesus in early Pagan and Jewish sources
Class Handout: Critical Questions
A Good (if irreverent) review-essay on
Historical Jesus Studies
Jan 27th: The Earliest Gospels in Different Perspectives: MARK
Readings: Gospel of Mark (bring Bible to class)
Lecture Outline: The Gospel of Mark
P. Fredriksen, From Jesus to Christ, pp. 44-52.
Someone has assembled resources on Mark on a Gospel of Mark Homepage
Jan 29th: no class today!
(get started on either Matthew or Luke in preparation for next class)
Feb 3rd: The Earliest Gospels in Different Perspectives: MATTHEW and LUKE
Readings: Gospel of Matthew Gospel of Luke
Lecture Outline: The
Gospels of Matthew and Luke
P. Fredriksen, From Jesus to Christ, pp. 27-43.
Bring a Bible to class!
Feb 5th: The Earliest Gospels in Different Perspectives: JOHN
Readings: Gospel of John
Lecture Outline: The Gospel of John
P. Fredriksen, From Jesus to Christ, pp. 19-26.
Bring a Bible to class!
Here is a link to a papyrus
fragment of the Gospel of John dated ca. 110 AD: our earliest fragment of Christian
scripture.
Feb. 10th: The Earliest Gospels in Different Perspectives: THOMAS
Readings: Gospel of Thomas
(bring text to class!)
Lecture Outline: The Gospel of
Thomas
Take a look at this outstanding home
page devoted to the Gospel of Thomas by Thomas scholar Stevan Davies
Feb. 12th: Early Interpretations of Jesus I: Paul of Tarsus
Readings: Romans 6; 2 Cor. 5:16-20; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1-3:4
(bring text to class!)
P. Fredriksen, From Jesus to Christ, pp. 52-61, 133-176.
Feb. 17th: Early Interpretations of Jesus II: Some Gnostic Perspectives
Readings:
Second Treatise of the Great Seth
"RoundDance of the Cross" from
Acts of John (click here for the
continuation of the "Round Dance of the Cross")
The Dialogue of the Savior
Majella Franzmann, Jesus in the Nag Hammadi Writings (on reserve)
Feb. 19th: Early Interpretations of Jesus III: Heterodox Interpretations
Readings:
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas
Feb. 24th: Early Interpretations of Jesus IV: The Evolution of an Image
(slide lecture)
Readings:
T. Mathews, The Clash of Gods: A Reinterpretation of Early Christian Art,
chs.1,2,4,6.
Lecture Outline: Early Christian Art
Mid-Term Assignment
Feb. 26th: Early Interpretations of Jesus V: Constantine, Justinian and Imperial
Christianity
Readings:
T. Mathews, The Clash of Gods: A Reinterpretation of Early Christian Art,
chs.1,2,4,6.
Lecture Outline: Imperial
Christianity
March 3rd: Computer Technology Class
Class today will be held by Matthew Jacobson-Carroll in Adams 208. Sign up for
either the early session (3:30-4:45 pm) or the late session (4:45-6 pm).
March 5th: Film/Discussion: "The Robe" (1950) and "Barabbas" (1961)
March 6th: Drop-in Computer Lab from 2:30-5 pm, Adams 208
Bring your essay on disk and ask Matt for any help you might have with creating your
website
March 10th: The Quest for the Historical Jesus
Readings:
Crossan, The Historical Jesus, 11, 12.
Lecture Outline: The First Quest for the Historical Jesus
March 12th: The Remythologization of the Historical Jesus
Readings:
C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle
***n.b.:your first website assignment is due today, by midnight.***
Spring Break
March 31st: Reactions to the Historical Quest
Readings:
Luke Timothy Johnson, The Real Jesus: The Misguided Quest for the Historical
Jesus and the Truth of the Traditional Gospels
*** I will redistribute your papers for peer evaluation this week***
April 2nd: Reactions to the Historical Quest and the Jesus Seminar
Readings:
Luke Timothy Johnson, The Real Jesus: The Misguided Quest for the Historical
Jesus and the Truth of the Traditional Gospels
I recommend that you look at the Jesus Seminar Websites I have listed at the beginning of
this syllabus for additional background on the Jesus Seminar.
April 7th: Jesus the Jew
Readings:
G. Vermes, Jesus the Jew, pp. 19-83 (on reserve)
E. P. Sanders, Jesus and Judaism, pp. 61-76; 319-340 (on reserve)
Crossan, The Historical Jesus, chs. 3,4.
April 9th: Jesus the Cynic Sage?
Readings:
"Q"
Burton Mack, A Myth of Innocence, pp. 133-208 (on reserve)
Burton Mack, "Q and a Cynic-Like Jesus" (on reserve)
If you'd like to read a recent article from The Atlantic Monthlyon the Q Debate and
recent Jesus scholarship, click here.
Here's a link
to an earlier (but also useful) article.
Lecture Outline: Jesus the Cynic
vs. Jesus the Jew
***your peer evaluations are due today by 5 p.m. at Ashby House***
April 14th: Jesus the Political Revolutionary?
Readings:
John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus, ch. 7,9,10.
Richard Horsley, Jesus and the Spiral of Violence (on reserve)
Lecture Outline: Jesus the
Revolutionary
April 16th: Jesus the Feminist?
Readings:
Jean Shaberg, The Illegitimacy of Jesus
T. Mathews, The Clash of Gods: A Reinterpretation of Early Christian Art, ch. 5
Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, In Memory of Her, pp. 72-159 (on reserve)
Guest Lecturer: Tom Beaudoin, Boston College
April 21st: Jesus the Magician?
Readings: M. Smith, Jesus the Magician (selections) (on reserve)
Toledoth
Yeshu
Second Book of Jeu
T. Mathews, The Clash of Gods: A Reinterpretation of Early Christian Art,
ch.3.
Crossan, Historical Jesus, ch. 8,13.
Lecture Outline: Jesus the Magician
April 23rd: Who Killed Jesus?
Readings:
John Dominic Crossan, Who Killed Jesus? Exposing the Roots of Antisemitism
Ellis Rivkin, What Crucified Jesus? (on reserve)
Paul Winter, On the Trial of Jesus (selections) (on reserve)
April 28th: Film/Discussion: Denys Arcand, "Jesus of Montreal" (1990)
No readings assigned. Use the time to work on your website assignment
April 30th: Film/Discussion: Martin Scorcese, "The Last Temptation of
Christ" (1988)
No readings assigned. Use the time to work on your website assignment
***n.b.: your second website assignment is due tonight, 12 midnight***
May 5th: no class today
***I will redistribute your papers for peer evaluation this week; the peer evaluations are due May 12th at 5 pm. No extensions allowed!***
Additional Course Information
This will be predominantly a lecture course, though certain classes will be conducted as seminars. I will lead off each session with an overview of the week's readings. I will leave sufficient time at the end of each class for discussion and questions.
Course Requirements
Grading
Policies
Pedagogical Reflections
I got the idea of this course from Elaine Pagels at Princeton University, who teaches a "Jesus in Ancient and Contemporary Debate" every few years. She allows her students to suggest a wide range of materials on Jesus which they find interesting, while also encouraging work on the "canon" of Historical Jesus scholarship. Every time I've offered this class, students have likewise brought in material they find stimulating: modern novels, comic books, or music. I place an emphasis on analysis of films, particularly "Jesus of Montreal" and "Last Temptation of Christ." I also use snippets of films and videos: such as showing three cinematic versions of an episode (e.g. Jesus' baptism in Pasolini's "The Passion According to St. Matthew," "Last Temptation," "The Greatest Story Ever Told" then discussing the role of interpretation of NT accounts. Worthy of comment, I think, are the mandatory "web site" assignments in which easch student had to create and "publish" a web site rather than submit a traditional assignment. There were a few downsides to this requirement: some students resented the amount of energy they needed to invest in learning a new technological skill; it also required a great deal of set-up time on my part (I'm not particularly web-savvy myself, so I needed to learn alot too. On the more positive side, I was ecstatic at the results. In almost every case, the students had far exceeded my expectations of them. Since the papers were available to anyone who might want to see them (including anxious parents and best friends studying abroad or on the opposite coasts) students took more responsibility for the caliber of their work. They were given the opportunity to refine their work past the due date; checking the status on their sites a month after they were due, I was astonished to discover that two thirds of the class had updated or made improvements to their sites within the last two days, even though their grades for them had been submitted long before! The websites also allowed for students to pursue other talents besides effective writing (not to say that writing isn't of paramount importance!) such as artistic creativity, pedagogical and organizational skills, and communication of ideas. In an attempt to mitigate the downsides of the web assignment as I teach the course this semester, I'm suggesting they work in groups and break up responsibility for each web-site, and I'm allowing the option of a more traditional essay in place of a web-site for those who might resent such an intimidating prospect as learning a new technology.
...if you've gotten this far, you deserve to take a look at a couple of fun links:
Where's Christ (in the spirit of Where's Waldo) (warning: takes a while to download)
http://www.wlu.ca/~wwwaar/syllabi/portraits_of_jesus-denzey.html
Latest update: August 02, 2002
Number of accesses since March 1, 1998: