A New Starting Point in Historical Jesus Research: The Easter Event

Abstract

Wolter's thesis is summarized in two-parts: (a) Historical knowledge is too limited to inform one about the and (b) the only means of knowing the is through the theology of Jesus' self-interpretation, which was approved by God via his resurrection/exaltation. The analysis in this chapter addresses both. The chapter proposes a more optimistic view of historical investigation. The analysis concerns Wolter's proposed solution that the only means of knowing the is through the theology of Jesus' self-interpretation, which was approved by God via his resurrection/ exaltation. It then proposes a new starting point in historical Jesus research: the Easter event. With the facts and method articulated in the chapter, it discusses two hypotheses: hallucination hypothesis (HH) and resurrection hypothesis (RH). There is one major point on which Wolter and the author agree: The may be best understood in light of his resurrection. Keywords: Easter event; hallucination hypothesis (HH); historical Jesus; Jesus' resurrection; Jesus' self-interpretation; Michael Wolter; real Jesus; resurrection hypothesis (RH)