The Historical Jesus: From Master Narrative to Cultural Context

Abstract

How do historical Jesus studies look if we attempt to see them within the context of the ongoing debate about how to write history? The present situation is characterized by the challenges posed to the "objective" history of modernity by social history, cultural studies and postmodern criticism. In particular the notion of a "master narrative," that is, a paradigm that structures the presentation of a historical event, is challenged. The essay attempts to situate five scholars and their presentations of the historical Jesus within the context of this debate and to raise the question of what their underlying "master narrative" might be. John P. Meier and E. P. Sanders are seen as representing "traditional" modern historical studies, although Sanders has an alternative master narrative. Approaches critical of modernism are represented by Richard A. Horsley (social criticism), John D. Crossan (social and cultural criticism with a post-modern form) and Bruce J. Malina (cultural context criticism).