The Quest for the Historical Jesus after the Demise of Authenticity: Toward a Critical Realist Philosophy of History in Jesus Studies by Jonathan Bernier

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Quest for the Historical Jesus after the Demise of Authenticity: Toward a Critical Realist Philosophy of History in Jesus Studies by Jonathan Bernier Iain Luke jonathan bernier, The Quest for the Historical Jesus after the Demise of Authenticity: Toward a Critical Realist Philosophy of History in Jesus Studies (LNTS 540; London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2016). Pp. viii + 180. $114. Professor Bernier's stated aim in this monograph is to bring Bernard Lonergan's work on theological method to bear on historical Jesus studies. It would be a challenge to balance both elements of that proposition, and in the end the author's roots in NT research win out. His success comes on a narrower framing of his purpose, as he applies categories drawn from Lonergan, in order to discuss the present and possible future directions of inquiry into the Jesus tradition. Part 1 of the book introduces those categories. One is a critical realism that distinguishes between the events of history and the data by which we can come to know them. Another is unapologetic subjectivity, which recognizes oneself as a locus for bias and limited knowledge, as well as for discovery and self-critique, while extending the same courtesy to other subjects, like the early Christian authors. The two ideas unite in Lonergan's concept of "horizon," which B. defines initially as "the position from which one experiences reality" (p. 29). Each concept is then substantially refined through application in part 2. The applications focus on the interrelationship of Jesus, the early church, and its Gospels. Ideally, B. wants to construct a historical line from Jesus to the movement and documents to which Jesus gave rise (p. 151), but he recognizes that the process of inference is more cyclical than that, since Christianity and its Scriptures are also the primary data by which we know anything about Jesus. B.'s epistemic framework lends itself to a courtroom metaphor. Witness testimony is not a record of events but a reaction to them; yet it is the only access the court has to what really happened. So a properly formed judgment must give a coherent account of what actual events could have produced the range and variety of testimony that are in evidence. Bernier works through this method for several examples drawn from the ministry of Jesus, the history of emergent Christianity, and the composition of the Gospels. More often than one might expect, he vindicates early Christian writers as reliable witnesses, not because they can be taken at face value but because reliability turns out to be the most plausible and coherent way to explain why they wrote as they did. This outcome can sit uneasily with the reader, especially when B. applies a higher standard of proof to skeptical claims than to his own. [End Page 723] He proposes, for example, that the lack of evidence supporting the existence of disciples at Bethany enhances the evangelists' credibility on this point (p. 75); and he neglects to supply any rationale for the anonymity of the Beloved Disciple (pp. 83-85). Nor is he consistent in acknowledging the different horizons of different authors, which would alter the comparative treatments of mission (p. 77) and synagogue (pp. 111-12) when these are "translated" from Jesus's context in Galilee to the church's experience elsewhere. In general, B.'s antiskeptical stance would be strengthened by examining plausible reasons why authorial declarations of intent might be suspect or encoded. Nevertheless, the idea of translation between horizons is a powerful hermeneutical tool for addressing the relationship between early Christian documents and the authors and communities who stand behind them. It leaves plenty of work still to be done in locating and defining what those horizons actually were, but the method offers a refreshingly different approach from one that pits documents and local churches in power struggles against one another. Instead, acute differences in worldview are to be expected, but one can begin to perceive how early Christians recognized and addressed those differences in their literary and ecclesial life. Along the way, B.'s analysis generates other intriguing insights and proposals. He takes new steps in relating Jesus to Paul on...