The Vermes Quest: The Significance of Geza Vermes for Jesus Research by Hilde Brekke Møller

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Vermes Quest: The Significance of Geza Vermes for Jesus Researchby Hilde Brekke Møller Llewellyn Howes Møller, Hilde Brekke 1. 2017. The Vermes Quest: The Significance of Geza Vermes for Jesus Research. The Library of New Testament Studies576. London and New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark. Hardback. ISBN 978-0567675743. Pp. xiii + 241. £90. Geza Vermes is often mentioned as one of the scholars who contributed to the emergence of the so-called third quest for the historical Jesus by emphasising the Jewishness of Jesus. In this book, Møller evaluates the significance of Vermes in the context of Jesus research. But the monograph is not just about Vermes; it is more broadly about the third quest itself and how the quest has been presented in accounts of Jesus research. In other words, the work and contribution of Vermes function in the book as entry points to discuss more generally the third quest and historiography about it. "By discussing the significance of Geza Vermes's contribution to Jesus research, this study challenges the ways that research history has been written and contributes to our knowledge and understanding of Jesus research from the last decades" (4). Appropriately, the book pays particular attention to Vermes's first book on the historical Jesus, namely Jesus the Jew, although his other publications also receive consideration. The book is presented in four parts. Part one (chs. 1–3) is introductory, discussing the study itself, Geza Vermes and the history of Jesus research. Part two (chs. 4–8) focuses on the Jewishness of Jesus in historical Jesus studies and the role of Vermes in this regard. Part three (chs. 9–11) looks at Vermes's presentation of Jesus as a hasidand the impact of this theory on Jesus research more generally. According to Vermes, hasidimlike Honi the Circle-Drawer and Hanina ben Dosa were charismatic figures in ancient Judaism, known from rabbinic literature for performing miracles and having a close personal relationship with God. Part four (chs. 12–13) concludes the study. Chapter two includes a very brief biography of Geza Vermes and a summary of his publications on the historical Jesus. Chapter three focuses on historiography, discussing the strengths and weaknesses of presenting the quest in terms of distinct phases, commonly known as "the first/old quest (1774–1906), new/second quest (1953–1980), and third quest (1980–), paused by a 'moratorium' or 'no-quest period' in the first part of the [End Page 193]twentieth century (1906–1953)" (31). Drawing heavily on the work of Fernando Bermejo Rubio, Møller finds that "there is little reason for Jesus scholars to continue using the three-quest scheme" (36). Although Møller refers explicitly to these epochs in her study, including especially the "third quest," she does so in order to call the "three-quest scheme" into question, thereby contributing to other objections to understanding Jesus research in this way. When it comes to the third quest in particular, Møller challenges the "three-quest scheme" by paying particular attention to the Jewishness of Jesus and the purported shift in emphasis from theological to historical concerns. Chapter four focuses on Jesus the Jew: A Historian's Reading of the Gospels(London: Collins, 1973), Vermes's first and most important book in the context of Jesus research. For the most part, Vermes seems more concerned with the Synoptic Jesus than the historical Jesus. Remarks about the authenticity of particular NT texts are sparse and incidental. Yet Vermes is indeed interested in the historical Jesus. In Vermes's own words ( Jesus the Jew, 42), the Synoptic Gospels provide "a skeletal outline of Jesus of Nazareth as he really was" (47). The Jewishness of Jesus seems to be Vermes's most important criterion of authenticity, effectively supplanting the criterion of double dissimilarity. Knowledge of first-century Judaism is absolutely crucial to Vermes when it comes to interpreting the Gospels and determining authenticity. What is more, such knowledge adds information about the historical Jesus to what is available from the Gospels alone. In the words of Vermes ( Jesus the Jew, 42), aspects of first-century Judaism "add a little flesh to these...