Abstract The article first summarizes and embellishes Schüssler Fiorenza’s criticism of scientific and social-scientific constructions of the historical Jesus that surged in the 1990s. It then summarizes earlier investigations of popular movements contemporary with Jesus’ mission and movement and investigations of the different regional histories of Palestine that made the historical context more complicated than had been recognized. Finally, it explores several ways that Schüssler Fiorenza’s insights were prophetic in anticipating important recognitions of new possibilities in the reconstruction of the historical Jesus-in-interaction by appreciating the importance of memory in the Gospels as stories. These new possibilities are enhanced by taking into account the several interrelated lines of new research into ancient communication media that are challenging the problematic standard assumptions, approaches, and controlling constructs in the field of New Testament studies.

From a classic Reformed theological perspective,1 two questions arise when reflecting on the metaphor ‘light from light’ in the homoousios formulas of the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitanum of AD 381, especially within the domain of theological ethics. Firstly, what was the main classic interpretation of this metaphor; and secondly, is the metaphor still appropriate today considering the modern trend of ‘low’ Christologies as the key approach to Christian ethics? In these modern ‘low Christologies’, the divinity of Jesus and its relevance for theological ethics are questioned from the perspective of the ethics of immanent liberation rooted in the historical Jesus. In this article, the author reflects on these two questions. The central theoretical argument is that the classical understanding of the metaphor can enrich modern theological social ethics and broaden the concept of liberation into an all-encompassing vision of true humanity. To this end, the Greek and Latin texts of the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitanum are first presented with a modern English translation, followed by a brief explanation of the historical context of the Council of Nicaea. Contribution: The subsequent sections examine, with the Gnostic and Neo-Platonist roots of the metaphor, the biblical perspectives on Christ as the light of the world, and the relation between ‘low Christology’ and liberation ethics. In conclusion, the author ventures to indicate a way toward true humanity and moral agency flowing from the classic interpretation of the metaphor of the Son as ‘light from light’.

The two short parables about mending clothes and making wine, found in the context of the debate about fasting, can be described as a “gender doublet”. There are many such doublets in the synoptic gospels where one of the parables brings an example from male experience and the other from female experience. This article will briefly summarize scholarly debates around such parable doublets and whether they can be seen to be part of the earliest (historical Jesus) tradition. This parable doublet is the one the most widely attested, being found as a doublet in all three synoptics and the gospel of Thomas. It is also an example of a doublet where the female example comes first in most versions, which could count against deliberate later compilation. The rest of the article focuses on the differences between the four versions of this parable doublet and argues that the likely original version is the one which is the most absurd and which is watered down in the other versions. An attempt is made to narrow down a probable original meaning.

This article deals with the problem of interpreting the Gospel text from the pericope of Mark 7:14-19. The harshness of the discourse has prompted some scholars to see in it a justification for anti-Semitism and the break of the ‘historical Jesus’ with Judaism, while others have tried to reconstruct a context where it would have sounded softer. We have looked briefly at how biblical scholars have interpreted these speeches as part of the search for the ‘historical Jesus’. We also conducted a critical analysis of the contemporary Aramaic theories of Maurice Casey and Thomas Kazen.

One of the most poignant moments in the Passion narratives is Jesus’ cry from the Cross, preserved in transliterated Semitic phrases within the Greek New Testament. These utterances provide a rare and direct glimpse into Jesus’ linguistic and cultural context, linking the historical Jesus to the Semitic milieu of first-century Judea. This paper examines the theological and linguistic significance of Jesus’ use of a non-Greek, Semitic language at the climactic moment of his suffering. It argues that these expressions function both as a declaration of lament and as an intentional evocation of Jewish Scripture, particularly highlighting Jesus’ identification with the suffering righteous. Additionally, this study contributes to scholarly discussions on the multilingual environment of first-century Palestine, the retention of Semitic words in the Greek Gospels, and the Christological dimensions embedded in Jesus’ final words.

This paper addresses the core Christian faith concerning God's 'oneness' (unitas) in three 'persons' (trinitas)—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—which constitutes the Doctrine of the Trinity. The truth of the faith regarding the Trinity is not a discovery or realization of human reason but is entirely founded upon divine revelation. This study specifically focuses on the Christological foundation of Trinitarian doctrine, investigating the influence of Christology on its historical formation and development in early Christianity, and the resulting essential relationship between the two. Chapter 1 examines the Trinitarian doctrine of the early Church, concentrating on the formation and evolution of the Christian creeds (Credo) that directly shaped this theology, and subsequently analyzes the common theological characteristics revealed in two major creeds. Chapter 2 reviews the Trinitarian theology of the Second Vatican Council, which sought to apply the theology of the early Church to the contemporary context. This chapter specifically examines the Trinitarian characteristics revealed through the economy of salvation, leading to a discussion of the mutual interrelationship and influence between Trinitarian doctrine and Christology. The concluding chapter addresses the Christocentricity of Trinitarian theology, intensively arguing why sound Christian theology must commence with the historical Jesus, and subsequently pointing out the problems inherent in certain mistaken interpretations based on Pneumatocentricism.

Abstract Caleb Afendopolo, a prominent Karaite scholar of the 15th–16th centuries Byzantine-Ottoman realm, was a commentator, philosopher, and poet. A prolific author, he composed numerous works on Karaite principles of faith, halakhah, exegesis, philosophy, and sciences. He was a product of the Byzantine Greek-speaking Karaite society and a contemporary of the enormous wave of immigration in the Ottoman Empire of Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula who brought with them new intellectual trends that influenced his views and thought. His writings include fragments that contain anti-Christian polemics that have remained beyond the scope of scholarly research. Afendopolo’s polemical discourse addresses mainly heresiographic and legal issues based on historical arguments. His approach demonstrates a striking gap between a surprisingly positive image of the historical Jesus and fierce criticism of Christianity, encompassing some of its contemporary practices. The present study aims to reconstruct his perspective of Christianity in the context of major Rabbanite and especially Karaite polemical tendencies. For the first time, this article also presents fragments of anti-Christian polemics from Afendopolo’s works.

Abstract After reviewing several stances in modern theology on the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus, this article argues that a common feature of the worldviews of Baroque Catholicism, classical Reformation theology, and the Enlightenment, namely, their separation of the supernatural and natural realms into ‘two orders’, explains the attractiveness of the apologetical strategy of affirming the reality of the resurrection as a non-historical, supernatural event. Drawing on the temporal and spatial imaginary of Henri de Lubac’s theology of grace, it concludes by pressing the case for a theological understanding of the resurrection of Jesus as a historical event that valorises the eschatological resonance of time.

The Gospel of Matthew is commonly regarded as ‘the most Jewish’ of the four New Testament Gospels. Some biblical scholars who specialize in the Gospel of Matthew now hold it to be a relatively faithful account or representation of Jesus’s own ‘Jewishness’. This article questions the relationship between the historical Jesus and the narrative representation of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, particularly vis-à-vis Jesus’s relationship to the Temple. Here I seek to problematize facile assessments of Jesus and Matthew’s ‘Jewishness’ by delineating the chronologically successive stages in which the figure of Jesus was conceptualized through sacralization in the pre-Gospel period, the de-Judaization of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark, and the re-Judaization of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. I also challenge recent assertions that ‘social memory’—in contradistinction to the traditional ‘criteria of authenticity’—provides a more methodologically and historiographically reliable approach to the Quest for the Historical Jesus vis-a-vis the historical author of the Gospel of Matthew.

The four earliest extant resurrection narratives record that women find the empty tomb first. This consensus suggests that although the resurrection narratives diminish the roles of women in these scenes, women undisputedly witness the resurrection. The details of women’s authority and leadership that remain in the narratives preserve their primacy. Isolating these details reveals a pattern of gendered redaction in the three endings of Mark and the four canonical resurrection narratives that diminishes, obscures, and excises women from these texts. This study rediscovers these women. Buttressed by early Christian art, the details of women’s authority and leadership evince new evidence for Historical Jesus reconstructions of these events, the priority of the longer ending of Mark, vestiges of women’s leadership in early Christian worship, and a strong affirmation for the reliability of women’s witness. Analyzing redaction that erases women reveals that the heroines are in the details. By recovering women’s narratives, this article contributes to the study of ancient Jewish and Christian Pseudepigrapha by giving a model of how to recover women’s narratives in other literature as well.

The Shroud of Turin is an important archaeological artifact that has been suggested to represent either the burial cloth of the historical Jesus of Nazareth or a clever hoax created during the medieval era. Previous studies have established that authentic blood components are present within the wound areas and shown that numerous serum borders exist, indicative of clotted blood being transferred to the cloth. Controversy exists regarding whether the body would have been washed prior to envelopment in the burial shroud. It has been suggested that Jewish burial customs would have prohibited washing of the body under these circumstances; in this case, resultant blood transfer would likely have occurred either when the blood was relatively fresh and in a liquid or gelatinous state, or after having dried and being remoistened via a high humidity, cave tomb environment. Alternatively, it has been proposed that the body was washed, followed by post-mortem emission from wounds, which were then transferred onto the cloth. Indeed, post-mortem blood has been found to rarely coagulate under these conditions, making such transfer possible even hours after death. The current study demonstrates that inhibition of coagulation precludes the formation of serum borders in bloodstains, an observation which is incompatible with what is observed on the Shroud. These data indicate that it is unlikely that the primary blood transfer mechanism involved washing of the body and subsequent post-mortem emission from wounds.

This study aims to explore and analyze the development of views on Jesus Christ from both historical and theological perspectives, and to assess their relevance for contemporary Christian life. This research employs a qualitative approach, utilizing literature review and hermeneutic analysis to understand the manifestation and meaning of Jesus across various historical and theological contexts. Data is gathered through the examination of biblical texts, church documents, and theological literature from Christian thinkers throughout history. The analysis is conducted thematically to identify key themes in the understanding of Jesus, ranging from His identity as the Jewish Messiah to His significance in modern and postmodern Christian theology. The findings indicate that, despite the many interpretations and controversies surrounding the historical Jesus and the Christ of faith, the core teaching of Jesus as the Savior remains steadfast. Efforts to reconstruct Jesus in the modern context—such as those by Reimarus, Strauss, Bultmann, and the Jesus Seminar—offer alternative perspectives, but the foundational ideas of Jesus' divinity and His role in human salvation remain central to Christian faith. Additionally, the study reveals that Jesus is not only relevant in historical or doctrinal contexts but also in the lived experience of believers amidst current social and moral challenges. This research emphasizes the need for a more holistic and contextual approach to understanding Jesus Christ, helping Christians connect His teachings to contemporary issues such as justice, solidarity, and human dignity. It also highlights the importance of dialogue between theology, history, and culture in maintaining the relevance of Christian faith in a pluralistic and globalized world. Consequently, Jesus Christ remains the central figure of faith, not only doctrinally but also practically in the everyday lives of Christians worldwide.

The Consciousness of the Historical Jesus: Historiography, Theology, and Metaphysics. By Austin Stevenson

Abstract This article looks at the history of the idea of an insurgent, seditious Jesus in light of Fernando Bermejo-Rubio’s They Suffered under Pontius Pilate: Jewish Anti-Roman Resistance and the Crosses at Golgotha (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2023). The focus is on reading the history of scholarship in its cultural and historical contexts, looking at why the insurgent Jesus and its critics came to the fore when they did. The article ends with final reflections on the language and ideas relating to insurgency and resistance in recent years and what impact they may have on historical Jesus studies.

Abstract This is an invited review article for Fernando Bermejo-Rubio’s book entitled They Suffered under Pontius Pilate: Jewish Anti-Roman Resistance and the Crosses at Golgotha. Using the work of recent decolonial approaches to the study of religion, the author questions Bermejo-Rubio’s strict secular historiographical approach to historical Jesus research, looking instead for ways in which secular and theological approaches can be co-constitutive.

Abstract This article reflects on the key contributions of Fernando Bermejo-Rubio’s recent monograph, which offers a fresh take on the ‘Seditious Jesus Hypothesis’ (sjh) by imagining Jesus and his collaborators as participants in an anti-Roman resistance movement. This response explores the implications of the sjh, the significance of the collective crucifixion, and inquires: what is good historiography, especially in studies of the historical Jesus?

Granted that God does not ‘tempt’ anyone to sin, and that a reference here to the end-time tribulation is unlikely, this article revives a neglected suggestion that the peirasmos ‘testing’ that Jesus wants his followers to avoid is putting God to the test, i.e. disobeying or rebelling against God. Being tested by God is hard; putting God on trial is sin, as prohibited at Deut. 6.16. Alongside Meribah (‘strife’) at Exod. 17.1–7 Massah (‘testing’) is a new name, signifying and symbolizing Israel’s repeated (Num. 14.22) disobedience and rebellion against God, as at the Exodus. That testing God was remembered in penitence in Ps. 78.18, 41, 56; 95. 8f.; 106.14 as the Exodus was recalled. The Septuagint always translates nsh (to test) peirazein , and its cognate massah , the place that memorializes it in the Pentateuch and Psalter, peirasmos . The specific topographical echo was lost in translation into Greek and the petition gained its general meaning. Later Syriac, Hebrew and Aramaic versions translated Matthew’s Greek, not the original, and accepted Matthew’s interpretation which lacked the symbolism of massah . Jesus himself perhaps combined a positive request that God lead us, with a warning: not to that place and now symbol of sinful disobedience. This proposal illustrates how historical Jesus suggestions can sometimes enrich the reception of a biblical text without displacing the evangelists’ meanings.

The image of Christ the King often overlooks or sidelines a distinctively anti-monarchical Christological tradition in the gospels, one that is perhaps rooted in the historical message and practice of Jesus himself. This anti-monarchical tradition, ensconced as it is within the very familiar and normative royal and messianic Christology of the NT, invites contemporary believers to reconsider the image of Christ as “king.”

ABSTRACT This article explores the significance of the qur’anic term al-Masīḥ (the Messiah) as applied to Jesus, son of Mary (ʿĪsā ibn Maryam). Previous scholarship has often drawn a direct, though problematic, line from first-century messianic expectations to the Qur’an. This article argues for a revised interpretive approach: understanding the qur’anic usage of al-Masīḥ through its more immediate biblical subtext, namely the messianic theology of Late Antique Christianity, particularly within the Syriac tradition. This approach acknowledges that the Qur’an engages not with the Bible as a static text or with the historical Jesus directly, but with Scripture as understood and preached in its seventh-century milieu. The study surveys foundational Second Temple Jewish messianic expectations and the New Testament’s portrayal of Jesus’s messianic role, then explores how these traditions were received and developed in Late Antique Syriac Christianity, which formed a crucial part of the Qur’an’s environment. By analysing the qur’anic account against this backdrop, the article offers a fresh perspective on the term’s theological significance, moving beyond the often de-contextualized interpretations of later Islamic exegetes. Ultimately, the article aims to foster Muslim–Christian dialogue by revealing the Qur’an’s profound engagement with the living messianic traditions of its time.

This work surveys the “Third Quest” (TQ) of the historical Jesus, focusing on the various portraits of Jesus within the first century, using a historical-critical method. It argues that such studies and portraits of Jesus have overlooked a significant aspect of Jesus, which places Jesus within the first-century socio-economic context as being helpless, providing an additional picture to the various existing portraits of Jesus. A search for the true historical Jesus should recognize Jesus being a helpless Jew as revealed in the Gospels, for such a portrait could redefine the entire life of the historical Jesus and still place him within the confines of the Gospels.