Studying the Historical Jesus

A Guide to Sources and Methods

Darrell L. Bock

©2002 by Darrell L. Bock

Published by Baker Academic

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.bakeracademic.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bock, Darrell L.

Studying the historical Jesus : a guide to sources and methods / Darrell L. Bock.

p.     cm.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN 0-8010-2451-X (pbk.)

1. Jesus Christ—Historicity—Study and teaching. 2. Jesus Christ—Biography—Study and teaching. I. Title.

BT303.2 .B53   2002

232.9′08′071—dc21 2002001510

Contents

List of Illustrations

Preface

Abbreviations

Introduction: Sources of Our Knowledge

Part 1: Jesus in His Cultural Context

1. Nonbiblical Literary Evidence for Jesus

2. A Basic Chronology of Jesus’ Life

3. Political History

4. Sociocultural History

Part 2: Methods for Studying the Gospels

5. The Three Quests for the Historical Jesus

6. Historical Criticism

7. Source Criticism

8. Form Criticism

9. Redaction Criticism

10. Tradition Criticism

11. Narrative Criticism and Gospel Genre

Selected Bibliography

Subject Index

Scripture Index

Illustrations

Maps

Geography of Palestine in the Time of Christ

Political Divisions of Palestine in the Time of Christ

Galilee in the Time of Christ

Tables and Graphs

Periods of Rule over the Land of Israel/Judea

High Priests from the Pre-Maccabean Period to the Time of Christ

Herod the Great and His Descendants

Rulers of Palestine

Number of Verses in Mark, Matthew, and Luke

Number of Marcan Verses Paralleling Matthew and Luke

Number of Matthean and Lucan Verses Containing Marcan Material

Contents of Q by Topic

Preface

As a student of the Gospels who has long appreciated what detailed study of Jesus can yield, I have yearned to write such a book for my students. What I have desired is a work that briefly goes over the background to the Gospels and the critical study of the Gospels that reflects both the value and limitations of these elements. I wanted to supply a basic introduction to these areas that was brief enough for students to digest and that had enough guidance for students to encourage further independent study. Only time will tell if I have succeeded. Much of the material here has been used in one form or another in classes on New Testament Introduction and on Jesus, as well as in a class I teach with my colleague W. Hall Harris on introduction to exegesis in Gospel narrative. I submit the material knowing that it has helped many students get an initial grasp on many controversial themes associated with the study of the Gospels. They have urged me to make it more widely available. This work ...