The Historical Jesus | The Quest

The Quest of the Historical Jesus: https://jamestabor.com/category/historical-jesus/
In this groundbreaking work that made his reputation as a theologian, Albert Schweitzer traces the search for the historical person of Jesus (apart from the Christ of faith) and puts forward his own view of Jesus as an apocalyptic figure who preached a radical message of the coming of the Kingdom of God. Though Schweitzer's own proposals about Jesus no longer command assent, his lasting contribution, comprising the bulk of the book, is the critique of his predecessors. Through examining the works of more than 50 18th- and 19th-century authors and scholars, he shows conclusively that each historical reconstruction of Jesus was largely a fantasy made in their own self-image.
Schweitzer's work has proved the touchstone for all subsequent quests for the "Jesus of history." It also contributed in no small measure to the remarkable resurgence in Jesus studies in the latter part of the 20th century, which culminated in the much publicized and highly controversial findings of the Jesus Seminar.
https://www.amazon.com/Quest-Historical-Jesus-Albert-Schweitzer/dp/0486440273

In Schweitzer’s final and most important chapter he argues that the union of what he calls “thoroughgoing skepticism” and “thoroughgoing eschatology” represents an impassible and enduring obstacle to traditional Christian theology. Jesus, according to Schweitzer, “lays hold of the wheel of the world to set it moving on that last revolution which is to bring all ordinary history to a close. It refuses to turn, and he throws himself on it. Then it does turn; and crushes him” (p. 370-71). And yet, even with this perspective, this “negative theology” as Schweitzer calls it of a “failed messiah,” he leaves the reader with his final chapter that he calls “Results.” He writes that “Jesus means something to our world because a mighty spiritual force streams forth from him and flows through our time also,” and “…it is not Jesus as historically known, but Jesus as spiritually arisen within men, who is significant for our time and can help it. Not the historical Jesus, but the spirit which goes forth from him and in the spirits of men strives for new influence and rule, is that which overcomes the world.” (pp. 399, 401).
https://jamestabor.com/albert-schweitzer-and-a-thoroughly-apocalyptic-jesus-and-paul/

Christianity is a hybrid religion birthed from the mating of three cultures from the Greeks, Jews, and Romans. Alexander the Great and Hellenism, the Roman Empire, and the Jewish religion were instrumental in creating the Apostle Paul's theology which spread across the Western world. A Roman Jew with the knowledge of a Greek education.
A magisterial history of the titanic struggle between the Roman and Jewish worlds that led to the destruction of Jerusalem.
Martin Goodman—equally renowned in Jewish and in Roman studies—examines this conflict, its causes, and its consequences with unprecedented authority and thoroughness. He delineates the incompatibility between the cultural, political, and religious beliefs and practices of the two peoples and explains how Rome's interests were served by a policy of brutality against the Jews. At the same time, Christians began to distance themselves from their origins, becoming increasingly hostile toward Jews as Christian influence spread within the empire. This is the authoritative work of how these two great civilizations collided and how the reverberations are felt to this day.

It is no accident the New Testament was written in Greek and the apostle Paul was a Jewish educated Roman citizen. The mix and influence of Hellenism is found in the Apostle Paul himself and all over the New Testament.

The Jewish religion itself evolved from the mix that came from conquering civilizations like Babylon and Persia where the influence of Zoroastrianism had a profound impact.

Alexander the Great Son of Zeus - Amun. Salvation in this world through war and conquest. And Jesus Son of a Jewish God of a new covenant of peace and love. Salvation in another world through death and sacrifice. It was the perfect counter narrative to Imperial theology.

"I have always thought of the historical Jesus as a homeland Jew within Judaism within the Roman Empire. I have always thought of the historical Paul as a diaspora Jew within Judaism within the Roman Empire. For me, then, within Judaism within the Roman Empire has always been the absolutely necessary matrix rather than the annoyingly unnecessary background for any discussion of earliest Christianity. Whether you start or end with the Roman Empire, the Roman Empire is always there."

John Dominic Crossan

Incarnation was not invented by Christianity. Caesar and Alexander before him were Sons of God. The Jesus as God theology was a revolution not by a man as a Son of God but what TYPE of man could be a son of God. It was also a counter narrative to what type of man could be a Messiah for the Jews.

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