The Gospel of Jesus
according to the Jesus Seminar
Second Edition
Robert W. Funk, Arthur J. Dewey & the Jesus Seminar
Description
The voice of Jesus has for centuries been obscured and his vision skewed even by well-intended gospel writers, who transmitted his words to serve their own concerns. The Gospel of Jesus frees Jesus’ voice from the accretions of time and lets his challenging wisdom stand out as never before. This single composite gospel, created out of the sayings and reports that were deemed probably historical by the Jesus Seminar, is an essential resource for anyone seeking to detect the words of Jesus as they were heard by his earliest listeners.
This second edition includes:
- a new preface and introduction
- an updated translation
- expanded notes and appendices
all in a redesigned, user-friendly format.
Contents
The Jesus Seminar
Abbreviations
Introduction
The Gospel of Jesus
Prologue—Birth, childhood & family of Jesus
1 John the baptizer & Jesus
2 Jesus announces God’s Empire
3 In the company of Jesus
4 Upsetting expectations
5 Powers at work
6 Death of John the baptizer
7 Surprising vision & advice
8 A place at the table
9 Jesus & purity
10 Celebration
11 Sabbath observance
12 Kinship in the empire
13 In parables
14 Public & private piety
15 Signs of God’s empire
16 Six healings
17 Invaluable advice
18 Hospitality
19 Shrewd advice
20 In Jerusalem
21 The passion
Epilogue—Pillars & Pioneers
Resources
Table of Ancient Gospels
Dates of the Gospels
Catalogue of Ancient Gospels
Historical Evidence for Jesus of Nazareth beyond Christian Texts
Reports of the Jesus Seminar
Index of Ancient Texts
Index of Sayings & Stories
Praise for the second edition:
“Want to know what Jesus said and did? Want to know how we know what Jesus said and did? Here it is boiled down to its essential features. The best short compendium about Jesus, without a doubt!”
—Bernard Brandon Scott, Darbeth Distinguished Professor of New Testament Emeritus, Phillips Theological Seminary, Tulsa OK
“This volume is very useable, individually or in a small group, by the layperson interested in what Jesus might have actually said. … I found that in finally feeling that I was rubbing shoulders with Jesus, I was also laying aside my hyper-critical voice that so easily rejected fantastical belief, and was finally standing next to a friend whom I could trust.”
—Thomas Schmidt, Spokane Faith & Values (full review)
About the Authors
Robert W. Funk (d. 2005) taught at Drew, Vanderbilt, and the University of Montana and served as Annual Professor of the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem. A Guggenheim Fellow and Senior Fulbright Scholar, his many books include The Five Gospels (1993), The Acts of Jesus (1998) and Honest to Jesus (1996).
Arthur J. Dewey is Professor of Theology at Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio. He is co-author of The Authentic Letters of Paul (2010) and The Complete Gospel Parallels (2012). For over a dozen years he was a regular commentator on Public Radio Station WVXU in Cincinnati and is a long-time editorial writer for The Fourth R.
The Jesus Seminar was organized to discover and report a scholarly consensus on the historical authenticity of the sayings and deeds attributed to Jesus in the gospels. In the judgment of the Jesus Seminar, 18 percent of the sayings and 16 percent of the deeds are authentic. These findings, along with the public nature of the seminar system, led to widespread public debate.
