Abstract
This book is a substantial revision of an original work that first appeared in 1998. Already considered a standard text for students, the book has been updated to reflect developments in historical Jesus research in the 15 years since its initial publication. After a preface to the new edition and a brief introduction, Powell initiates the reader to the background, history, and tools of Jesus research. Chapter One provides a general discussion of the relationship between Jesus and history, how the discipline has evolved over the years, and where it is presently headed. The chapter closes with a brief look at the research of three important figures—William Wrede, Burton Mack, and Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza—not because these three represent scholarship as a whole, but “because they exemplify the challenges that all historians must take into consideration if they want their work to be taken seriously” (p. 32).
Chapter Two introduces readers to the foundational literary sources and criteria of authenticity used by Jesus scholars. Since this book has been updated to reflect developments in Jesus research since 1998, I was a little disappointed that this chapter focused so heavily on the criteria and their use, especially since there has been such a vocal movement recently to abandon, or at the very least question the usefulness of the criteria. However, I am not totally convinced that this oversight is the author's fault, since some of the works questioning the value of the criteria likely appeared while this second edition was in its final revisions. After Powell covers these important preliminary issues, he proceeds to an analysis of the major contributions to Jesus research in recent decades.
Chapter Three looks at “snapshots” of the historical Jesus offered by contemporary scholars. These images of Jesus largely take the form of individual contributions by Jesus researchers (e.g., Jesus as cynic, mamzer rabbi, millenarian prophet, etc.) rather than the major projects discussed in the six chapters that follow.
Chapters Four through Nine examine what are, for Powell, the six most important scholars and/or projects in recent Jesus scholarship. Chapter Four focuses on the famous (or depending upon your persuasion, infamous) Robert Funk and his brainchild, the Jesus Seminar. Of these six chapters, this one is perhaps the most disproportionate in that nearly half of the chapter is devoted to discussing the agenda set forth by Funk and Jesus Seminar (pp. 98–108), while the other half (pp. 109–16) is devoted to a critique of their work. In the other five cases, Powell's critique is limited to a few pages at the end of the chapter. This observation is not intended as a criticism, as I am of the opinion that the controversial work of the Jesus Seminar demands such detailed scrutiny.
Chapters Five and Six examine the work of two other charter members of the Jesus Seminar, John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg, respectively. While both are known for their association with the Seminar, each scholar has established his own reputation independently of his work with the group. Both scholars have been creative and original in articulating their views on the historical Jesus. Powell views Crossan's contributions as seminal and weighty, while he regards Borg's work as less rigorous academically, and more focused on the relationship between faith and sociopolitical concerns.
Chapter Seven is dedicated to an analysis of E. P. Sanders’ work on Jesus, which cannot be understood apart from his writings on Paul and covenantal nomism. The next two chapters look at the two most ambitious historical Jesus projects undertaken in recent decades: John P. Meier's projected five-volume series, A Marginal Jew (Chapter Eight) and the Jesus research that grew out of N. T. Wright's projected six-volume series, “Christian Origins and the Question of God” (Chapter Nine).
The book concludes with a chapter on newer issues that call for fresh investigation; there are also three appendices. Overall I found this book to be an even and fair analysis of the major issues and figures in contemporary Jesus research. The greatest strength of this book is not its content per se (though that is very good), but rather the manner in which Powell successfully navigates the waters of Jesus research without interjecting too much polemic or opinion. His coverage is fair, and he does a superb job of letting the arguments of each scholar stand or fall on their relative merits and/or deficiencies. One of the only drawbacks I see in this book is that it is not conversant with recent work on Jesus and memory which is, by and large, skeptical of the value of the criteria of authenticity (see, e.g., Chris Keith and Anthony LeDonne, eds., Jesus, Criteria and the Demise of Authenticity [London: T & T Clark, 2012]). That said, I think this book could be used successfully as a primary course text and supplemented with more recent material on Jesus and memory. I regularly teach an undergraduate course on the Gospels in which there is a significant component dealing with the historical Jesus. Going forward, I have found the textbook that I will use for that portion of my course. I highly recommend this book for professors, students, and interested laypeople.