ACADIA DIVINITY COLLEGE

BIBL 7043Life of Jesus

Craig A. Evans, Professor
Fall Term 2006 (11 Sept 4 Dec)
M 2.004.45 PM Room 201
A. Course Description:
This course offers an introduction to the life of Jesus, with emphasis on religious
and historical context. Sourcescanonical and noncanonicalwill be critically
assessed, criteria for determining authenticity will be reviewed, and the history of
critical study of the life of Jesus will be surveyed.
B. Course Objectives:
1. To acquaint the student with the critical issues that attend life of Jesus research.
2. To develop an appreciation for an interpretation of the life of Jesus in historical,
social, and religious context.
3. To acquaint the student with the varieties of interpretation of the life of Jesus.
4. To enrich the student spiritually with the teaching and example of Jesus of
Nazareth.
C. Requirements of the Course:
1. Midterm exam: Monday 23 October 2006 20%
2. Exegesis paper due: Monday 4 December 2006 40%
3. Textbook Reading Requirement due: Monday 4 December 2006 10%
4. Final Exam: 30%
D. Textbooks for the Course:
1. Evans, Craig A. Jesus and the Ossuaries. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press,
2003. = E
2. Stein, Robert H. Jesus the Messiah: A Survey of the Life of Christ. Downers
Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1996. = S1
3. Stein, Robert H. The Method and Message of Jesus Teachings. Rev. ed.
Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1994. = S2
E. Recommended Texts (in the library):
1. Evans, Craig A. Life of Jesus Research: An Annotated Bibliography. New
Testament Tools and Studies 24. Rev. ed. Leiden: Brill, 1996.
2. Meier, John P. A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus. 3 vols.
ABRL. New York: Doubleday, 19912001. [a fourth vol. is due]
3. Sanders, E. P. Jesus and Judaism. London: SCM Press; Philadelphia: Fortress,
1985.
4. Witherington, Ben. The Jesus Quest: The Third Search for the Jew of
Nazareth. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1995.
F. Related Publications by Professor Evans:
1. Jesus in Gnostic Literature, Biblica 62 (1981) 406-12.

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2. On the Vineyard Parables of Isaiah 5 and Mark 12, Biblische Zeitschrift 28 (1984)
82-86.
3. The Isaianic Background of Mark 4:1-20, Catholic Biblical Quarterly 47 (1985)
464-68.
4. Review of George R. Beasley-Murray, Jesus and the Kingdom of God (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986) in Trinity Journal 7.2 (1986) 103-107.
5. Jesus of Nazareth: Who Do Scholars Say that He Is? Crux 23.4 (1987) 15-19.
6. The Historical Jesus and Christian Faith: A Critical Assessment of a Scholarly
Problem, Christian Scholars Review 18 (1988) 48-63.
7. Jesus Action in the Temple: Cleansing or Portent of Destruction? Catholic Biblical
Quarterly 51 (1989) 237-70.
8. Authenticity Criteria in Life of Jesus Research, Christian Scholars Review 19
(1989) 6-31.
9. Jesus Action in the Temple and Evidence of Corruption in the First-Century
Temple, in David J. Lull (ed.), Society of Biblical Literature 1989 Seminar Papers
(SBLSP 28; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1989) 522-39.
10. Life of Jesus Research: An Annotated Bibliography. NTTS 13; Leiden: Brill, 1989;
rev. ed. NTTS 24; Leiden: Brill, 1996.
11. In What Sense Blasphemy? Jesus Before Caiaphas in Mark 14:61-64, in Eugene
H. Lovering (ed.), Society of Biblical Literature 1991 Seminar Papers (SBLSP 30;
Atlanta: Scholars, 1991) 215-34.
12. New Trends in Jesus Research: A Review of the Last Decade, Catalyst 18.1 (1991)
1, 6.
13. Jesus in Non-Christian Sources, Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (1992) 36468.
14. Opposition to the Temple: Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls, in James H.
Charlesworth (ed.), Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (ABRL 4; New York: Doubleday,
1992) 235-53.
15. Jesus Ethic of Humility, Trinity Journal 13 (1992) 127-38.
16. Review of Gerald F. Hawthorne, The Presence & the Power: The Significance of the
Holy Spirit in the Life of Jesus (Dallas: Word, 1991) in Critical Review of Books in
Religion 5 (1992) 217-18.
17. Review of John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean
Jewish Peasant (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1991) in Trinity Journal 13 (1992)
230-39.
18. Review of Marinus de Jonge, Jesus, The Servant Messiah (Shaffer Lectures; New
Haven and London: Yale University, 1991) in Catholic Biblical Quarterly 54 (1992)
775-76.
19. Jesus and Predictions of the Destruction of the Herodian Temple in the
Pseudepigrapha, Qumran, and Related Texts, Journal for the Study of the
Pseudepigrapha 10 (1992) 95-154.
20. Jesus and the Cave of Robbers: Toward a Jewish Context for the Temple Action,
Bulletin for Biblical Research 3 (1993) 93-110.
21. Life-of-Jesus Research and the Eclipse of Mythology, Theological Studies 54
(1993) 3-36.

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22. Mishnah and Messiah in Context: Some Comments on Jacob Neusners

Proposals, Journal of Biblical Literature 112 (1993) 267-89 [with a response by
Neusner on pp. 291-304].
23. Review of John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus (vol. 1.;
ABRL 3; New York: Doubleday, 1991) in Trinity Journal 14 (1993) 88-92.
24. Review of Bruce D. Chilton, The Temple of Jesus: His Sacrificial Program within a
Cultural History of Sacrifice (University Park: Penn State Press, 1992) in Trinity
Journal 14 (1993) 219-21.
25. From Public Ministry to the Passion: Can a Link be Found between the (Galilean)
Life and the (Judean) Death of Jesus?, in Eugene H. Lovering (ed.), Society of
Biblical Literature 1993 Seminar Papers (SBLSP 32; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1993)
460-72.
26. The Need for the Historical Jesus: A Response to Jacob Neusners Review of
Crossan and Meier, Bulletin for Biblical Research 4 (1994) 127-34.
27. Jesus in the Agrapha and Apocryphal Gospels, with J. H. Charlesworth, in C. A.
Evans and B. D. Chilton (eds.), Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the
State of Current Research (NTTS 19; Leiden: Brill, 1994) 479-533.
28. Jesus in Non-Christian Writings, in C. A. Evans and B. D. Chilton (eds.), Studying
the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of Current Research (NTTS 19;
Leiden: Brill, 1994) 443-78.
29. Jesus and Israels Scriptures, with B. D. Chilton, in C. A. Evans and B. D. Chilton
(eds.), Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of Current Research
(NTTS 19; Leiden: Brill, 1994) 281-335.
30. The Recently Published Dead Sea Scrolls and the Historical Jesus, in C. A. Evans
and B. D. Chilton (eds.), Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of
Current Research (NTTS 19; Leiden: Brill, 1994) 547-65.
31. Jesus and His Contemporaries: Comparative Studies (AGJU 25; Leiden: Brill,
1995).
32. Editor, with Stanley E. Porter, The Historical Jesus: A Sheffield Reader (BibSem 33;
Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995).
33. Early Rabbinic Sources and Jesus Research, in E. H. Lovering, Jr. (ed.), Society of
Biblical Literature 1995 Seminar Papers (SBLSP 34; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1995)
53-76.
34. What Did Jesus Do? in Michael J. Wilkins and J. P. Moreland (eds.), Jesus Under
Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents the Historical Jesus (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
1995) 101-15.
35. Source, Form and Redaction Criticism: The Traditional Methods of Synoptic
Interpretation, in Stanley E. Porter and David Tombs (eds.), Approaches to New
Testament Study (JSNTSup 120; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995) 17-45.
36. Review of R. David Kaylor, Jesus the Prophet: His Vision of the Kingdom on Earth
(Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1994) in Trinity Journal, 16 (1995) 123-27.
37. Review of Markus Bockmuehl, This Jesus: Martyr, Lord, Messiah (Edinburgh: T. &
T. Clark, 1994) in Trinity Journal 16 (1995) 239-41.
38. The Historical Jesus and the Deified Christ: How Did the One Lead to the Other?
in Stanley E. Porter (ed.), The Nature of Religious Language: The Roehampton
Symposium (Roehampton Institute London Papers 1; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic
Press, 1996) 47-67.

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39. The Passion of Jesus: History Remembered or Prophecy Historicized? Bulletin for
Biblical Research 6 (1996) 159-65. [a review-essay of John Dominic Crossan, Who
Killed Jesus? Exposing the Roots of Anti-Semitism in the Gospel Story of the Death
of Jesus (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1995)]
40. Jesus Parable of the Tenant Farmers in Light of Lease Agreements from Late
Antiquity, Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 14 (1996) 65-83.
41. Review of Ulrich Mell, Die anderen Winzer: Eine exegetische Studie zur
Vollmacht Jesu Christi nach Markus 11, 2712, 34 (WUNT 77; Tbingen: Mohr
[Siebeck], 1994), in Catholic Biblical Quarterly 58 (1996) 761-62.
42. Review of John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus. Volume
Two: Mentor, Message, and Miracles (ABRL 9; New York: Doubleday, 1994), E. P.
Sanders, The Historical Figure of Jesus (London: Penguin, 1993), and Ben
Witherington III, Jesus the Sage: The Pilgrimage of Wisdom (Minneapolis: Fortress,
1994) in Bible Review 12.1 (1996) 15-17.
43. Review of Graham N. Stanton, Gospel Truth? New Light on Jesus and the Gospels
(Valley Forge: Trinity Press International, 1995), in Critical Review of Books in
Religion 9 (1996) 278-79.
44. Reconstructing Jesus Teaching: Problems and Possibilities, in James H.
Charlesworth and Loren L. Johns (eds.), Hillel and Jesus: Comparisons of Two
Major Religious Leaders (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1997) 397-426.
45. Jesus in Context: Temple, Purity, and Restoration, with Bruce Chilton (AGJU 39;
Leiden: Brill, 1997).
46. A Note on Targum 2 Samuel 5.8 and Jesus Ministry to the Maimed, Halt, and
Blind, Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 15 (1997) 79-82.
47. From House of Prayer to Cave of Robbers: Jesus Prophetic Criticism of the
Temple Establishment, in Craig A. Evans and Shemaryahu Talmon (eds.), The Quest
for Context and Meaning: Studies in Biblical Intertextuality in Honor of James A.
Sanders (BIS 28; Leiden: Brill, 1997) 417-42.
48. From Gospel to Gospel: The Function of Isaiah in the New Testament, in Craig C.
Broyles and Craig A. Evans (eds.), Writing and Reading the Scroll of Isaiah: Studies
of an Interpretive Tradition (VTSup 70; FIOTL 1; Leiden: Brill, 1997) 605-44.
49. Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls, in Craig A. Evans and Peter W. Flint (eds.),
Eschatology, Messianism, and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls
and Related Literature 1; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997) 91-100.
50. Images of Christ in the Canonical and Apocryphal Gospels, in Stanley E. Porter,
Michael A. Hayes, and David Tombs (eds.), Images of Christ: Ancient and Modern
(Roehampton Institute London Papers 2; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997)
34-72.
51. Aspects of Exile and Restoration in the Proclamation of Jesus and the Gospels, in
James M. Scott (ed.), Exile: Old Testament, Jewish, and Christian Conceptions
(JSJSup 56; Leiden: Brill, 1997) 299-328.
52. The Real Jesus in Debate, Bulletin for Biblical Research 7 (1997) 225-26.
53. The Life of Jesus, in Stanley E. Porter (ed.), Handbook to Exegesis of the New
Testament (NTTS 25; Leiden: Brill, 1997) 427-75.
54. Review of Ben Witherington III, Jesus the Sage: The Pilgrimage of Wisdom
(Minneapolis: Fortress, 1994), in Critical Review of Books in Religion 9 (1996) 307309.

BIBL 7043 p. 5

55. Review of John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus. Volume
Two: Mentor, Message, and Miracles (ABRL 9; New York: Doubleday, 1994), in
Trinity Journal 18 (1997) 99-102.
56. Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls, in Peter W. Flint and James C. VanderKam (eds.),
The Dead Sea Scrolls after Fifty Years: A Comprehensive Assessment, vol. II
(Leiden: Brill, 1999) 573-98.
57. Editor, with Bruce Chilton, Authenticating the Words of Jesus (NTTS 28.1; Leiden:
Brill, 1998).
58.

Authenticating the Words of Jesus, in Craig A. Evans and Bruce Chilton (eds.),
Authenticating the Words of Jesus (NTTS 28.1; Leiden: Brill, 1998) 3-14.
59. Editor, with Bruce Chilton, Authenticating the Activities of Jesus (NTTS 28.2;
Leiden: Brill, 1998).
60.

Authenticating the Activities of Jesus, in Craig A. Evans and Bruce Chilton (eds.),
Authenticating the Activities of Jesus (NTTS 28.2; Leiden: Brill, 1998) 3-29.

61.

Jesus and Zechariahs Messianic Hope, in Craig A. Evans and Bruce Chilton
(eds.), Authenticating the Activities of Jesus (NTTS 28.2; Leiden: Brill, 1998) 37388.
62. Jesus Self-Designation The Son of Man and the Recognition of His Divinity, in S.
Davis, D. Kendall, and G. OCollins (eds.), The Trinity: An Interdisciplinary
Symposium on the Trinity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999) 29-47.
63. Did Jesus Predict His Death and Resurrection? in S. E. Porter, M. A. Hayes, and D.
Tombs (eds.) Resurrection (JSNTSup 186; RILP 5; Sheffield: Sheffield University
Pess 1999) 82-97.
64.

Review of Gerd Theissen and Annette Merz, The Historical Jesus: A Comprehensive
Guide (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1998), in Theological Studies 60 (1999) 347-48.

65.

Review of Gerd Theissen and Dagmar Winter, Die Kriterienfrage in der Jesusforschung: Vom Differenzkriterium zum Plausibilittskriterium (Novum
Testamentum et Orbis Antiquus 34; Freiburg: Universittsverlag; Gttingen:
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1997), in Journal of Biblical Literature 118 (1999) 55153.

66.

Review of Lawrence M. Wills, The Quest of the Historical Gospel: Mark, John, and
the Origins of the Gospel Genre (London and New York: Routledge, 1997), in
Catholic Biblical Quarterly 61 (1999) 798-800.

67.

Apollonius of Tyana, in Craig A. Evans and Stanley E. Porter (eds.), Dictionary of

New Testament Background (Leicester and Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press,
2000) 80-81.

68. Caiaphas Ossuary, in Craig A. Evans and Stanley E. Porter (eds.), Dictionary of
New Testament Background (Leicester and Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press,
2000) 179-80.
69.

Jesus ben Ananias, in Craig A. Evans and Stanley E. Porter (eds.), Dictionary of
New Testament Background (Leicester and Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press,
2000) 561-62.

70.

Pilate Inscription, in Craig A. Evans and Stanley E. Porter (eds.), Dictionary of

New Testament Background (Leicester and Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press,

BIBL 7043 p. 6

2000) 803-4.
71.

Parables in Early Judaism, in R. N. Longenecker (ed.), The Challenge of Jesus

Parables (McMaster New Testament Studies 4; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000) 5175.

72.

Review of David Flusser, Jesus (rev. ed., Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1997), in Dead
Sea Discoveries 7 (2000) 110-15; and (abridged) in Mishkan 33 (2000) 83-88.

73.

Editor, with Paul Copan, Who Was Jesus? A Jewish-Christian Dialogue (Louisville:
Westminster John Knox Press, 2001) viii + 205 pp.

74.

The Jesus of History and the Christ of Faith: Toward Jewish-Christian Dialogue, in
Paul Copan and Craig A. Evans (ed.), Who Was Jesus? A Jewish-Christian Dialogue
(Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001) 59-72, 174-78.

75.

The New Quest for Jesus and the New Research on the Dead Sea Scrolls, in
Michael Labahn and Andreas Schmidt (eds.), Jesus, Mark and Q: The Teaching of
Jesus and its Earliest Records (JSNTSup 214; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press,
2001) 163-83.

76.

Review of R. J. Miller, The Jesus Seminar and its Critics (Sonoma: Polebridge,
1999), in Interpretation 55 (2001) 86.

77.

Review of J. D. Crossan, L. T. Johnson, and W. H. Kelber, The Jesus Controversy:

Perspectives in Conflict (Harrisburg: Trinity Press International, 1999), in
Interpretation 55 (2001) 207.

78.

Jesus Rhetoric of Criticism: The Parables against His Friends and Critics, in
Stanley E. Porter and Dennis L. Stamps (eds.), Rhetorical Criticism and the Bible
(JSNTSup 195; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2002) 256-79.

79.

The Baptism of John in a Typological Context, in A. R. Cross and S. E. Porter

(eds.), Dimensions of Baptism (JSNTSup; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press,
2002) 44-70.

80.

Jesus in Extracanonical Sources: reviews of H.-M. Schenke, Das MatthusEvangelium im mittelgyptischen Dialekt des Koptischen (Codex Schyen)
(Manuscripts in the Schyen Collection 2: Coptic Papyri 1; Oslo: Hermes, 2001); R.
E. Van Voorst, Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient
Evidence (Studying the Historical Jesus; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000); C. W.
Hedrick and P. A. Mirecki, Gospel of the Savior: A New Ancient Gospel (Sonoma:
Polebridge, 1999); M. W. Meyer, The Unknown Sayings of Jesus (San Francisco:
HarperCollins, 1998); W. Morrice, Hidden Sayings of Jesus: Words Attributed to
Jesus Outside the Four Gospels (London: SPCK, 1997); J. K. Elliott, The
Apocryphal Jesus: Legends of the Early Church (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1996), in Bulletin for Biblical Research 12 (2002) 282-84.

81.

Editor, with Bruce Chilton and Jacob Neusner, The Missing Jesus: Rabbinic
Judaism and the New Testament (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2002).

82.

The Misplaced Jesus: Interpreting Jesus in a Judaic Context, in Bruce Chilton and
Craig A. Evans (eds.), The Missing Jesus: Rabbinic Judaism and the New Testament
(Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2002) 11-39.

83.

Reconstructing the Halakah of Jesus: Appropriating Early and Late Sources, in

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Bruce Chilton and Craig A. Evans (eds.), The Missing Jesus: Rabbinic Judaism and
the New Testament (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2002) 101-6.
84.

Jesus and the Ossuaries (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2003).

85.

What Can We Know about the Historical Jesus? Areopagus Journal 3.4 (2003) 513.

86.

Defeating Satan and Liberating Israel: Jesus and Daniels Visions, Journal for the
Study of the Historical Jesus 1 (2003) 161-70.

87.

Editor, The Historical Jesus: Critical Concepts in Religious Studies (4 vols.,

London and New York: Routledge, 2004).
G. Lecture and Assigned Reading Schedule:

Weeks OneTwo:
Historical Sources of the Life of Jesus: Canonical and Non-Canonical
(E 1-16; S1 25-50)
Weeks ThreeFour:
Quest of the Historical Jesus: Scholars and Methods (S1 11-17)
Week Five:
The Life and Context of Jesus (E 17-51; S1 51-111; S2 1-32).
Week Six:
Jesus and First-Century Jewish Messianic Expectation (E 5389)
Week Seven:
Jesus Parables and Proclamation of the Kingdom of God (S1 123-76; S2 33-114)
Weeks EightNine:
Jesus Interpretation of OT; Sinners, Repentance, Purity, and Restoration
(S1 112-22, 197-213; S2 115-51).
Week Ten:
Jesus Miracles; Action in the Temple (S1 18-24, 185-96)
Week Eleven:
The Arrest, Trial, and Crucifixion of Jesus (S1 214-58)
Week Twelve:
The Resurrection of Jesus (E 91124; S1 259-77); Final Exam Review