cover image The Elusive Messiah: A Philosophical Overview of the Quest for the Historical Jesus

The Elusive Messiah: A Philosophical Overview of the Quest for the Historical Jesus

Raymond Martin. Basic Books, $25 (256pp) ISBN 978-0-8133-6705-7

The quest for the historical Jesus has come and gone in New Testament scholarship since the 18th century, when Reimarus challenged the historical veracity of the Gospels. In the late 20th century, this quest is dominated by two groups that Martin calls ""conservatives"" (E.P. Sanders and John Meier) and ""liberals"" (Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza and John Dominic Crossan). He contends that scholars Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright ""cross the lines"" of these distinctions and use the methods of the ""liberals"" to emphasize the Jesus of faith of the ""conservatives."" After a historical overview of the quest for the historical Jesus, Martin (The Past Within Us) provides a brief sketch of the work of contemporary Jesus questers like Crossan and Wright. Martin contends that Christians respond to such arguments in one of three philosophical ways: ""Only Faith""; ""Faith Seeking Understanding""; ""Only Reason."" The first option, he says, denies that secular historical scholarship can make any contributions to understanding Jesus because it contradicts traditional religious claims. ""Faith Seeking Understanding"" attempts to ""integrate the diverse claims of secular scholarship and religious faith into a single coherent account."" The final position, he notes, asks Christians to allow their faith to be subsumed into the ""expert"" opinions of secular scholarship. Martin asserts that what he calls ""multiperspectivalism,"" simply looking at various interpretations--religious and secular--of the evidence for the historical Jesus, offers the most consistent philosophical response for Christians confronting the challenge of the quest for the historical Jesus. However, Martin is on ground already well trod by Ben Witherington III (The Jesus Quest) and adds little that's new to the contemporary quest for the historical Jesus. (July)