Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, Volume 1

Front Cover
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, Jul 29, 2003 - Religion - 1019 pages
James Dunn is regarded worldwide as one of today's foremost biblical scholars. Having written groundbreaking studies of the New Testament and a standard work on Paul's theology, Dunn here turns his pen to the rise of Christianity itself. Jesus Remembered is the first installment in what will be a monumental three-volume history of the first 120 years of the faith.

Focusing on Jesus, this first volume has several distinct features. It garners the lessons to be learned from the "quest for the historical Jesus" and meets the hermeneutical challenges to a historical and theological assessment of the Jesus tradition. It provides a fresh perspective both on the impact made by Jesus and on the traditions about Jesus as oral tradition -- hence the title "Jesus Remembered." And it offers a fresh analysis of the details of that tradition, emphasizing its characteristic (rather than dissimilar) features. Noteworthy too are Dunn's treatments of the source question (particularly Q and the noncanonical Gospels) and of Jesus the Jew in his Galilean context.

In his detailed analysis of the Baptist tradition, the kingdom motif, the call to and character of discipleship, what Jesus' audiences thought of him, what he thought of himself, why he was crucified, and how and why belief in Jesus' resurrection began, Dunn engages wholeheartedly in the contemporary debate, providing many important insights and offering a thoroughly convincing account of how Jesus was remembered from the first, and why.

Written with peerless scholarly acumen yet accessible to a wide range of readers, Dunn's Jesus Remembered, together with its successor volumes, will be a sine qua non for all students of Christianity's beginnings.
 

Contents

Christianity in the Making
1
FAITH AND THE HISTORICAL JESUS
9
Introduction
11
The ReAwakening of Historical Awareness
17
32 The Reformation
20
33 Perceptions of Jesus
23
The Flight from Dogma
25
42 Exit Revelation and Miracle
29
116 The Death of John
377
117 Jesus Tempted
379
The Kingdom of God
383
122 How Should the Kingdom of God Be Understood?
387
123 Three Key Questions
396
124 The Kingdom to Come
406
125 The Kingdom Has Come
437
126 Solving the Riddle
465

43 The Liberal Jesus
34
44 The Sources for Critical Reconstruction of the Life of Jesus
39
45 The Collapse of the Liberal Quest
45
46 Jesus in Sociological Perspective
52
47 ReEnter the NeoLiberal Jesus
58
48 Conclusion
65
The Flight from History
67
51 The HistoricalCritical Method
68
52 The Search for an Invulnerable Area for Faith
71
53 Rudolf Bultmann 18841976
73
54 The Second Quest
78
55 A Third Quest?
85
56 Postmodernism
92
History Hermeneutics and Faith
99
62 The Necessity of Historical Inquiry
100
63 What Can History Deliver?
101
64 Hermeneutical Principles
111
65 When Did a Faith Perspective First Influence the Jesus Tradition?
125
66 Two Corollaries
135
FROM THE GOSPELS TO JESUS
137
The Sources
139
71 External Sources
141
72 The Earliest References to Jesus
142
73 Mark
143
74 Q
147
75 Matthew and Luke
160
76 The Gospel of Thomas
161
77 The Gospel of John
165
78 Other Gospels
167
79 Knowledge of Jesus Teaching and Agrapha
172
The Tradition
173
81 Jesus the Founder of Christianity
174
82 The Influence of Prophecy
186
83 Oral Tradition
192
Narratives
210
Teachings
224
86 Oral Transmission
238
87 In Summary
253
The Historical Context
255
92 Defining Judaism
260
93 The Diversity of Judaism Judaism from Without
265
94 Jewish Factionalism Judaism from Within
281
95 The Unity of FirstCentury Judaism
286
96 Galilean Judaism
293
97 Synagogues and Pharisees in Galilee?
302
98 The Political Context
308
99 An Outline of the Life and Mission of Jesus
312
Through the Gospels to Jesus
327
102 How to Proceed?
330
103 Thesis and Method
335
THE MISSION OF JESUS
337
Beginning from the Baptism of John
339
111 Why Not Beginning from Bethlehem?
340
112 John the Baptizer
348
113 Johns Baptism
355
114 Johns Message
362
115 Jesus Anointing at Jordan
371
For Whom Did Jesus Intend His Message?
489
131 Hearing Jesus
490
132 The Call
498
133 To Israel
506
134 To the Poor
516
135 To Sinners
526
136 Women
534
137 Gentiles
537
138 Circles of Discipleship
539
The Character of Discipleship
543
141 Subjects of the King
544
142 Children of the Father
548
143 Disciples of Jesus
555
144 Hungering for What Is Right
563
145 Love as Motivation
583
146 Forgiving as Forgiven
589
147 A New Family?
592
148 Open Fellowship
599
149 Living in the Light of the Coming Kingdom
607
THE QUESTION OF JESUS SELFUNDERSTANDING
613
Who Did They Think Jesus Was?
615
152 Royal Messiah
617
153 An Issue during Jesus Mission
627
154 A Role Declined
647
155 Priestly Messiah
654
156 The Prophet
655
157 A Doer of Extraordinary Deeds
667
158 Teacher
696
How Did Jesus See His Own Role?
705
162 Gods Son
708
The Issues
724
The Evidence
737
A Hypothesis
759
166 Conclusion
761
THE CLIMAX OF JESUS MISSION
763
Crucifixus sub Pontio Pilato
765
172 Why Was Jesus Executed?
784
173 Why Did Jesus Go Up to Jerusalem?
790
174 Did Jesus Anticipate His Death?
796
175 Did Jesus Give Meaning to His Anticipated Death?
805
176 Did Jesus Hope for Vindication after Death?
818
Et Resurrexit
825
182 The Empty Tomb Tradition
828
183 Appearance Traditions
841
184 The Tradition within the Traditions
857
185 Why Resurrection?
866
186 The Final Metaphor
876
Jesus Remembered
881
192 What Can We Say about Jesus Aims?
884
193 The Lasting Impact of Jesus Mission
890
Abbreviations
895
Bibliography
901
Index of Authors
949
Index of Subjects
970
Index of Scriptures and Other Ancient Writings
977
Copyright

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About the author (2003)

James D. G. Dunn (1939-2020) was a renowned New Testament scholar and the longtime Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at Durham University. His numerous books include The Theology of Paul the Apostle, Jesus according to the New Testament, and the magisterial Christianity in the Making trilogy.

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