The Historical Christ and the Jesus of Faith The Incarnational Narrative as History

by Evans, C. Stephen

• ISBN13: 9780198263975
• ISBN10: 019826397X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-05-09
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The story of Jesus of Nazareth, as recounted in the New Testament, has always been understood by the church to be historically true. It is an account of the life, death, and resurrection of a real person, whose links with history are firmly signalled in the creeds of the early church, whichaffirm that Jesus 'suffered under Pontius Pilate'. Contemporary historical scholarship has, however, called into question the reliability of the church's version of this story, and thereby raised the question as to whether ordinary people can know its historical truth.This book argues that the historicity of the story still matters, and that its religious significance cannot be captured by the category of 'non-historical myth'. The commonly drawn distinction between the Christ of faith and Jesus of history cannot be maintained. The Christ who is the object offaith must be seen as historical; the Jesus who is reconstructed by historical scholarship is always shaped by commitments of faith. A reconsideration of the Englightenment epistemologies that underlie much historical scholarship shows that historical knowledge of this story is still possible.Such knowledge can be inferential, based on historical evidence. A careful look at contemporary New Testament studies, and the philosophical and literary assumptions upon which it rests, shows that this scholarship should not undermine the confidence of lay people who believe that they can knowthat the church's story about Jesus is true.

Author Biography

C. Stephen Evans is William Spoelhof Scholar and Professor of Philosophy at Calvin College.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. v
The Incarnational Narrative And the Problem of Its Historicity	p. 1
Modernity's Responses To The Problem	p. 27
Why the Events Matter1. History, Meaning, And Myth	p. 47
Why the Events Matter2. God's Atoning Work	p. 80
Awareness of the Narrative Do We Need to Know?	p. 98
Is the Incarnation Logically Possible?	p. 116
Miracles: Their Possibility And Knowability	p. 137
Critical History and The Supernatural	p. 170
Epistemology and the Ethics Of Belief	p. 203
The Incarnational Narrative As Historical: Evidence For Belief	p. 231
The Incarnational Narrative As Historical: Grounds For Belief	p. 259
Putting the Two Stories Together	p. 283
Historical Scholarship And The Layperson A Case Study	p. 302
Conclusions: Deeper Encounters With Historical Scholarship and Prospects For Apologetics	p. 321
Works Cited	p. 356
Index	p. 368
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