Jesus research is a difficult task because of the number of primary source materials and their complexities. These complexities involve problems that arise from imperfect preservation of sources, uncertain literary relationships among the documents themselves, and even less certain knowledge of their respective provenances. Jesus research inevitably involves reaching behind the extant sources, inferring from what lies before us the nature of the material upon which the evangelists drew. This volume reviews the criteria, assumptions, and methods involved in critical Jesus research. Its purpose is to clarify the procedures necessary to distinguish tradition that stems from Jesus from tradition and interpretation that stem from later tradents and evangelists, and to inquire into the various forces and situations that led to the emergence of the tradition as we have it.
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Bruce D. Chilton, Ph.D. (1976) in Biblical Studies, Cambridge University, is Professor of Hebrew Bible and New Testament at Bard College, New York. He has published numerous books and scholarly articles on Jesus and Judaism.
Craig A. Evans, Ph.D. (1983) in Biblical Studies, Claremont Graduate School, is Professor of Biblical Studies and Director of the Graduate Program at Trinity Western University and Senior Research Fellow at Roehampton Institute London. He is the author of numerous books.
All those interested in Jesus research, early Christianity, early Judaism, and Israel in the first century.