Rob Kashow asked if I would put together a short reading list on the historical Jesus, and so here it is. I realize that what constitutes a “short” list is arbitrary, and so I’ve highlighted the must-read volumes. I’d be very interested in seeing how others might compile such lists, since I’m bound to leave out some favorite works. Many of these books I read in the context of a directed studies course on the historical Jesus, and so this list has also been influenced by that. Keep in mind that these are all English language sources and the publication date is usually the edition I have in front of me, and not when the book was originally published or translated.
First Quest
- Albert Schweitzer, The Quest for the Historical Jesus (ed. J. Bowden; trans. W. Montgomery, J. R. Coates, S. Cupitt, and J. Bowden; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001).
- Charles H. Talbert (ed.), Reimarus: Fragments (trans. R. S. Fraser; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1970).
- David Friedrich Strauss, The Life of Jesus, Critically Examined (2 vols.; trans. Marian Evans; New York: Calvin Blanchard, 1860).
- William Wrede, The Messianic Secret (trans. J. C. G. Greig; Cambridge: J. Clarke, 1971).
- Martin Kähler, So-Called Historical Jesus and the Historic-Biblical Christ (trans. and ed. Carl E. Braaten; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988)
- Rudolf Bultmann, Jesus and the Word (trans. L. P. Smith and E. H. Lanterno; New York: Scribners, 1958).
Second Quest
- Ernst Käsemann, “The Problem of the Historical Jesus,” in Essays on New Testament Themes (SBT 41; Naperville, IL: Alec R. Allenson, 1964), 15-47.
- Ernst Käsemann, “Blind Alleys in the ‘Jesus of History’ Controversy,” in New Testament Questions of Today (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1969), 23-65.
- Günther Bornkamm, Jesus of Nazareth (trans. I. McLuskey, F. McLuskey, and J. M. Robinson; New York: Harper & Row, 1960).
- James M. Robinson, A New Quest of the Historical Jesus and Other Essays (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1983).
Third Quest
- Geza Vermes, Jesus the Jew: A Historian’s Reading of the Gospels (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1981).
- E. P. Sanders, Jesus and Judaism (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985).
- John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant (HarperSanFrancisco, 1991).
- N. T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God (COQG 2; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1997).
- Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006).
Miscellaneous Books on Jesus Scholarship
- John H. Hayes, Son of God to Super Star: Twentieth-century Interpretations of Jesus (Nashville: Abingdon, 1976).
- Mark Allan Powell, Jesus As a Figure in History: How Modern Historians View the Man from Galilee (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1998).
- Amy-Jill Levine, Dale C. Allison Jr., and John Dominic Crossan (eds.), The Historical Jesus in Context (Princeton: Princeton University, 2006).
- Craig A. Evans (ed.), Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus (New York: Routeledge, 2008).
In general, I had a harder time with Third Quest scholarship because I see that as a much broader endeavor than the First and Second Quest. Also, some significant books didn’t make the cut because of space constraints. Therefore, scholars like Jeremias, Perrin, Dahl, and (more recently) Meier weren’t included, but that does not mean I don’t read or refer to their works often.
What did I forget? What books on the Historical Jesus is on your “short” list?
Nice list, Brandon! Other than those you have already listed, I would include Meier’s Marginal Jew series and Jimmy Dunn’s Jesus Rememebered. But I understand why you didn’t.
Also, I wonder about the placement of Schweitzer. On the one hand, he lived when the first quest thrived. On the other hand, his work seems (at least to me) to fit more closely with the (albeit amorphous) third quest as one who was untimely born. What do you think?
Dunn is certainly one of my favorites in the field, but I’ve only read bits and pieces of Jesus Remembered, or else I might have certainly included it. I don’t ever plan on reading all of the volumes in Meier’s Marginal Jew series cover to cover (apologies to Loren Rosson), but I do use them as reference works quite a bit.
About Schweitzer. He does look like a third quester in many regards (apocalyptic Jesus; emphasis on the Jewish background), but I’ve included him in the first quest since he wrote in 1906, and the bulk of his book deals with the history of first-quest scholarship. But, of course, these are loose categories and the product of recent scholarship. I definitely agree with your comment that he was untimely born. In fact, I may change the name of this blog to the “Albert Schweitzer Blog” because it seems that all my recent posts discuss his work. ;-)
Dunn’s JR is pretty impressive. IMO, his work on orality approaches the value of the price of the book. For me, orality serves as the equipoise to keep me from going crazy with Q.
You should definitely keep your blog named, “Sitz im Leben.” It’s a way cooler name.
Thanks for this Brandon, this will be a helpful resource for me and others when beginning the quest.
How specifically are you using the each degree of quest?
The categories are fairly broad. Realistically Kähler and Bultmann don’t fit in the first category, which is why there’s a horizontal line before them. They didn’t really like the idea of searching for a historical Jesus.
Also, I don’t really see Bauckham as a third quester, or at least a typical one, but I didn’t really have another category to use. So the categories are pretty loose.
Brandon:
I have really enjoyed your blog since you started it back up. Under the Third Quest list I think that Ben F. Meyer’s “The Aims of Jesus” should be included.
Peace,
Drew
Drew, nice inclusion! I’d want Meyer also.
Drew, thanks for the comment. I’ve been following your blog via RSS and look forward to reading more of your posts, but I can’t passed your pretentious use of German for your blog title! ;-)
I appreciate the suggestion for Ben Meyer’s book, but alas I haven’t read it and so I’ll have to take a look at it.
I would perhaps add Johannes Weiss’ “Jesus’ Proclamation of the Kingdom of God,” one of the foundational texts in the debate about eschatology and the historical Jesus.
Thanks for stopping by, Eric. That’s a good suggestion and I almost included it. Maybe I should have.
Has someone mentioned the new ‘SEEKING THE IDENTITY OF JESUS’, edited by Richard Hays and Beverly Gaventa. Though it is not in the traditional quest for the HJ, it certainly deals directly with it; Dale Allison’s essays are fabulous; Sarah Coakley’s is also very informative and critically engaging (esp on Bultmann v. Kasemann). I think this book could be included under a category like ‘post-questers’ or something (though Allison is not again the QHJ per se (as others in the book are).
I do remember seeing that book, Nijay, but I forgot all about it. The table of contents looks very promising!
I would include Dale Allison, The Historical Christ and Theological Jesus, its quite critical of the quest(s) and goes about explaining its limitations but does put forth some constructive pointers.
Great suggestion!
If you’re looking for influential works, I think you need to include Ernest Renan, The LIfe of Jesus. I would also include Chancey, The Myth of a Gentile Galilee. Recently, Wayne Meeks has produced some very interesting work in his Christ is the Question.
Thanks, Matt. I was trying to keep the list short and so I didn’t include Renan. I’ve read his work and even translated some of it for French class, but quite frankly it didn’t make the cut. If I was including more of the first questers, Renan would definitely be included.
I’ll have to take a look at Chancey and Meeks’s recent stuff! Thanks a ton for the suggestions.
A good list, although in the end I don’t go for the periodisation of the quest. I’m with those who would add Meier to the list as by far the most comprehensive. I would also put something by Allison on the list – either Resurrecting Jesus or Jesus of Nazareth Millenarian Prophet. One undervalued book (as far as my memory goes) which blurs the second / third quest was A E Harvey’s 1980 Bampton lectures Jesus and the Constraints of History..
And a good question: if you could read just one book, which would it be? My vote goes to Sanders.
Doug, thanks for bringing up Harvey’s book, which definitely gets at the problem of history! If If I had to pick just one book, I might settle on Schweitzer, although of course it misses out on 100+ years of scholarship. Otherwise Sanders is also an excellent choice.
Doug asked, “If you could read just one book, which would it be?” Hard to answer. For me, it would have to be Schweitzer for lyrical prose, Meier for resource value, and Allison for nailing Jesus down as good as humanly possible.
Loren, that’s cheating. Good response nonetheless.
It seems like other people have thrown in suggestions, so I will put mine in. An often overlooked volume is David Flusser’s Jesus, now the Sage from Galilee (Eerdmans, 2008).
Flusser is a good suggestion and generally underrepresented. Thanks Jeff.
This is a great list… it brought back many fond memories of my Historical Jesus course at YDS. :-) A few folks have mentioned Renan’s Life of Jesus, which I think should be grouped among the most prominent texts of the First Quest both because of its contents and the fact that it represents one of the first (if not the first) substantial Roman Catholic contributions to the field. As much as I love Sanders (and if I had to answer Doug’s question and pick just one book, it would be Jesus and Judaism), I don’t think you can adequately consider the Third Quest without the combined works of Meier.
Among other relatively recent books, I enjoyed Sean Freyne’s Jesus: A Jewish Galilean (paperback 2004).
Pretty good list. I especially second the Reimarus reading. Very important for understanding the beginnings of critical scholarship.