Historical Jesus Methodology
What is the appropriate historical method in the quest for the historical Jesus? The criteria of authenticity, which have historically served as the relevant tool, have been criticized by works such as Keith and Le Donne, eds., Jesus, Criteria, and the Demise of Authenticity (T&T Clark, 2012). The Next Quest (Keith and Crossley, eds., The Next Quest for the Historical Jesus, [Eerdmans, 2024]), continues to proclaim the end of the criteria (and yet even if subconsciously utilizing hidden criteria), while ignoring ongoing work on the criteria such as Bock and Webb, eds., Key Events in the Life of the Historical Jesus (Mohr Siebeck, 2009); Burr, Authenticating Criteria in Jesus Research and Beyond (Brill, 2023); Zolondek, The Quest for a Historical Jesus Methodology (Pickwick, 2023). If historians are to conduct historical work, a sound historical method must guide it. Concrete proposals need to be put forth on how to study history.
