The Historiographal Jesus

The field of historical Jesus research is a wide spectrum ranging from those who think the Gospels are like courtroom transcripts to those that think they are more like historical fictions. In my opinion, both extremes are working with the same wrongheaded philosophy of history (or "historiography").

In this book, I develop a new way to study history by rethinking the nature of human memory. Building from a recent theory called "Social Memory", I argue that the historical Jesus can be a live topic for historians as long as we think of memory in terms of "memory refraction".

This book was written in close dialogue with James Dunn and John Barclay while I was at Durham.

 

 

 

 

Praise for this book:

“I know of no other work like this in the field of historical Jesus research. The Historiographical Jesus might point the way to a whole new approach for distinguishing authentic Jesus material.”                      — Craig A. Evans, Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament,Acadia Divinity College of Acadia University (this blurb is from the back cover) “…this book is a "must" read. It is pioneering, taking seriously the study of social memory and applying it to what Le Donne thinks we can and can't say about the Jesus traditions.”   — April DeConick, Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor of Biblical Studies at Rice University (see Prof. DeConick’s full text here)

 

 

 

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Historical Jesus: A Postmodern Paradigm

In my first book, I began with human memory to reframe the historian's task.  In this book, I begin with human perception.  I discuss how sensory data from sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell are interpreted from the outset by anticipations, preconceived notions, and mental categorization.  I use these illustrations to show how historical memories are initially formed. 

I demonstrate how historians might apply my philosophy of history to Jesus by outlining three dimensions from his life: his dysfunctional family, his politics, and his final confrontation in Jerusalem.

This book is aimed at a wide audience, and would be suitable for use in an undergraduate class.  It is under contract with Eerdmans Publishing Company and due out in 2010.

The Fourth Gospel and First-Century Media Culture

Along with Dr. Tom Thatcher, I serve as co-editor of this book. We collect several essays from experts on ancient media techniques (e.g. oral performance, literacy, memory-theater) and experts of the Gospel of John.

The goals of this book are (1) to introduce Johannine specialists to an approach garnering interest in Synoptic studies—namely “media studies”—and (2) to demonstrate several ways in which the Fourth Gospel might be reconsidered from media perspectives. This book aims to show how the Fourth Gospel is a product of first-century media culture and how this gospel in turn contributed to early Christian memory, identity, and media.

This book is under contract with T & T Clark and due out later this year.

Jesus and Religion: A Platform for Jewish-Christian Dialogue

Together with Bruce Chilton and Jacob Neusner, I serve as co-editor of this book. We collect essays about the historical Jesus from both Jewish and Christian scholars.

In the long, regrettable history between Christians and Jews, Jesus’ name has been wielded as a divisive force.  Christianity’s veneration of Jesus has often coincided with an intentional forgetting of Jesus historical and deeply Jewish identity.  However, the past forty years of historical Jesus research has helpfully reemphasized Jesus, first and foremost, as a Jew.  Now more than ever, we see Jesus situated in the religion and culture of his birth, in conversation, and debate with fellow Jews.

 

This collection of essays will serve as a platform for Jewish-Christian colloquy that is both attentive to recent historical Jesus research and sensitive to the history of Christian-Jewish relations. With this in mind, the contributors to this volume will represent both Christian and Jewish perspectives.  Without skirting key differences, the scholars involved with this project will acknowledge that the historical Jesus represents something of a junction between the two religions.  All involved will endeavor to make Jesus intelligible in the context of first century Judaism(s).  Our hope is that by illuminating the Jesus of history we will be able to suggest talking points for contemporary inter-religious discourse.

The publisher for this book has not been determined. However, we hope to see it out in the Fall of 2011.

Violence and the Bible: Complex Militancy and Metaphor in a Complex World

I am presently writing this book alongside Joel Lohr and Rob Barrett (both Hebrew Bible scholars).

There is no greater problem for theological ethics than the role of violence in the Bible. While this topic continues to attract enormous interest from scholars of the Hebrew Bible, there have been few attempts to observe the canonical evolution of its function. Our book will meet this need. 

While all chapters will be written collaboratively, I am responsible for the initial writing of 5 of the 13 chapters.  The titles of my chapters are as follows: (VI) David: The Lord’s last warrior, (VII) Violent Metaphors in Apocalyptic and Wisdom Literature, (X) Jesus as Non-violent Assailant, (XI) The Day of Visitation in the Teaching of Jesus, (XIII) Violence as Metaphor in John’s Apocalypse.

The publisher for this book has not been determined.