The Historical Jesus (Great Courses)

faith-and-doubt

• If only the beginning were apocalyptic, we could claim that Jesus changed his mind. That wouldn't explain why Jesus' own followers were hard-core apocalypticists.

  GCHJ-RC-009

• For historians, a miracle can never be the most probable occurrence — by the very nature of the case, given the constraints of historical methods.

  GCHJ-RC-021

obedience-and-authority

• Independent sources attest that the ground for execution was that Jesus called himself the King of the Jews — a title that passes the criterion of dissimilarity.

  GCHJ-RC-041

• The high priest accused Jesus of blasphemy. Because no blasphemy was committed, it seems unlikely that the trial proceeded the way described in Mark.

  GCHJ-RC-039

mortality

• The condemned would have been nailed to the crossbeams through the wrists and possibly the ankles. A small ledge may have been attached on which the condemned could sit to rest.

  GCHJ-RC-042

• What would a Jewish apocalypticist think about the resurrection of a great man of God? This is the key question for understanding the Easter faith.

  GCHJ-RC-045