Ep 88: The Historical Jesus w/John Dominic Crossan

Show Notes

Episode Summary

John Dominic Crossan is the world’s most prominent Jesus scholar. He joins me today on Holy Heretics to discuss what we can, and what we cannot, know about the life of this first century Jewish peasant. Unlike traditional theological portrayals of Jesus, which center primarily on his death and resurrection, Crossan’s scholarship focuses on the historicity of Jesus. Who was he? What evidence do we have to support his existence? Instead of asking why Jesus died, Crossan has spent decades unearthing the reasons Jesus lived.

For Crossan, Jesus was a radical social revolutionary who confronted Roman oppression and attempted to live into an alternative version of reality. His portrayal challenges conventional Christian perspectives that see Jesus primarily as a divine figure who came to die for our sins.

In books like The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant (1991), Crossan presents Jesus as a figure who opposed both Roman imperial rule and the hierarchical structures of Jewish society. He describes Jesus' movement as one of radical inclusivity and nonviolent resistance. Crossan’s work has been controversial, particularly among conservative Christians, because he downplays the supernatural aspects of Jesus’ life, including the literal resurrection. Instead, he sees the resurrection as a symbolic event representing the triumph of Jesus' teachings.

I’m delighted to share our conversation with you! If you are interested in learning more about the historical Jesus, this episode is a fantastic introduction. By challenging conventional wisdom and introducing his rigorous historical methods, Dom Crossan invites listeners to meet Jesus again for the first time.

BIO:

John Dominic Crossan is an Irish-born American theologian and former Roman Catholic priest best known for his association with the Jesus Seminar. Upon graduating from high school in Letterkenny, Ireland, in 1950, Crossan moved to Chicago, where he joined the Servites, a Roman Catholic monastic order. Ordained a priest in 1957, he returned to Ireland to study at St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, and received a doctorate in theology in 1959. He then studied at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome for two years before returning to his Servite community to teach.

In 1965 he began study at the École Biblique et Archaéologie Française de Jérusalem (French Institute of Bible and Archaeology, Jerusalem). Two years later he returned to Chicago to join the faculty of the Chicago Catholic Theological Union. In 1969 he resigned from the Servite priesthood, citing a longing for academic freedom and his intention to marry. He soon joined the faculty of religious studies at Chicago’s DePaul University, where he taught until his retirement in 1995.

Crossan continues to write and lecture today. His most insightful books include The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus’ Final Days in Jerusalem, The First Paul, God and Empire, and Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography.

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Credits

This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor. Music is by Faith in Foxholes.