Jesus of Nazareth

Maurice Casey is Professor of New Testament Languages and Literature at the University of Nottingham, UK. He has published extensively on the Son of Man problem, and more generally on reconstructing Aramaic traditions about Jesus from the Greek Gospels.

Reviewed in Contemporary Review

• Preface Abbreviations Chapter 1. The Quest of the Historical Jesus. 1. Introduction. 2. The Nazi Period. 3. Radical Form Criticism. 4. Not the Second and Third Quests. 5. Vermes and Sanders. 6. Crossan and the American Jesus Seminar. 7. From Bad to Worse. 8. Recent Lives of Jesus. 9. Conclusions. Chapter 2. Historically Reliable Sources. 1. Introduction. 2. The Gospel According to Marcus. 3. The So-Called 'Q' Material. 4. The Gospel According to Matthew. 5. The Gospel According to Luke. 6. Conclusions. Chapter 3. Historical Method. 1. Introduction. 2. Multiple Attestation. 3. Dissimilarity, Coherence, and Embarrassment. 4. Historical Plausibility. 5. Aramaic. 6. Jewish Source Material. 7. Rewriting History, Telling Stories and Social Memory. 8. Conclusions. Chapter 4. Family, Birth, Upbringing and Cultural Background. 1. Family. 2. Birth. 3. Upbringing. 4. Galilee and the Surrounding Areas. 5. Conclusions. Chapter 5. John the Baptist, Call and Ministry. 1. Introduction. 2. The Prophetic Tradition. 3. John the Baptist.4. Jesus' Baptism and Call. 5. Jesus, John and the Length of the Historic Ministry. 6. The Call of the Twelve. 7. Women in the Historic Ministry. 8. Conclusions. Chapter 6. God. 1. Introduction. 2. Jesus' Spiritual Life. 3. The Fatherhood of God. 4. The Kingdom of God. 5. Teaching Others to Pray. 6. Conclusions. Chapter 7. Exorcism and Healing. 1. Introduction. 2. Secondary Development. 3. Healing. 4. Exorcism in the Ministry of Jesus. 5. Healing Other Illnesses. 6. The Mighty Works of a Prophet. 7. Jesus was not a Magician. 8. Conclusions. Chapter 8. Jesus' Ethical Teaching. 1. Introduction. 2. Repentance. 3. The Torah. 4. Particular Ethical Instructions. 5. Divorce and the Family. 6. The Good Samaritan. 7. Poverty and Riches. 8. Two Problems. 9. Observing Jesus' Ethical Teaching. 10. Conclusions. Chapter 9. Jesus' Conflicts with his Opponents. 1. Introduction. 2. Scribes. 3. Pharisees. 4. Orthodoxy in Second Temple Judaism. 5. Jesus' Conflicts with Scribes and Pharisees. 6. Herod Antipas. 7. Chief Priests, Elders and Scribes. 8. Division. 9. Conclusions. Chapter 10. Christological Terms. 1. Introduction. 2. Prophet. 3. Teacher. 4a. Son of Man: Introduction. 4b. Son of Man: Genuine Sayings of Jesus. 4c. Son of Man: The Translation Process. 4d. Son of Man: Daniel 7.13. 4e. Son of Man: Jesus Predicts his Death and Resurrection. 4f. Son of Man: The Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke. 5. Son of God. 6. Messiah, or Christ. 7. Conclusions. Chapter 11. Death in Jerusalem. 1. Introduction. 2. Preparing the Way. 3. Entry into Jerusalem, and the Cleansing of the Temple. 4. The Next Few Days. 5. Betrayal. 6. Jesus' Final Passover. 7. Arrest. 8. Trial and Conviction. 9. Crucifixion: A Bandit's Shameful Death. 10. A Bandit's Shameful Burial. 11. Conclusions. Chapter 12. Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? 1. Introduction. 2. Early Belief. 3. Gospel Appearances. 4. Jewish Beliefs in Resurrection. 5. The Gospel Narratives Again. 6. Visions, Appearances and Hallucinations. 7. Conclusions. Chapter 13. Conclusions. Appendix. Other Gospels. 1. Introduction. 2. The Gospel of John. 3. The Gospel of Thomas. 4. The Gospel of Judas. 5. The Gospel of Mary. 6. The Gospel of Philip. 7. The Secret Gospel of Mark. 8. Conclusions. Further Reading. Indexes.