For
over three hundred years early Christians wrestled with the question of who
Jesus was. Becoming aware of their arguments is just as important as their
answers to that very important question. Amanda Witmer’s new article – Jesus was not a Christian and why it matters
– provides some very interesting insights on the subject.
“Within scholarship on Jesus, a
fundamental distinction is made between the historical Jesus and the Christ of
faith. This allows scholars to differentiate between what we can know about
Jesus’ life as a historical figure and how the early Christian community came
to view him through the lens of faith. Obviously there is overlap between the
two; the earliest followers of Jesus drew on both their encounter with the man,
Jesus and theological reflections on his life, death and resurrection.
“How clearly the line should be drawn
between the two is debated among scholars. Those who are more conservative
theologically will tend to see more continuity between Jesus of Nazareth and
the faith of the early church, while those who are theologically further to the
left may argue for a clearer discontinuity between who Jesus was and how the
early church came to see him. Nevertheless it is important to make this
distinction for several reasons.”
Read
the complete article at -- http://www.bibleinterp.com/opeds/2013/07/wit378008.shtml
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