God of Jesus: The Historical Jesus and the Search for Meaning [Paperback]

Stephen J. Patterson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1998

This book's title conveys its general premise, that is, that the quest for the historical Jesus has always been closely related to the Christian search for God. The author says that this is both good and necessary, provided that one properly understands the relationship between history and theology ("the Jesus of history" and "the Christ of faith") and does not confuse the two. An opening chapter explains the history of the quest for the historical Jesus and how it has always been related to the search for God. It also proposes a scheme for understanding the relationship between history and theology. The remaining chapters focus on various aspects of Jesus' life and teachings, related in large measure to the work of the Jesus Seminar. Patterson also develops a theology that might properly be called a "Jesus theology," and it is here that his input to the discussions of and about Jesus makes its most distinctive contribution. The accessible style of writing in the book makes it useful for lay study groups. It is also suitable for college and seminary classrooms as a beginning book on the historical Jesus. Stephen J. Patterson is Associate Professor of New Testament at Eden Theological Seminary and author of The Gospel of Thomas and Jesus.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

One thing seems to be missing from much of the written output of recent historical Jesus scholarship. Patterson (New Testament, Eden Theological Seminary) proposes to answer the question "So what?" by moving from the academy to the church, from scholarship to meaning. However, what he does mostly is present "a summary of scholarship ground out over several years by others," a large part of it the findings of the Jesus Seminar, of which he is a member. Patterson repeats what has been said many times before: first, that the canonical Gospels are not historically accurate or trustworthy, and second, that the Jesus portrayed in the Gospels is in reality the Jesus the young, growing, and struggling church of the second half of the first century needed to hear about. Unfortunately, on the issue of whether the Gospels are in any sense biographies, he ignores the work of Richard Burridge (What Are the Gospels?, Cambridge Univ., 1995). Left with a tendentious source of data, Patterson's reconstructions of the sayings and deeds of Jesus are based upon "likelihood" and "possibility." This work is a readable synthesis of liberal historical Jesus research but not the answer to "So what?"?Craig W. Beard, Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham Lib.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"When Jesus was born, Augustus was Son of God. When Jesus was executed, Tiberius was Son of God. And the Kingdom of their God bestrode the Mediterranean like a colossus. But Jesus proclaimed the different Kingdom of a different God, and Christians proclaimed him as the different Son of that different God. Stephen Patterson's powerful book brilliantly explores that difference, that question of divine character, that question about The God of Jesus. Its strong, serene, and irenic tone compels us to recall the time when "Jesus Is Lord" was a statement of high treason. If it is such no longer, it asks forcibly, what exactly has changed?" —John Dominic Crossan (John Dominic Crossan )

"This work should not be consigned to the theologians exclusively. Persons knowledgeable of the Holy Scriptures should give careful consideration to this work as a means of understanding the Historical Jesus and the Christ of History. Adult classes would do well to select this as a text for special weekly study beyond the Sunday School lesson. A truly valuable work!" —Raymond B. Knudsen, Editor, The Counselor, June 7, 1998 (Raymond B. Knudsen Counselor, The )

"Patterson's liberal theological stance and the minimalist historical results of the Jesus Seminar are coordinated with grace and wisdom in this book." — Edgar V. McKnight, Furman University, SC (Interpretation, Jan 99) (Edgar V. McKnight, Furman University, SC Interpretation )

"This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to see the relevance of current Jesus research for theology. The running commentary on the Jesus Seminar alone is work the book's price." —Fred W. Burnett, Anderson University, reviewing for Religious Studies Review, October 1999 (Fred W. Burnett Religious Studies Review )

"In this book, Steve Patterson brings together the two worlds in which he lives: the academy and the church. With great clarity and informative content, he combines the insights of contemporary Jesus scholarship with the perspective of a seminary professor committed to the life of the church." — Marcus J. Borg (Marcus J. Borg )

"Very well written in a style that is clear and accessible to non-professional readers."—Thomas E. Hosinski, Encounter. (Thomas E. Hosinski )

"When Jesus was born, Augustus was Son of God. When Jesus was executed, Tiberius was Son of God. And the Kingdom of their God bestrode the Mediterranean like a colossus. But Jesus proclaimed the different Kingdom of a different God, and Christians proclaimed him as the different Son of that different God. Stephen Patterson's powerful book brilliantly explores that difference, that question of divine character, that question about The God of Jesus. Its strong, serene, and irenic tone compels us to recall the time when "Jesus Is Lord" was a statement of high treason. If it is such no longer, it asks forcibly, what exactly has changed?" —John Dominic Crossan (, )

"This work should not be consigned to the theologians exclusively. Persons knowledgeable of the Holy Scriptures should give careful consideration to this work as a means of understanding the Historical Jesus and the Christ of History. Adult classes would do well to select this as a text for special weekly study beyond the Sunday School lesson. A truly valuable work!" —Raymond B. Knudsen, Editor, The Counselor, June 7, 1998 (, Counselor, The )

"Patterson's liberal theological stance and the minimalist historical results of the Jesus Seminar are coordinated with grace and wisdom in this book." — Edgar V. McKnight, Furman University, SC (Interpretation, Jan 99) (, Interpretation )

"This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to see the relevance of current Jesus research for theology. The running commentary on the Jesus Seminar alone is work the book's price." —Fred W. Burnett, Anderson University, reviewing for Religious Studies Review, October 1999 (, Religious Studies Review )

"In this book, Steve Patterson brings together the two worlds in which he lives: the academy and the church. With great clarity and informative content, he combines the insights of contemporary Jesus scholarship with the perspective of a seminary professor committed to the life of the church." — Marcus J. Borg (, )

"Very well written in a style that is clear and accessible to non-professional readers."—Thomas E. Hosinski, Encounter. (, )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Trinity Press Int'l (April 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563382288
• ISBN-13: 978-1563382284
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #281,011 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From History to Practical Theology, August 1, 2000

By 

Mark Rutledge "Campus Minister" (Durham, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: God of Jesus: The Historical Jesus and the Search for Meaning (Paperback)

This book enriches and expands my appreciation for the work of the Jesus Seminar. The Seminar has now completed its 15-year historical research project and published their findings-a current scholarly consensus on the "more likely" authentic words and deeds of Jesus. From this "database" individual scholars continue to reconstruct a variety of creative and compelling sketches of their glimpses of the "historical" Jesus. But what does all of this have to do with the way we understand ourselves, God, and the meaning of human existence? History is not theology. And what do either have to do with our actual lives here and now? Stephen Patterson, a member of the Seminar and Associate Professor of New Testament at Eden Theological Seminary, explores the implications of historical Jesus research both for theology and for our life and faith. In the process, and in one of the book's major contributions, he also proposes a method for how history and theology can be related without one masquerading as the other. Patterson describes the 200-year history of the quest for the historical Jesus and shows how it has always been related to the search for God. With John Dominic Crossan, Robert Funk, and Marcus Borg, he explores what Jesus meant in the 1st Century and what he means today, but his consistent focus is always on how Jesus experienced and understood God. "What sort of God would one believe in if this God were to be seen in the words and deeds of Jesus?" To this question he develops both a "theology of Jesus" and an "existential Christology." The Gospel of Jesus is the unbrokered Empire of God (an Empire as God would run it, a political metaphor which the Romans would have heard as seditious) which offers the means of life freely to all and welcomes marginalized people fully into the human community. What makes it "of God?" There is no "objective" answer to this question. As a Jew, Jesus believed in God as a basic reality running through all of life whose character is love, and his parables imaginatively expressed that way of seeing things and invited others into it. Some who knew Jesus were moved to say that in his company and at his tables they had come to know this God in a deeper and more authentic way. They then took the risk of faith to live according to this new vision. Thus, Patterson presents an "existential Christology," the decision to see in Jesus the deepest of all truths about human existence, the truth that is God, and accept the challenge that follows: what am I do in the service of Jesus? Now, as then, Christian faith involves risk, decision, and the test of action. It is "trust in the God we have come to know in the life of Jesus of Nazareth." This existential understanding of the structure of the Christian faith is paralleled in Patterson's discernment of the limits of historical work. Historical scholarship can be a reality check against speculative fantasy, but it cannot be an objective starting point for faith. History always involves imaginative reconstruction. Patterson develops a "subjective," pragmatic, communal, and interactive approach to historical theological method that will not please either fundamentalists who seek essentialist, objective, Divine "truth" in biblical texts or traditionalists who would anchor faith in the christology of the early church and/or in church tradition. His method for doing theological reflection based on historical research involves two steps: 1) "establish as much as possible the significant experiences people had of Jesus;" and 2) "examine the words and deeds of Jesus for their theological content." For Patterson, "the words and deeds of Jesus do not necessarily mean anything in themselves." Their meaning must be ventured in the imagination and tested in living. The historian speaks of rules of evidence and probable facts, and the believer uses imagination to "see and experience more than is purely self evident, beyond the rim of facts that encircles one." In Patterson, historian and believer become one; imagination is a means of doing history and of knowing God. Both history and theology remain delicately related as human acts of creative, imaginative construction.

Reviewed by Mark Rutledge United Church of Christ/Presbyterian Campus Minister at Duke University and Associate Member of the Jesus Seminar

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars sensitivity and conscience, February 15, 2000

By 

Ronald "Ron D." (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: God of Jesus: The Historical Jesus and the Search for Meaning (Paperback)

I have read many books on the historical Jesus, but none that impacted me more profoundly. Dr. Patterson writes with sensitivity and conscience. He explains how his own search for God compels him to pursue the historical Jesus. His chapter entitled, "Is It a Sin to be Liberal," reveals the prejudice and anger one encounters when they engage the search for Jesus of Nazareth. Stephen Patterson emerges from this book as a committed Christian. His exploration of the historical Jesus shows the social conscience of our Jesus and challenges the thoughtful reader to ask, "what am I doing to bring Jesus' dream alive in our world today." I am very thankful that Dr. Patterson took the time to share his personal quest for God.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One terrific book, November 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: God of Jesus: The Historical Jesus and the Search for Meaning (Paperback)

This is a superb book. Patterson, more than most, integrates the quest for the Jesus of history and the quest for God. I have learned much from Borg and Crossan and all the others, but Patterson pulls it all together with his own scholarship and love of the subject. His treatment of the parables and his discussion of the "Empire oF God" were especially helpful to me. Too often this subject is too academic, perhaps necessarily so, but Patterson steers us always to the important spiritual and faith questions.