Journal: Journal of Dispensational Theology
Volume: JODT 11:32 (Mar 2007)
Article: The Historical Jesus Quests
Author: Ron J. Bigalke, Jr.

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The Historical Jesus Quests

Ron J. Bigalke Jr., Ph.D.

Director, Eternal Ministries, Inc.;

Pastor, Coastal Bible Chapel;

Associate Professor of Bible & Theology, Tyndale Theological Seminary

It has become fashionable in the past several hundred years to attack the Christian faith in an allegedly scholarly manner. Prominent universities, critics, skeptics, and scholars try to deny what the New Testament record reveals about Jesus Christ. Generally, most people will accept Jesus as a moral teacher, whose followers developed His teachings into a religion, but what they will not accept is the testimony of Christ and Holy Writ.

History of the Quests

A prominent movement in Christendom proposes that a historical Jesus was the inspiration for the Jesus of the New Testament. However, this historical Jesus is believed to be a separate person from the Christ of the Gospel accounts.1 The quest for the historical Jesus is divided into three basic quests. Nearly all of the quests can be traced back to a late 18^th century German scholar, Herman Reimarus (1694–1768). Reimarus’ work unofficially started the First Quest, which was almost entirely an exclusive product of German scholarship. The First Quest was deeply entrenched in the naturalistic mindset of the Enlightenment. For instance, the First Quest argued that miracles were not possible and since miracles did not occur, then any references to miracles should be categorized in the sphere of the “mytho-poetic.”

It was in the 19^th century that the First Quest officially began with David Strauss’ publication Das Leben Jesu (1835–1836). He believed “that the Gospels could no longer be read straightforwardly as unvarnished historical records of what Jesus actually said and did.” Strauss’ argument was that one must acknowledge the use of myth in the Gospel accounts.2 Others followed the lead of Strauss such as Joseph Ernest Renan’s Vie de Jésus (1860). It was the contention of Strauss that “unbiased historical research” needed to be done to discern truly whom Jesus of Nazareth was. Stephan Evans provided an answer as to why Strauss could no longer accept the testimony of the evangelists: “The

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quick answer is simply ‘modernity.’” In the era of the Enlightenment, intense optimism concerning man’s reason quickly led to the renunciation of the supernatural. Reports of miracles and resurrections were now to be considered as pre-scientific and mythological.