George Caird's lecture called Jesus and the Jewish Nation served as my introduction to the Third Quest of the historical Jesus. This small lecture inspired my thesis and opened up a whole new way of reading the Gospels for me. Here is a brief quote from the lecture that captures the Third Quest's attempt to re-read the Gospels in light of their Jewishness.
Early in the history of the church the gospel broke out from its Jewish cocoon to become a universal faith. The Jewish nation was regarded as a persecuting opponent, against which the church had to defend itself; and the idea that this nation had once occupied the forefront of the gospel message, though it was never wholly forgotten, slipped into the background."
On another note, it is pretty impressive the scholars who were inspired under Caird's tutelage: N.T. Wright, Marcus Borg, L.D. Hurst, and David Moessner to name a few. One of my undergraduate professors "Roger Mohrlang" studied at Oxford while Caird was teaching. Dr. Mohrlang recently told me that Caird began and ended his lectures with definiteness often accompanied by a snort. Hmmm.
I have really enjoyed Wright
I have really enjoyed Wright lately. I will read over the PDF. Thanks for posting.
Submitted by Jesse (not verified)
on Tue, 04/14/2009 - 18:08