This book is a result of an academic evaluation of everything that is said about John the Baptist (JB) in the gospels (including the Gospel of Thomas) and Acts, and if any scholarly consensus exists about his work. No one has ever compiled a list of words attributed to Jesus following his death. In Jesus seminar, the sayings and parables attributed to Jesus in the first 300 years were analyzed and compared in terms of history, the culture and traditions that existed at that time. In addition to this effort, the Jesus Seminar also examined John the Baptist.
The original copies of gospels were lost and the oldest fragment of any portion of the New Testament in current existence is probably the Gospel of John dated 125 C.E., and the other three versions of canonical gospels (synoptic gospels) belongs to about 200 C.E. There are about 5,000 Greek manuscripts that contain part or all of the New Testament. No two are exactly alike since they were all copied by hand and usually from dictation. It was not until 1454 C.E., that the identical copies of Bible were reproduced in large scale.
In the development of narrative statements, a distinction was made between two different kinds of statements; action statements and status statements. The former is to do with activities and events. For example, the narrative statements about John the Baptist (JB) having baptized Jesus represent action statement. Status statements are related to the participants and the setting during baptism. Jesus Seminar voted on more than 100 different narrative statements related to JB. These statements were compiled and colored to their appropriate degrees of historical probability. Red color represents certainty, pink, a probability; gray, a possibility and black, impossibility. Existence of John the Baptist, John baptizing Jesus, the wilderness where JB met Jesus (Proposd to be around the Jordon River) is marked red (a fact of certainty). The participants at JB's baptism were Jerusalemites, Judeans, Pharisees, Sadducees, toll collectors, soldiers, tetrarch named Herod Antipas, and Herodias (wife of Herod's brother) were all marked a fact of certainty, but the seminar voted pink for the presence of Essenes at the event indicating it was not certain, but only a probability. Regarding the family history of JB, the seminar voted that JB was a son of Zechariah and Elizabeth were an improbability (not factual). The area surrounding Jordan River is where JB's ministry existed (marked red indicating a certainty in this fact), but the fact that JB was an ascetic who lived on raw honey and locusts is treated as a probable fact (pink). JB dressed in camel hair and wore a leather belt around his waist is regarded as not factual (black). JB preached and administered baptism to express repentance, his exhortations and preaching had widespread appeal. He baptized Jesus and Jesus identified JB as a great figure. Herod Antipas had JB imprisoned and he executed JB were all voted as factual (red). JB taught repentance apart from baptism, JB was related to Jesus (JB's mother Elizabeth was related to Mary), and Herodias asked for the head of JB on a platter were considered an improbability and not factual (black).
The gospel of Matthew has sixteen passages related to JB and Luke has 28 passages. The gospel of Luke and the book of Acts constitute a massive two-volume work on the origins of Christian faith. Luke narrates the ministry of Jesus Christ and the book of Acts narrates the story of the earliest church, yet there are apparent differences between the four gospels. This book makes an in-depth study of the history of scriptures. This is an excellent book that all students of New Testament must study to understand the ministry of John the Baptist.
The original copies of gospels were lost and the oldest fragment of any portion of the New Testament in current existence is probably the Gospel of John dated 125 C.E., and the other three versions of canonical gospels (synoptic gospels) belongs to about 200 C.E. There are about 5,000 Greek manuscripts that contain part or all of the New Testament. No two are exactly alike since they were all copied by hand and usually from dictation. It was not until 1454 C.E., that the identical copies of Bible were reproduced in large scale.
In the development of narrative statements, a distinction was made between two different kinds of statements; action statements and status statements. The former is to do with activities and events. For example, the narrative statements about John the Baptist (JB) having baptized Jesus represent action statement. Status statements are related to the participants and the setting during baptism. Jesus Seminar voted on more than 100 different narrative statements related to JB. These statements were compiled and colored to their appropriate degrees of historical probability. Red color represents certainty, pink, a probability; gray, a possibility and black, impossibility. Existence of John the Baptist, John baptizing Jesus, the wilderness where JB met Jesus (Proposd to be around the Jordon River) is marked red (a fact of certainty). The participants at JB's baptism were Jerusalemites, Judeans, Pharisees, Sadducees, toll collectors, soldiers, tetrarch named Herod Antipas, and Herodias (wife of Herod's brother) were all marked a fact of certainty, but the seminar voted pink for the presence of Essenes at the event indicating it was not certain, but only a probability. Regarding the family history of JB, the seminar voted that JB was a son of Zechariah and Elizabeth were an improbability (not factual). The area surrounding Jordan River is where JB's ministry existed (marked red indicating a certainty in this fact), but the fact that JB was an ascetic who lived on raw honey and locusts is treated as a probable fact (pink). JB dressed in camel hair and wore a leather belt around his waist is regarded as not factual (black). JB preached and administered baptism to express repentance, his exhortations and preaching had widespread appeal. He baptized Jesus and Jesus identified JB as a great figure. Herod Antipas had JB imprisoned and he executed JB were all voted as factual (red). JB taught repentance apart from baptism, JB was related to Jesus (JB's mother Elizabeth was related to Mary), and Herodias asked for the head of JB on a platter were considered an improbability and not factual (black).
The gospel of Matthew has sixteen passages related to JB and Luke has 28 passages. The gospel of Luke and the book of Acts constitute a massive two-volume work on the origins of Christian faith. Luke narrates the ministry of Jesus Christ and the book of Acts narrates the story of the earliest church, yet there are apparent differences between the four gospels. This book makes an in-depth study of the history of scriptures. This is an excellent book that all students of New Testament must study to understand the ministry of John the Baptist.
Reference: John the Baptist and Jesus: A Report of the Jesus Seminar by W. Barnes Tatum
No comments:
Post a Comment