The Blackwell Companion to Jesus

By any standard –– religious and secular alike –– Jesus has been one of the most dominant figures of Western culture for 2,000 years. The Blackwell Companion to Jesus spans the centuries to explore the diverse ways in which Jesus of Nazareth has been imagined or portrayed from the beginnings of Christianity to the present day. Through a comprehensive series of essays reflecting the most recent scholarship, the volume considers the myriad images of Jesus that have arisen throughout history, offering an objective assessment of how and why these portrayals have been meaningful for those who embraced them. In doing so, it illuminates the diverse ways Jesus has been perceived through history –– whether as an ideal to aspire to, or as an instrument of oppression. Individual essays fall under broad parameters such as portrayals of Jesus in the New Testament, beyond the New Testament, and Jesus in non–Christian religions. Other essays explore such themes as the philosophical and historic perspectives of Jesus, modern manifestations, and topics such as Jesus in art, fiction, and film. This broad coverage and multi–faith perspective ensures that The Blackwell Companion to Jesus offers rich and rewarding insights which shape our understanding of this influential figure and his enduring legacy.

List of Figures viii Notes on Contributors ix Acknowledgments xv Images of Jesus: An Overview 1 Delbert Burkett Part I Jesus in the New Testament 11 1 Mark’s Portrait of Jesus 13 William R. Telford 2 Who Do You Say That I Am? A Matthean Response 30 Elaine M. Wainwright 3 Jesus in Luke–Acts 47 Delbert Burkett 4 John’s Portrait of Jesus 64 Mary L. Coloe 5 Jesus in Q 81 Christopher Tuckett 6 Paul, Jesus, and Christ 94 Edward Adams 7 Jesus in the General Epistles 111 Harold W. Attridge 8 Jesus in the Apocalypse 119 Ian Boxall 9 Constructing Images of Jesus from the Hebrew Bible 127 Warren Carter Part II Jesus Beyond the New Testament 143 10 Ancient Apocryphal Portraits of Jesus 145 J. K. Elliott 11 Gnostic Portraits of Jesus 160 Majella Franzmann 12 The Christ of the Creeds 176 Khaled Anatolios 13 Jesus in Atonement Theories 193 Stephen Finlan Part III Jesus in World Religions 213 14 Jewish Perspectives on Jesus 215 Michael J. Cook 15 Islamic Perspectives on Jesus 232 Reem A. Meshal and M. Reza Pirbhai 16 Hindu Perspectives on Jesus 250 Sandy Bharat 17 Buddhist Perspectives on Jesus 267 Peggy Morgan Part IV Philosophical and Historical Perspectives on Jesus 283 18 Skeptical Perspectives on Jesus’ Resurrection 285 Michael Martin 19 The Quest for the Historical Jesus: An Overview 301 David B. Gowler 20 The “Jesus” of the Jesus Seminar 319 Robert J. Miller 21 The Quest for the Historical Jesus: An Appraisal 337 Helen K. Bond Part V Modern Manifestations of Jesus 355 22 Modern Western Christology 357 John P. Galvin 23 Christology in Africa, Asia, and Latin America 375 Veli–Matti Kärkkäinen 24 Jesus in American Culture 394 Paul Harvey 25 The Black Christ 410 Kelly Brown Douglas with Delbert Burkett 26 Feminist Christologies 427 Lisa Isherwood 27 The “Gay” Jesus 443 Theodore W. Jennings Jr. 28 Modern Mystifi cations of Jesus 458 Per Beskow Part VI Jesus in Art, Fiction, and Film 475 29 Jesus in Christian Art 477 Robin M. Jensen 30 Jesus Novels: Solving Problems with Fiction 504 Zeba A. Crook 31 Jesus in Film 519 Adele Reinhartz Index 532

Delbert Burkett is Professor of Religious Studies at Louisiana State University. He is the author of The Son of Man Debate: A History and Evaluation (1999), An Introduction to the New Testament and Origins of Christianity (2002), and Rethinking the Gospel Sources: From Proto–Mark to Mark (2004).

“This Companion will be a necessary part of any serious theological library. The essays are consistently strong and present invaluable orientations to their assigned topic. The real success of this book lies in bringing together perspectives on Jesus from so many sources of attention: texts, culture, history, various theologies, worldwide Christianity, world religions and media. Strongly recommended.” ( Journal for the Study of The New Testament , 2012) “This is another excellent contribution to religious scholarship by Wiley–Blackwell. Chapters are scholarly but readable for the more general enquirer and some have illustrations, an unusual feature for this series of books. This volume is highly recommended for any library that has strong religious collections, whether Christian or not, and should endure for some years as a standard work in the field.” ( Reference Reviews , 2011) “No collection of essays better represents the remarkable diversity in the approaches to the elusive Jesus of Nazareth ... Recommended: upper–level undergraduates and above.” ( Choice , 1 May 2011) “Burkett has assembled an extraordinary collection of essays that invites a wide readership.” ( Books News , 2011) “An imaginative collection of essays ... No fewer than 32 authors … have been recruited to write essays, all about 15 pages in length, and there is hardly any overlap among them, even in dealing with basic New Testament texts. The editor, Delburt Burkett, is to be commended.” ( The Journal of Theological Studies , 2011)