Dia: 6 de julho de 2014

A pesquisa atual sobre o Jesus Histórico

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Recomendo outro artigo em The Bible and Interpretation, publicado em junho de 2014, e que pode ser útil para os interessados na questão do Jesus Histórico. O autor lista, em 8 itens, características fundamentais da pesquisa sobre o Jesus Histórico nos últimos vinte anos.

De Mark Allan Powell: Historical Jesus Studies Today: An Update

Ele explica o que é a pesquisa sobre o Jesus Histórico assim:

“For those who might not be familiar with this field of inquiry, historical Jesus studies is a science that attempts to determine what can be known of Jesus on the basis of historical research alone, that is through the analysis of data pertaining to Jesus in accord with the same standards that would be employed when analyzing data pertaining to any other figure from antiquity. Such analysis is supposed to be free of religious (or anti-religious) bias, and scholars engaged in the field call each other to task when they suspect that one’s conclusions have been influenced by personal predilection. The scholars frequently maintain that they are not trying to discover what might be true of Jesus, but what is verifiable. Thus, if (as a Christian) you want to believe Jesus was born to a virgin, that’s fine, but (as a historian) you must recognize that this is not verifiable–at least, not in accord with any criteria that are normally employed for historical research. So where are we now? I will list eight developments that have marked the last twenty years of research–and, then, I will mention three ‘peripheral currents’ that might be of interest to purveyors of this website”.

Não deixe de verificar também o importante livro de Mark Allan Powell sobre o tema:

POWELL, M. A. Jesus as a Figure in History: How Modern Historians View the Man from Galilee. 2. ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013, 288 p. – ISBN 9780664234478.

Davi, rei de Judá, mas não de Israel

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David, King of Judah (Not Israel)

Artigo de Jacob L. Wright, publicado em The Bible and Interpretation, em julho de 2014, que diz:

The traditions claiming that David ruled over a “united kingdom” of Israel and Judah emerged much later. If I am right on this point, the most popular legends about David are the creation of generations who lived long after him. David’s slaying of Goliath, his exploits in the court of Saul, his relationship to Jonathan and Michal, his fate as a fugitive, his military triumphs abroad, his affair with Bathsheba, his civil war with Absalom, his succession by Solomon – all these colorfully depicted episodes were created by later generations of writers.

Do mesmo autor, confira o livro:

WRIGHT, J. L. David, King of Israel, and Caleb in Biblical Memory. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014, 284 p. – ISBN 9781107672635. Versão para Kindle, aqui (E: baixe uma amostra grátis do livro).

Do livro, diz a editora:
Of all the Bible’s personalities, David is the most profoundly human. Courageous, cunning, and complex, he lives life to the hilt. Whatever he does, he does with all his might, exuding both vitality and vulnerability. No wonder it has been said that Israel revered Moses yet loved David. But what do we now know about the historical David? Why does his story stand at the center of the Bible? Why didn’t the biblical authors present him in a more favorable light? And what is the special connection between him and Caleb – the Judahite hero remembered for his valor during the wars of conquest? In this groundbreaking study, Jacob L. Wright addresses all these questions and presents a new way of reading the biblical accounts. His work compares the function of these accounts to the role war memorials play over time. The result is a rich study that treats themes of national identity, statehood, the exercise of power, and the human condition.

 

E veja também resenhas e apreciações bastante entusiasmadas sobre o livro: Jacob Wright’s Book is Getting Rave Reviews From a Wide Range of Scholarly Perspectives. Foi o que anotou Jim West em seu blog em 24 de março de 2014. Ou confira aqui, na página da editora.

Quem é Jacob L. Wright?
Dr. Jacob L. Wright is a professor of Hebrew Bible / Old Testament at Emory University, which boasts one of the world’s leading doctoral programs in biblical studies. Before coming to Emory, he taught at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. As an American with a European education, he is widely known for his ability to blend a wide range of historical, religious, and geographical perspectives on the Bible. His writing and teaching are thoroughly interdisciplinary, demonstrating how the ideas of the Bible and other ancient writings bear directly on central problems that face our societies in modern times. He brings to his work first-hand acquaintance with archeological finds and primary sources from ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece.