Rejoice always--David Scholer

There is a great article in the LA Times on professor David Scholer of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. It's encouraging to see God's faithfulness in how this man has faced hardship and his struggle with cancer, and how he has been strengthened to continue teaching and rejoicing in life.

Notes on "Jesus" by Flusser, Chapter 1

Flusser begins "Jesus" with comments on the sources. His goal is to "write the story of Jesus' life (pg. 18)", and to "simply server as a mouthpiece for Jesus' message today (pg 16)". Key points of chapter 1 include:

• The only important Christian sources are the Gospels.
• The three Synoptics (Matthew, Mark, Luke) are based upon common historical material
• The fourth, John, is primarily theological in nature.
  
• The most genuine sources of a charismatic personality are their own utterances and the accounts of the faithful--read critically of course. Outside references serve as a control.
• Without much detail, Flusser states that "the early Christian accounts about Jesus are not as untrustworthy as people today often think (pg 20)".
• The only Gospel that teaches a post-Easter Christology is John's.
• In the early church, for Jewish Christianity, Jesus' role as miracle-worker, teacher, prophet and Messiah was more important than the risen Lord of the kerygma.
• He dates the Gospels to around 70AD, which luckily was after the "dynamic creativity" of Pauline congregations had died down.
• He concludes that with an unbiased mind, the synoptic Gospels are seen as more focused on Christian platitudes rather than kerygmatic statements.
• A intimate few of first century Judaism is vital to understanding Jesus. In light of this Jewish background, the Synoptic Gospels preserve a picture of Jesus which is more reliable than is generally acknowledged.
• Based on R. L. Lindsey's work, Flusser feels Luke preserves a more original tradition than Mark, and when combined with Matthew provides a more authentic view of Jesus (pg 21,22).
• In a foot note, Flusser thinks that Jesus' crucifixion quote of Psalm 22 is a creative invention by Mark. More in a later chapter.
• Flusser has "no axe to grind", and "seeks to present Jesus directly to the reader".

Return to "Jesus" by Flusser

I recently realized I had never finished David Flusser's book, Jesus, and have returned to read it in depth. Flusser was an Orthodox Jew who lived in Israel and was an expert in Jesus and nascent Christianity. He was a founding member of the Jerusalem School of Synpotic Research. His book, Jesus, 2001, searches for the historical Jesus and "reflects the truism that Jesus was a Jew and wanted to remain within the Jewish faith but argues that, without the long preparatory work of contemporaneous Jewish faith, the teaching of Jesus would be unthinkable (Preface, Jesus)."

My goal is to take notes on this book and reflect on its conclusions. I lack the skills to read this critically and will approach the book as a novice student. I am particularly interested in Flusser's view of Jesus since as he says, "[I am] a practicing Jew and not a Christian, I am independent of any church. I readily admit, however, that I personal identify myself with Jesus' Weltanschauung, both moral and political, and I believe that the content of his teachings and the approach he embraced have always had the potential to change our world and prevent the greatest part of evil and suffering."