Knowledge About Jesus

Sources of Knowledge about Jesus outside of the gospels * Rabbinic Judaism * A book hostile toward Jesus * Called Jesus the son of a hair dresser * Dates back to the mid to late 2nd century * Not as reliable as other sources * Apocryphal Gospels * Tries to satisfy the question of what Jesus was doing before the onset of his ministry * Second goal is to explain theological viewpoints some view as questionable * Includes books such as secret gospel of Mark, the gospel of Thomas * Focus on knowledge and enlightenment * Involves five basic principles * Ontological dualism – moral line, spirit is good and matter is bad * Refusal to attribute matter
* This is confusing to scholars * Some try to explain it away that Jesus didn’t want to be misunderstood because Jews were expecting a Military leader to defeat Rome * This misunderstanding would ultimately lead to his death if Rome thought he was out to set up a coup * Failure to recognize and understand * Parables are more than just cute stories * There is much debate over the words to describe the parables whether Jesus used parables because the people did not understand or if because he did not want them to understand * The Cross * Necessity of the Cross is a big theme in Mark * In NT times it was a symbol of horrific, gruesome, appalling capital punishment * “take up your cross and follow me”- a very disturbing statement at the time * Central part of Marks gospel * The mighty acts of Jesus * Victories over Demonic Forces * First miracle listed in Mark is an exorcism of a man outside of the synagogue * Shows that Jesus cannot be caged * Healing Miracles * Jesus heals and raises people from the