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Jesus (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
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- Nominator(s): FutureTrillionaire (talk) 17:13, 3 July 2013 (UTC)
Reviewers: Please read this article's FAQ before reading the article. If you disagree with anything in the FAQ, please voice your concern at the article's talk page, not here.
This article became a good article in early May, and also received a copy edit from the WP:GOCE later that month. After much work, I believe this article is ready for FAC.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 17:13, 3 July 2013 (UTC)
Comments
- Welcome to FAC. I see User:JimWae has the most edits to the article; has he been notified? - Dank (push to talk) 17:23, 3 July 2013 (UTC)
- I made 740 edits (3rd place) to the article. Does that not make me a "significant contributor"? Anyways, I've just sent him a message.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 17:31, 3 July 2013 (UTC)
- Sure ... but someone with 915 edits to this article might want to know it's at FAC; they won't necessarily be watchlisting it all the time. - Dank (push to talk) 20:32, 3 July 2013 (UTC)
- I made 740 edits (3rd place) to the article. Does that not make me a "significant contributor"? Anyways, I've just sent him a message.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 17:31, 3 July 2013 (UTC)
Appearance
- Language, ethnicity and appearance section: For appearance, you basically state that there is no proof of what Jesus looked like, which is totally fair. But there is general consensus out there of what a man living at that time in that place would probably look like. Can you include a sentence or two that covers what the experts believe is a best guess as to what Jesus probably looked like? That section left me wanting to know. upstateNYer 02:59, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
- Done. I added some brief info. Scholars agree that Jesus likely looked like a typical Jew, and had a tough appearance due to his work and travels.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 04:09, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
- I'm looking more for what a typical Jew looked like. Everybody reading that will think of how they see the typical Jew. The typical Jew of 2000 years ago, though, didn't look like today's Jew I'm sure. upstateNYer 17:31, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
- I'm just wondering whether this might be heading for too much speculation. The ideas that Jesus probably looked like the typical Jew and was probably sinewy are already just speculations based on his ethnicity and lifestyle. To define the "typical Jew of 2000 years ago" would be another round of speculation, wouldn't it? Isn't this going to end up as speculation-squared? That and the fraught issue of ethnic stereotyping. --Stfg (talk) 17:56, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
- I'm looking more for what a typical Jew looked like. Everybody reading that will think of how they see the typical Jew. The typical Jew of 2000 years ago, though, didn't look like today's Jew I'm sure. upstateNYer 17:31, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
- A scholarly attempt was made here, which is probably worth citing. --99of9 (talk) 19:59, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
- That's interesting, but the depiction is that of an average 1st-century Jew, not specifically Jesus.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 20:07, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
- I agree with Stfg. Too much speculation. Could you imagine how would it be if in 2,000 years someone said that the average American looked like Barack Obama, or Bill Clinton? --Lecen (talk) 21:09, 12 July 2013 (UTC)
- That's interesting, but the depiction is that of an average 1st-century Jew, not specifically Jesus.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 20:07, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
- Done. I added some brief info. Scholars agree that Jesus likely looked like a typical Jew, and had a tough appearance due to his work and travels.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 04:09, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
- Agree. Don't let's use that Discovery Channel-style story from Popular Mechanics! Johnbod (talk) 12:13, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
Comments from Hamiltonstone
SupportComment. Very interesting, looks promising. My support is qualified by this not being my field and it certainly is a subject that begets an enormous literature. I am trusting that the literature is fairly represented.
Last para on chronology: "Astronomers since Isaac Newton have tried to estimate..." There is no explanation of why on earth astronomy would be relevant, leaving this reader confused. How does astronomy enter the picture? How are they coming up with specific actual dates? This jars with the clarity of preceding material that sets out reasons for estimates of years etc. hamiltonstone (talk) 00:08, 8 July 2013 (UTC)- Thanks for pointing that out. I've expanded that sentence and added a footnote. Is it better now?--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 00:52, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
The article is structured by separating the new testament account from all other accounts or historical views, and I am not quite sure about the justification for the separation of Josephus and Tacitus from what are essentially other sources of the same approximate date (the new testament documents). Can an editor clarify why this is? hamiltonstone (talk) 00:39, 8 July 2013 (UTC)- There is a big distinction among scholars between the "Christ of faith" (the Jesus described in the gospels) and the "Jesus of history". This article meant to be a general article that covers all views on Jesus, including the Jesus of the New Testament, the historic Jesus, and the Jesus of other religions (such as Islam).--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 01:00, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
The article states 'Bart D. Ehrman states that it is unsound to argue that since Jesus had an immense impact on the society of his day, one might have expected contemporary accounts of his deeds; Ehrman adds that although Jesus had a large impact on future generations, his impact on the society of his time was "practically nil"'. I think this sentence needs reworking, but it depends on what exactly Ehrman is saying. My interpretation is that he is not "adding" something but explaining the error of the argument. If that is correct, a better formulation would be: 'Bart D. Ehrman argues that although Jesus had a large impact on future generations, his impact on the society of his time was "practically nil". It would therefore be unsound to expect contemporary accounts of his deeds.' hamiltonstone (talk) 11:26, 8 July 2013 (UTC)- I agree that your suggestion is a better wording. I've fixed it now.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 13:18, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
These sentences puzzle me: 'Jonathan Waxman of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism writes that Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah have "crossed the line out of the Jewish community". Reform Judaism holds that anyone in the Jewish community "who claims that Jesus is their savior is no longer a Jew and is an apostate" ' I felt they gave undue weight to one particular view in contemporary groups, and in any case seemed to express a view to which an alternative had never crossed my mind (that some Jews would see Jesus as messiah). Because of this, I was then further confused by the association of this view with "Conservative" Judaism. When I clicked on the link, i learned that the grtoup in question is North American only, which is not really consistent with the worldwide view of the article subject. All in all, this bit didn't work for me, and seems to provide unnecessary detail to elaborate that which is already stated in the first two sentences of the section. hamiltonstone (talk) 11:54, 8 July 2013 (UTC)- I've removed the two sentences you mentioned. There is a group known as Messianic Jews who considers Jesus to be the Messiah. I've added some brief info about them.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 13:49, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
In a top level article of this gravity that is already long, why is there coverage of the UFO religions, particularly one that has fewer followers than the population of a single town, or Religious Science, which is similarly tiny? I would also question the inclusion of the Jefferson Bible stuff. In contrast, most of the other "other" inclusions make sense; gnosticism for its historically significant role in religion; Nietsche and Russell as major infuences on western modern thought, and Hinduism, because of the global significance of the religion. hamiltonstone (talk) 12:21, 8 July 2013 (UTC)- Agree. I've moved the 3 statements you mentioned to the Religious perspectives on Jesus article.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 13:58, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
Any particular reason the version of the bible being quoted is anachronistic (eg. "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee...")? hamiltonstone (talk) 11:28, 9 July 2013 (UTC)- There was a talk page discussion about this. Initially, the American Standard Version (which is PD) is used to avoid copyright issues. But the discussion at Talk:NFCC seems to agree that WP's policies don't restrict the use of non-free versions. I'll change it to the NRSV, the one commonly used by scholars.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 13:13, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
- Done. All the quotes have been switched.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 14:25, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
- There was a talk page discussion about this. Initially, the American Standard Version (which is PD) is used to avoid copyright issues. But the discussion at Talk:NFCC seems to agree that WP's policies don't restrict the use of non-free versions. I'll change it to the NRSV, the one commonly used by scholars.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 13:13, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
Image review by FunkMonk
- All images have proper licenses, but there is one problem. This file obviously has wrong author information, and needs to be fixed somehow. At the least, the author field should say unknown, I'm sure it is PD old, so it can still be used either way. It seems the uploader thinks he owns copyright for taking the picture, but that is incorrect. Apart from this, no problems, and I moved one locally hosted image to Commons. Maybe the origin of the image can be determined through Google's new image recognition tool. FunkMonk (talk) 00:59, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
- Thanks. I've changed the author information to "unknown". I've also changed the licensing from PD-self to PD-old-100.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 01:08, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
- Looking again, all the PD old images need the dual PD old/PD US license tag, as that has become common practice now. FunkMonk (talk) 01:09, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
- Really? I thought just the PD-old-100 tag is sufficient, because it says "This work is in the public domain in the United States..." --FutureTrillionaire (talk) 01:13, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
- Yes, you are right, for some reason I was synonymising PD-old with PD-70 in my head, but none such are even present, so PD-100 should be enough. FunkMonk (talk) 01:31, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
- It's sufficient for Misplaced Pages and Commons. But some countries don't have the equivalent of Bridgeman, so when a user has explicitly released their photographic work as PD-self, that should still be noted on the file page to allow external non-US reusers who cannot rely on PD-Art. I've amended it. --99of9 (talk) 11:08, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
- Yes, you are right, for some reason I was synonymising PD-old with PD-70 in my head, but none such are even present, so PD-100 should be enough. FunkMonk (talk) 01:31, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
- Really? I thought just the PD-old-100 tag is sufficient, because it says "This work is in the public domain in the United States..." --FutureTrillionaire (talk) 01:13, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
- Looking again, all the PD old images need the dual PD old/PD US license tag, as that has become common practice now. FunkMonk (talk) 01:09, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
Review from Cliftonian
Support from Cliftonian. After a number of read-throughs and comments and a few amendments on my own part, I now feel comfortable with giving this my backing. I've capped my comments below. Well done FutureTrillionaire! —Cliftonian (talk) 08:01, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
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This is already a fine achievement on what many would see as one of the most important articles of all. Here are some comments which I hope will help on the way to FA status.
I hope this helps. I will come back to this review later as well. Well done so far and keep up the good work! —Cliftonian (talk) 07:59, 13 July 2013 (UTC)
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Points by Johnbod
On a first look, the article seems pretty good for a subject with an enormous amount of literature, with very divergent views on many aspects. In an article like this nuances of wording and emphasis are very important to get right.
- Lead. " Most scholars agree that Jesus was a Jewish teacher from Galilee" - to most readers, especially the young, "teacher" means schoolteacher. Not sure what a better phrasing would be.
- I've changed "teacher" to "preacher".--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 13:54, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
- "Most Christians believe that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, performed miracles, founded the Church, died by crucifixion as a sacrifice to achieve atonement, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, from which he will return. The majority of Christians worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son, the second of three Persons of a Divine Trinity. A few Christian groups reject Trinitarianism, wholly or partly, as non-scriptural" - "most" and "the majority" seem likely to be misleading by too much qualification as these key doctrines are common to almost all Christians, or at least the churches they affiliate with - well over 99% one would think.
- Removed "Most" from the first sentence, and changed the "the majority" to "the great majority".--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 14:13, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
- Last para of lead - do we really need this in the lead? Especially "Bahá'í scripture almost never refers to Jesus as the Messiah, but calls him a Manifestation of God", whatever that means?
- Removed the Baha'i part. But I think the Islamic and Jewish views are notable enough to be in the lede.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 14:13, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
- "Thus, in the Christian Bible, Jesus is referred to as "Jesus of Nazareth" - "Christian Bible" introduces unnecessary complication. New Testament or Gospels will do.
- "namely the last week of the life of Jesus in Jerusalem, referred to as Passion Week" - it is the annual commemoration that is usually "referred to as Passion Week". Just "namely the last week of the life of Jesus in Jerusalem, referred to as his Passion" or something.
- Changed the previous wording to "referred to as the Passion".--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 14:28, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
- "tekton". The article twice deals with the original profession of Jesus, and Joseph, once in "Early life and profession" and in "Profession and literacy" in the historical section. Both draw from the text at Historical Jesus, I think mostly written by me. There is a degree of repetition - I'm not sure if this is justified or not. The second version has phrasing issues: "In the New Testament, Jesus and his father were identified as τέκτων (tekton) (Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3), traditionally translated from Koine Greek into English as "carpenter". However, some scholars argue that tekton is a generic word (from the same root that gives "technical" and "technology") that could cover makers of objects in various materials, even builders. Others have argued that tekton could equally mean a highly-skilled craftsman in wood or the more prestigious metal, perhaps running a workshop with several employees." This makes it sound as if there is or has been some sort of controversy over these issues, which isn't entirely the case (apart perhaps from Crossan's unhelpful autobiographical comments). Does anybody disagree that "tekton is a generic word ... that could cover makers of objects in various materials, even builders"? What this account misses is the strong early tradition that working with wood was what Jesus did, as from Justin Martyr, mentioned in the first section. Essentially the sources are not clear, & there's not enough material for a decent scholarly row about it.
- To reduce repetition, I've removed the "Profession and literacy" section and moved some of its material to the "Early life and profession" section.-FutureTrillionaire (talk) 19:50, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
- "Ministry section" "Public ministry" is a perhaps a better phrase, that might be used once or tice among the many occurrences throughout the article. No mention of the apostles, or their recruitment. Some sort of summary of what modern scholarship makes of the growing body of "disciples" is reallly needed. What did the term mean - roughly how many, & doing what? Tricky I know.
- Added some info about the disciples.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 18:56, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
- Last Supper - without opening the matter too far, some sort of mention that commemoration & re-enactment of this event became central to much Christian worship is needed I think, with a link to Eucharist.
- Ok on comments above. Johnbod (talk) 13:44, 28 July 2013 (UTC)
-more coming Johnbod (talk) 12:46, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
- "After the trials, Jesus makes his way to Calvary by a route known traditionally as the Via Dolorosa" - this is rather more than we actually know, isn't it? I believe that route has changed somewhat over the centuries. Also "makes his way" sounds rather casual and voluntary, and we have Christ Carrying the Cross. Maybe: " After the trials, Jesus is led to Calvary carrying his cross; the route traditionally thought to have been taken is known as the Via Dolorosa".
- Good suggestion. Done.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 15:37, 28 July 2013 (UTC)
- A link or note for "gall" would be useful - what do scholars think this was?
- I'm not sure. It's probably better to keep things simple. I've removed the details of substance's ingredients.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 15:37, 28 July 2013 (UTC)
- The summary of the Gospel accounts while Jesus is on the cross seems too brief, though I realize the accounts vary in fiddly ways. As it is there is no explanation of the "events" (not the best word perhaps) the centurion is impressed by, so that bit reads oddly.
- Fixed. I've added the part about earthquake and torn curtain, and clarified some statements.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 17:03, 28 July 2013 (UTC)
- "The Acts of the Apostles describe several appearances by Jesus after his Ascension" - these are presented as visions etc rather than flesh & blood on the ground "appearances", & this should be made clear.
- Changed "several appearances" to "several visionary appearances".--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 02:08, 29 July 2013 (UTC)
- I don't think that's quite what you mean, so I've changed "visionary appearances" to "appearances ... in visions". I also changed "describe" to "describes", consistent with an earlier use, as it's the book rather than the acts themselves that do the describing. I hope that's OK. --Stfg (talk) 07:36, 29 July 2013 (UTC)
- You're right. Thanks for the corrections.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 13:19, 29 July 2013 (UTC)
- I don't think that's quite what you mean, so I've changed "visionary appearances" to "appearances ... in visions". I also changed "describe" to "describes", consistent with an earlier use, as it's the book rather than the acts themselves that do the describing. I hope that's OK. --Stfg (talk) 07:36, 29 July 2013 (UTC)
- Changed "several appearances" to "several visionary appearances".--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 02:08, 29 July 2013 (UTC)
- I've changed "end times" to "last days" as more neutral; something longer might be better "last days of the world" or something. "End times" is only used by Evangelicals in my experience.
- "but since then skeptics have emerged who question the reliability of the gospels" - "skeptics" is much too loaded. Links needed here: Biblical criticism, maybe others.
- Changed "skeptics" to "scholars". Added Biblical criticism "see also" link.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 02:02, 29 July 2013 (UTC)
- "The third quest, which began around the 1980s, was unique for its greater emphasis on the methods of mainstream historical scholarship" - a very dubious assertion as phrased, imo, even if it can be sourced to those involved. More neutral phrasing needed. What the first two phases were is not explained.
- Removed that 3rd quest statement.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 02:02, 29 July 2013 (UTC)
- I wonder if the paragraph starting "Donald Akenson has argued that,..." is helpful. This is an immensely complex area on which seas of ink have been expended for centuries, & I'm not sure this works as a useful summary of anything much. Akenson is a specialist in a totally different area of history (probably without much relevant linguistic background etc) who has written wrote two books on the subject, and far more on other subjects.
- Paragraph removed.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 02:02, 29 July 2013 (UTC)
- In the current size and balance of the "Historical views" section, I think more is needed on the older areas of Biblical criticism that underly current debates, which receive most of the coverage. A very brief summary with links to things like Q source would be good.
- Expanded the intro paragraph of the Historical views section. I've also expanded the Historicity of events section to include info on reliability of sources.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 23:50, 30 July 2013 (UTC)
- "Most Christians believe that Jesus was both human and the Son of God. While there has been theological debate over his nature, Trinitarian Christians generally believe that Jesus is the Logos, God's incarnation and God the Son, both fully divine and fully human." A little expansion & links re the debates in the Early Church needed on this.
- Done. Added wikilinks and a footnote.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 14:51, 30 July 2013 (UTC)
- The section on Islam implies, but should state clearly, that Islam regards the whole New Testament as inauthentic, except where the Qu'ran agrees with it.
- Done, added a footnote.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 14:34, 29 July 2013 (UTC)
- "Depictions" section really needs 2-3 sentences on the development of the "standard" image, & major variants. Also the influence of "miraculous" images in forming the general depiction. I will try to add these.
- Maybe some more general points later - are all the works in "Bibliography" cited in the article? I'd really like to see one or more reviews of this by a specialist, clergy or otherwise. Johnbod (talk) 14:54, 28 July 2013 (UTC)
- They should be. I checked this a few weeks ago, although some of the sources might have changed by now.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 13:08, 31 July 2013 (UTC)
- All the above covered, although the points in the footnotes j & k would be better in the text, but I won't fuss about that. Johnbod (talk) 02:19, 7 August 2013 (UTC)
- Looking at the footnotes: f just repeats a; a,b,f,g,h all cover dating, with some more repetition. I suspect some streamlining would improve them. Note h is almost all a quote, which should be shown as such, with the verse (3:1). I'm not sure what the citation there covers - probably should go up to the main text. I still want to rejik the depictions a bit. Johnbod (talk) 02:19, 7 August 2013 (UTC)
- Good points. I've removed some unnecessary footnotes.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 16:12, 7 August 2013 (UTC)
- Also, I expanded the info about Muslims regarding the gospels as inauthentic and moved that info from the footnote to the text.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 16:22, 9 August 2013 (UTC)
Review by Quadell
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As an amateur but serious New Testament scholar who has read many of the article's more important sources, I can attest that the material and tone fairly represents the scholarly consensus, while giving fair weight to the majority Christian interpretation of history. I'm very pleased with this, and it must have taken a lot of work. Well done. The prose is excellent overall. It is difficult to find unclear or clunky writing in this article. Thanks to FunkMonk for the image review.
All in all, this article is excellent and has exceeded my expectations. I hope my concerns are appropriately addressed, as it would be personally very satisfying to see such an important article featured. – Quadell 19:55, 4 August 2013 (UTC)
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- Strong support. This article is among the best Misplaced Pages has to offer, and fully deserves featured status. I am doubly impressed: first for the high quality of the article, and second by the diligence of those involved. – Quadell 18:50, 9 August 2013 (UTC)
- Thank you! :) --FutureTrillionaire (talk) 19:23, 9 August 2013 (UTC)
- I heartily second Quadell's comments. The article is in fantastic shape and I feel proud to have played a small part in getting it to where it is. As I said already above, very well done to FutureTrillionaire and everybody else who has contributed—not least you, Quadell! —Cliftonian (talk) 22:10, 9 August 2013 (UTC)
Comment from Rbreen
Great progress has been made on this article, which considering its size, complexity and controversial nature is a huge achievement. As a battle-scarred text it has over the years been difficult to read (it still shows signs of unncessary length due to petty squabbles, but that's probably always going to be true with this subject. It's an impressive result.
There is, however, one weakness in the current form, and it's an important one. One editor above mentioned this, but it still needs to be taken seriously. Given that the main sources for information about Jesus are the canonical Gospels, the reader needs to have an understanding about how modern scholarship sees the relationship between them: beginning with Mark, which is developed further (and separately, and to some extent differently) by Matthew and Luke with the use of Q, and finally - probably from a distinct separate tradition - John. This doesn't have to be done in great detail - it's written about extensively in other articles - but it needs to be explained clearly in the "Canonical Gospel Accounts" section. What we have now is a fairly naive approach that treats all the Gospel accounts as a Gospel harmony, which misses out on much of what modern Biblical scholarship has established over the past century. It's astonishing to find no mention at all of Q, for instance, even thought it's broadly speaking part of the modern consensus. What follows in the article makes no sense at all unless the reader understands that the account they are reading is actually composed of four closely related but different ones. Right now, a reader who was not familiar with this would never suspect it. --Rbreen (talk) 22:27, 9 August 2013 (UTC)
- Note: Sorry, I am currently taking a wikibreak. I will address your concerns in a few days.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 03:10, 10 August 2013 (UTC)
Comment by Strangesad
ççç===Jesus===
Jesus (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
- Featured article candidates/Jesus/archive1
- Featured article candidates/Jesus/archive2
- Featured article candidates/Jesus/archive3
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- Nominator(s): FutureTrillionaire (talk) 17:13, 3 July 2013 (UTC)
Reviewers: Please read this article's FAQ before reading the article. If you disagree with anything in the FAQ, please voice your concern at the article's talk page, not here.
This article became a good article in early May, and also received a copy edit from the WP:GOCE later that month. After much work, I believe this article is ready for FAC.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 17:13, 3 July 2013 (UTC)
Comments
- Welcome to FAC. I see User:JimWae has the most edits to the article; has he been notified? - Dank (push to talk) 17:23, 3 July 2013 (UTC)
- I made 740 edits (3rd place) to the article. Does that not make me a "significant contributor"? Anyways, I've just sent him a message.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 17:31, 3 July 2013 (UTC)
- Sure ... but someone with 915 edits to this article might want to know it's at FAC; they won't necessarily be watchlisting it all the time. - Dank (push to talk) 20:32, 3 July 2013 (UTC)
- I made 740 edits (3rd place) to the article. Does that not make me a "significant contributor"? Anyways, I've just sent him a message.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 17:31, 3 July 2013 (UTC)
Appearance
- Language, ethnicity and appearance section: For appearance, you basically state that there is no proof of what Jesus looked like, which is totally fair. But there is general consensus out there of what a man living at that time in that place would probably look like. Can you include a sentence or two that covers what the experts believe is a best guess as to what Jesus probably looked like? That section left me wanting to know. upstateNYer 02:59, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
- Done. I added some brief info. Scholars agree that Jesus likely looked like a typical Jew, and had a tough appearance due to his work and travels.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 04:09, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
- I'm looking more for what a typical Jew looked like. Everybody reading that will think of how they see the typical Jew. The typical Jew of 2000 years ago, though, didn't look like today's Jew I'm sure. upstateNYer 17:31, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
- I'm just wondering whether this might be heading for too much speculation. The ideas that Jesus probably looked like the typical Jew and was probably sinewy are already just speculations based on his ethnicity and lifestyle. To define the "typical Jew of 2000 years ago" would be another round of speculation, wouldn't it? Isn't this going to end up as speculation-squared? That and the fraught issue of ethnic stereotyping. --Stfg (talk) 17:56, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
- I'm looking more for what a typical Jew looked like. Everybody reading that will think of how they see the typical Jew. The typical Jew of 2000 years ago, though, didn't look like today's Jew I'm sure. upstateNYer 17:31, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
- A scholarly attempt was made here, which is probably worth citing. --99of9 (talk) 19:59, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
- That's interesting, but the depiction is that of an average 1st-century Jew, not specifically Jesus.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 20:07, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
- I agree with Stfg. Too much speculation. Could you imagine how would it be if in 2,000 years someone said that the average American looked like Barack Obama, or Bill Clinton? --Lecen (talk) 21:09, 12 July 2013 (UTC)
- That's interesting, but the depiction is that of an average 1st-century Jew, not specifically Jesus.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 20:07, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
- Done. I added some brief info. Scholars agree that Jesus likely looked like a typical Jew, and had a tough appearance due to his work and travels.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 04:09, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
- Agree. Don't let's use that Discovery Channel-style story from Popular Mechanics! Johnbod (talk) 12:13, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
Comments from Hamiltonstone
SupportComment. Very interesting, looks promising. My support is qualified by this not being my field and it certainly is a subject that begets an enormous literature. I am trusting that the literature is fairly represented.
Last para on chronology: "Astronomers since Isaac Newton have tried to estimate..." There is no explanation of why on earth astronomy would be relevant, leaving this reader confused. How does astronomy enter the picture? How are they coming up with specific actual dates? This jars with the clarity of preceding material that sets out reasons for estimates of years etc. hamiltonstone (talk) 00:08, 8 July 2013 (UTC)- Thanks for pointing that out. I've expanded that sentence and added a footnote. Is it better now?--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 00:52, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
The article is structured by separating the new testament account from all other accounts or historical views, and I am not quite sure about the justification for the separation of Josephus and Tacitus from what are essentially other sources of the same approximate date (the new testament documents). Can an editor clarify why this is? hamiltonstone (talk) 00:39, 8 July 2013 (UTC)- There is a big distinction among scholars between the "Christ of faith" (the Jesus described in the gospels) and the "Jesus of history". This article meant to be a general article that covers all views on Jesus, including the Jesus of the New Testament, the historic Jesus, and the Jesus of other religions (such as Islam).--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 01:00, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
The article states 'Bart D. Ehrman states that it is unsound to argue that since Jesus had an immense impact on the society of his day, one might have expected contemporary accounts of his deeds; Ehrman adds that although Jesus had a large impact on future generations, his impact on the society of his time was "practically nil"'. I think this sentence needs reworking, but it depends on what exactly Ehrman is saying. My interpretation is that he is not "adding" something but explaining the error of the argument. If that is correct, a better formulation would be: 'Bart D. Ehrman argues that although Jesus had a large impact on future generations, his impact on the society of his time was "practically nil". It would therefore be unsound to expect contemporary accounts of his deeds.' hamiltonstone (talk) 11:26, 8 July 2013 (UTC)- I agree that your suggestion is a better wording. I've fixed it now.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 13:18, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
These sentences puzzle me: 'Jonathan Waxman of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism writes that Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah have "crossed the line out of the Jewish community". Reform Judaism holds that anyone in the Jewish community "who claims that Jesus is their savior is no longer a Jew and is an apostate" ' I felt they gave undue weight to one particular view in contemporary groups, and in any case seemed to express a view to which an alternative had never crossed my mind (that some Jews would see Jesus as messiah). Because of this, I was then further confused by the association of this view with "Conservative" Judaism. When I clicked on the link, i learned that the grtoup in question is North American only, which is not really consistent with the worldwide view of the article subject. All in all, this bit didn't work for me, and seems to provide unnecessary detail to elaborate that which is already stated in the first two sentences of the section. hamiltonstone (talk) 11:54, 8 July 2013 (UTC)- I've removed the two sentences you mentioned. There is a group known as Messianic Jews who considers Jesus to be the Messiah. I've added some brief info about them.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 13:49, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
In a top level article of this gravity that is already long, why is there coverage of the UFO religions, particularly one that has fewer followers than the population of a single town, or Religious Science, which is similarly tiny? I would also question the inclusion of the Jefferson Bible stuff. In contrast, most of the other "other" inclusions make sense; gnosticism for its historically significant role in religion; Nietsche and Russell as major infuences on western modern thought, and Hinduism, because of the global significance of the religion. hamiltonstone (talk) 12:21, 8 July 2013 (UTC)- Agree. I've moved the 3 statements you mentioned to the Religious perspectives on Jesus article.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 13:58, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
Any particular reason the version of the bible being quoted is anachronistic (eg. "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee...")? hamiltonstone (talk) 11:28, 9 July 2013 (UTC)- There was a talk page discussion about this. Initially, the American Standard Version (which is PD) is used to avoid copyright issues. But the discussion at Talk:NFCC seems to agree that WP's policies don't restrict the use of non-free versions. I'll change it to the NRSV, the one commonly used by scholars.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 13:13, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
- Done. All the quotes have been switched.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 14:25, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
- There was a talk page discussion about this. Initially, the American Standard Version (which is PD) is used to avoid copyright issues. But the discussion at Talk:NFCC seems to agree that WP's policies don't restrict the use of non-free versions. I'll change it to the NRSV, the one commonly used by scholars.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 13:13, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
Image review by FunkMonk
- All images have proper licenses, but there is one problem. This file obviously has wrong author information, and needs to be fixed somehow. At the least, the author field should say unknown, I'm sure it is PD old, so it can still be used either way. It seems the uploader thinks he owns copyright for taking the picture, but that is incorrect. Apart from this, no problems, and I moved one locally hosted image to Commons. Maybe the origin of the image can be determined through Google's new image recognition tool. FunkMonk (talk) 00:59, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
- Thanks. I've changed the author information to "unknown". I've also changed the licensing from PD-self to PD-old-100.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 01:08, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
- Looking again, all the PD old images need the dual PD old/PD US license tag, as that has become common practice now. FunkMonk (talk) 01:09, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
- Really? I thought just the PD-old-100 tag is sufficient, because it says "This work is in the public domain in the United States..." --FutureTrillionaire (talk) 01:13, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
- Yes, you are right, for some reason I was synonymising PD-old with PD-70 in my head, but none such are even present, so PD-100 should be enough. FunkMonk (talk) 01:31, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
- It's sufficient for Misplaced Pages and Commons. But some countries don't have the equivalent of Bridgeman, so when a user has explicitly released their photographic work as PD-self, that should still be noted on the file page to allow external non-US reusers who cannot rely on PD-Art. I've amended it. --99of9 (talk) 11:08, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
- Yes, you are right, for some reason I was synonymising PD-old with PD-70 in my head, but none such are even present, so PD-100 should be enough. FunkMonk (talk) 01:31, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
- Really? I thought just the PD-old-100 tag is sufficient, because it says "This work is in the public domain in the United States..." --FutureTrillionaire (talk) 01:13, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
- Looking again, all the PD old images need the dual PD old/PD US license tag, as that has become common practice now. FunkMonk (talk) 01:09, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
Review from Cliftonian
Support from Cliftonian. After a number of read-throughs and comments and a few amendments on my own part, I now feel comfortable with giving this my backing. I've capped my comments below. Well done FutureTrillionaire! —Cliftonian (talk) 08:01, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
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This is already a fine achievement on what many would see as one of the most important articles of all. Here are some comments which I hope will help on the way to FA status.
I hope this helps. I will come back to this review later as well. Well done so far and keep up the good work! —Cliftonian (talk) 07:59, 13 July 2013 (UTC)
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Points by Johnbod
On a first look, the article seems pretty good for a subject with an enormous amount of literature, with very divergent views on many aspects. In an article like this nuances of wording and emphasis are very important to get right.
- Lead. " Most scholars agree that Jesus was a Jewish teacher from Galilee" - to most readers, especially the young, "teacher" means schoolteacher. Not sure what a better phrasing would be.
- I've changed "teacher" to "preacher".--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 13:54, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
- "Most Christians believe that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, performed miracles, founded the Church, died by crucifixion as a sacrifice to achieve atonement, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, from which he will return. The majority of Christians worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son, the second of three Persons of a Divine Trinity. A few Christian groups reject Trinitarianism, wholly or partly, as non-scriptural" - "most" and "the majority" seem likely to be misleading by too much qualification as these key doctrines are common to almost all Christians, or at least the churches they affiliate with - well over 99% one would think.
- Removed "Most" from the first sentence, and changed the "the majority" to "the great majority".--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 14:13, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
- Last para of lead - do we really need this in the lead? Especially "Bahá'í scripture almost never refers to Jesus as the Messiah, but calls him a Manifestation of God", whatever that means?
- Removed the Baha'i part. But I think the Islamic and Jewish views are notable enough to be in the lede.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 14:13, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
- "Thus, in the Christian Bible, Jesus is referred to as "Jesus of Nazareth" - "Christian Bible" introduces unnecessary complication. New Testament or Gospels will do.
- "namely the last week of the life of Jesus in Jerusalem, referred to as Passion Week" - it is the annual commemoration that is usually "referred to as Passion Week". Just "namely the last week of the life of Jesus in Jerusalem, referred to as his Passion" or something.
- Changed the previous wording to "referred to as the Passion".--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 14:28, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
- "tekton". The article twice deals with the original profession of Jesus, and Joseph, once in "Early life and profession" and in "Profession and literacy" in the historical section. Both draw from the text at Historical Jesus, I think mostly written by me. There is a degree of repetition - I'm not sure if this is justified or not. The second version has phrasing issues: "In the New Testament, Jesus and his father were identified as τέκτων (tekton) (Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3), traditionally translated from Koine Greek into English as "carpenter". However, some scholars argue that tekton is a generic word (from the same root that gives "technical" and "technology") that could cover makers of objects in various materials, even builders. Others have argued that tekton could equally mean a highly-skilled craftsman in wood or the more prestigious metal, perhaps running a workshop with several employees." This makes it sound as if there is or has been some sort of controversy over these issues, which isn't entirely the case (apart perhaps from Crossan's unhelpful autobiographical comments). Does anybody disagree that "tekton is a generic word ... that could cover makers of objects in various materials, even builders"? What this account misses is the strong early tradition that working with wood was what Jesus did, as from Justin Martyr, mentioned in the first section. Essentially the sources are not clear, & there's not enough material for a decent scholarly row about it.
- To reduce repetition, I've removed the "Profession and literacy" section and moved some of its material to the "Early life and profession" section.-FutureTrillionaire (talk) 19:50, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
- "Ministry section" "Public ministry" is a perhaps a better phrase, that might be used once or tice among the many occurrences throughout the article. No mention of the apostles, or their recruitment. Some sort of summary of what modern scholarship makes of the growing body of "disciples" is reallly needed. What did the term mean - roughly how many, & doing what? Tricky I know.
- Added some info about the disciples.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 18:56, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
- Last Supper - without opening the matter too far, some sort of mention that commemoration & re-enactment of this event became central to much Christian worship is needed I think, with a link to Eucharist.
- Ok on comments above. Johnbod (talk) 13:44, 28 July 2013 (UTC)
-more coming Johnbod (talk) 12:46, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
- "After the trials, Jesus makes his way to Calvary by a route known traditionally as the Via Dolorosa" - this is rather more than we actually know, isn't it? I believe that route has changed somewhat over the centuries. Also "makes his way" sounds rather casual and voluntary, and we have Christ Carrying the Cross. Maybe: " After the trials, Jesus is led to Calvary carrying his cross; the route traditionally thought to have been taken is known as the Via Dolorosa".
- Good suggestion. Done.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 15:37, 28 July 2013 (UTC)
- A link or note for "gall" would be useful - what do scholars think this was?
- I'm not sure. It's probably better to keep things simple. I've removed the details of substance's ingredients.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 15:37, 28 July 2013 (UTC)
- The summary of the Gospel accounts while Jesus is on the cross seems too brief, though I realize the accounts vary in fiddly ways. As it is there is no explanation of the "events" (not the best word perhaps) the centurion is impressed by, so that bit reads oddly.
- Fixed. I've added the part about earthquake and torn curtain, and clarified some statements.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 17:03, 28 July 2013 (UTC)
- "The Acts of the Apostles describe several appearances by Jesus after his Ascension" - these are presented as visions etc rather than flesh & blood on the ground "appearances", & this should be made clear.
- Changed "several appearances" to "several visionary appearances".--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 02:08, 29 July 2013 (UTC)
- I don't think that's quite what you mean, so I've changed "visionary appearances" to "appearances ... in visions". I also changed "describe" to "describes", consistent with an earlier use, as it's the book rather than the acts themselves that do the describing. I hope that's OK. --Stfg (talk) 07:36, 29 July 2013 (UTC)
- You're right. Thanks for the corrections.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 13:19, 29 July 2013 (UTC)
- I don't think that's quite what you mean, so I've changed "visionary appearances" to "appearances ... in visions". I also changed "describe" to "describes", consistent with an earlier use, as it's the book rather than the acts themselves that do the describing. I hope that's OK. --Stfg (talk) 07:36, 29 July 2013 (UTC)
- Changed "several appearances" to "several visionary appearances".--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 02:08, 29 July 2013 (UTC)
- I've changed "end times" to "last days" as more neutral; something longer might be better "last days of the world" or something. "End times" is only used by Evangelicals in my experience.
- "but since then skeptics have emerged who question the reliability of the gospels" - "skeptics" is much too loaded. Links needed here: Biblical criticism, maybe others.
- Changed "skeptics" to "scholars". Added Biblical criticism "see also" link.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 02:02, 29 July 2013 (UTC)
- "The third quest, which began around the 1980s, was unique for its greater emphasis on the methods of mainstream historical scholarship" - a very dubious assertion as phrased, imo, even if it can be sourced to those involved. More neutral phrasing needed. What the first two phases were is not explained.
- Removed that 3rd quest statement.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 02:02, 29 July 2013 (UTC)
- I wonder if the paragraph starting "Donald Akenson has argued that,..." is helpful. This is an immensely complex area on which seas of ink have been expended for centuries, & I'm not sure this works as a useful summary of anything much. Akenson is a specialist in a totally different area of history (probably without much relevant linguistic background etc) who has written wrote two books on the subject, and far more on other subjects.
- Paragraph removed.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 02:02, 29 July 2013 (UTC)
- In the current size and balance of the "Historical views" section, I think more is needed on the older areas of Biblical criticism that underly current debates, which receive most of the coverage. A very brief summary with links to things like Q source would be good.
- Expanded the intro paragraph of the Historical views section. I've also expanded the Historicity of events section to include info on reliability of sources.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 23:50, 30 July 2013 (UTC)
- "Most Christians believe that Jesus was both human and the Son of God. While there has been theological debate over his nature, Trinitarian Christians generally believe that Jesus is the Logos, God's incarnation and God the Son, both fully divine and fully human." A little expansion & links re the debates in the Early Church needed on this.
- Done. Added wikilinks and a footnote.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 14:51, 30 July 2013 (UTC)
- The section on Islam implies, but should state clearly, that Islam regards the whole New Testament as inauthentic, except where the Qu'ran agrees with it.
- Done, added a footnote.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 14:34, 29 July 2013 (UTC)
- "Depictions" section really needs 2-3 sentences on the development of the "standard" image, & major variants. Also the influence of "miraculous" images in forming the general depiction. I will try to add these.
- Maybe some more general points later - are all the works in "Bibliography" cited in the article? I'd really like to see one or more reviews of this by a specialist, clergy or otherwise. Johnbod (talk) 14:54, 28 July 2013 (UTC)
- They should be. I checked this a few weeks ago, although some of the sources might have changed by now.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 13:08, 31 July 2013 (UTC)
- All the above covered, although the points in the footnotes j & k would be better in the text, but I won't fuss about that. Johnbod (talk) 02:19, 7 August 2013 (UTC)
- Looking at the footnotes: f just repeats a; a,b,f,g,h all cover dating, with some more repetition. I suspect some streamlining would improve them. Note h is almost all a quote, which should be shown as such, with the verse (3:1). I'm not sure what the citation there covers - probably should go up to the main text. I still want to rejik the depictions a bit. Johnbod (talk) 02:19, 7 August 2013 (UTC)
- Good points. I've removed some unnecessary footnotes.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 16:12, 7 August 2013 (UTC)
- Also, I expanded the info about Muslims regarding the gospels as inauthentic and moved that info from the footnote to the text.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 16:22, 9 August 2013 (UTC)
Review by Quadell
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As an amateur but serious New Testament scholar who has read many of the article's more important sources, I can attest that the material and tone fairly represents the scholarly consensus, while giving fair weight to the majority Christian interpretation of history. I'm very pleased with this, and it must have taken a lot of work. Well done. The prose is excellent overall. It is difficult to find unclear or clunky writing in this article. Thanks to FunkMonk for the image review.
All in all, this article is excellent and has exceeded my expectations. I hope my concerns are appropriately addressed, as it would be personally very satisfying to see such an important article featured. – Quadell 19:55, 4 August 2013 (UTC)
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- Strong support. This article is among the best Misplaced Pages has to offer, and fully deserves featured status. I am doubly impressed: first for the high quality of the article, and second by the diligence of those involved. – Quadell 18:50, 9 August 2013 (UTC)
- Thank you! :) --FutureTrillionaire (talk) 19:23, 9 August 2013 (UTC)
- I heartily second Quadell's comments. The article is in fantastic shape and I feel proud to have played a small part in getting it to where it is. As I said already above, very well done to FutureTrillionaire and everybody else who has contributed—not least you, Quadell! —Cliftonian (talk) 22:10, 9 August 2013 (UTC)
Comment from Rbreen
Great progress has been made on this article, which considering its size, complexity and controversial nature is a huge achievement. As a battle-scarred text it has over the years been difficult to read (it still shows signs of unncessary length due to petty squabbles, but that's probably always going to be true with this subject. It's an impressive result.
There is, however, one weakness in the current form, and it's an important one. One editor above mentioned this, but it still needs to be taken seriously. Given that the main sources for information about Jesus are the canonical Gospels, the reader needs to have an understanding about how modern scholarship sees the relationship between them: beginning with Mark, which is developed further (and separately, and to some extent differently) by Matthew and Luke with the use of Q, and finally - probably from a distinct separate tradition - John. This doesn't have to be done in great detail - it's written about extensively in other articles - but it needs to be explained clearly in the "Canonical Gospel Accounts" section. What we have now is a fairly naive approach that treats all the Gospel accounts as a Gospel harmony, which misses out on much of what modern Biblical scholarship has established over the past century. It's astonishing to find no mention at all of Q, for instance, even thought it's broadly speaking part of the modern consensus. What follows in the article makes no sense at all unless the reader understands that the account they are reading is actually composed of four closely related but different ones. Right now, a reader who was not familiar with this would never suspect it. --Rbreen (talk) 22:27, 9 August 2013 (UTC)
- Note: Sorry, I am currently taking a wikibreak. I will address your concerns in a few days.--FutureTrillionaire (talk) 03:10, 10 August 2013 (UTC)
Comment by Strangesad
Strong oppose.
- The article's treatment of the historical Jesus is biased in favor the existence of Jesus.
- The "mythicist" arguments (skeptical of the existence of Jesus) tend to be weakly presented, and the article then puts more emphasis on rebutting them than explaining them.
- Sources are frequently misquoted, quoted out of context, and chosen selectively to advance a certain view.
- The majority of sources in the section are medium-quality or worse. Many of the authors are priests, pastors, or otherwise have an evangelical background. There is a surprising dearth of objective sources. There are no peer-reviewed sources. All cites are popular books (guess which position on the existence of Jesus will sell more popular book around the world).
Strawman arguments The article reduces all doubt about a historical Jesus to “mythicism,” simplistically defined as "Christians made the whole thing up". In doing so, it misrepresents several scholars lumped under that label. G.A. Wells is called a mythicist, but has modified his position over time. His current view is that there may have been a wandering preacher who can be said to be the basis of the stories of Jesus Christ. However, “this personage is not be identified with the dying and rising Christ of the early epistles.” Other critics have expressed the opinion that there may have been a figure more responsible for starting Christainity than any others, but that he was an itinerant preacher/mystic. For example, Alvar Ellegård argues the personage commonly thought of as Jesus was the Teacher of Righteousness, who lived around 150 BCE. This range of “mythicism” is described in the lede of Christ myth theory, but omitted in Jesus. The omission makes the skepticism seem simplistic.
Unbalanced sourcing The sourcing is particularly egregious. A claim that's debated in the Talk page archives as far back as I can see is that “virtually all” scholars agree Jesus existed. Also, that all scholars regard events such as his baptism and his crucifixion as fact. Here are the sources used for those claims:
- Burridge, Richard A.; Gould, Graham (2004). Jesus Now and Then. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. Richard A. Burridge, whose Misplaced Pages article titles him “Reverend” is a professor of Biblical Interpretation (didn't know you could major in that), a former chaplain, an ordained a deacon, and a member of the Church of England's General Synod.
- Dunn, James D.G. (2003). Jesus Remembered. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. James Dunn (theologian), a minister of the Church of Scotland, professor of divinity and theology (not history). In this same book, he gives a glimpse into his objectivity: “Christians have continued to affirm the resurrection of Jesus, as I do.....he was a famous exorcist and healer and many experienced miraculous happenings in his company...through the Jesus tradition the would-be disciple still hears and encounters Jesus”
- Brown, Raymond E. (1994). The Death of the Messiah: from Gethsemane to the Grave: A Commentary on the Passion Narratives in the Four Gospels. Doubleday. Raymond E. Brown is a Roman Catholic priest. The book is an interpretation of the gospels, not historical research, as is plain from its title (the book is also 19 years old, and probably shouldn't be relied on for the state of current scholarship.)
- Stanton, Ghraham (2002). The Gospels and Jesus. Oxford University Press. This book examines the varied meanings of the term of “gospel.” It's not about the historical Jesus. No page number is given and the intended reference can't be easily found. Any reference is probably a passing one, since the book isn't about the historical Jesus. Graham Stanton was a professor of divinity.
- Grant, Michael (1977). Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels. This popular book is 36 years old, so a poor source for the current state of scholarship. The author's historical expertise is numismatics. I couldn't get a copy to check the reference, either online from my local library.
- Van Voorst, Robert E (2000). Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence. Eerdmans Publishing. . Robert E. Van Voorst is a professor at Western Theological Seminary. He received his M.Div. from Western Theological Seminary, and his Ph.D. in New Testament from Union Theological Seminary Van Voorst has also served for twelve years as pastor at Rochester Reformed Church
- Finally, there is Bart D. Ehrman. Ehrman's training is evangelical—divinity degrees, etc. However, he recently converted to agnosticism. In one of the books used in this article, he writes of the mythicist arguments: "none is written by ... scholars trained in New Testament or early Christian studies teaching at the major, or even the minor, accredited theological seminaries, divinity schools...of the thousands of scholars of early Christianity who do teach at such schools, none of them to my knowledge has any doubt Jesus existed. But a whole body of literature ...some of it highly intelligent and well-informed makes this case....a couple of bona fide scholars--not professors teaching religious in universities but scholars nonetheless, and at least one of them with a Ph.D in the field of New Testament--have taken this position. 1) He says some of the mythicist literature is “intelligent and well-informed”. Our article omits this. 2) He says some of the mythicists are “bona fide” scholars. Our article states the opposite. Of course, he also says that he doesn't know of any “scholars” who dispute the existence of Jesus. However, in that context, he defines the relevant scholar as requiring a background in New Testament studies and holding a professorship (i.e. in his image).
I hadn't heard of William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company publishing until now: “Eerdmans has long been known for publishing a wide range of Christian and religious books, from academic works in Christian theology, biblical studies, religious history, and reference to popular titles in spirituality....” Fifty-percent of the articles sources asserting the unquestionable nature of the existence of Jesus are from this publisher. Very neutral. Very academic. Not!
I was going to get into the allegedly neutral sources for claiming that the baptism and crucifixion are undisputed facts, and that everybody acknowledges Josephus as “genuine.” These claims suffer the same sourcing problems. But the point is made. The sourcing needs to be cleaned up. Please, find some peer-reviewed, non-Christian literature on this controversial subject. Please represent the mythicist views fairly, with equal depth and respect. Strangesad (talk) 04:52, 10 August 2013 (UTC)