4. Historical Premises of the Jesus Seminar
Just remember, John appeared on the scene neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He is demented.' The son of Adam came both eating and drinking, and they say, 'There's a glutton and a drunk, a crony of toll collectors and sinners!' (Matt 11:18-19 // Luke 7:33-34, "Q").
45. Antiquities of the Jews 18.116-19.
46. An illustration of this is found in a comparison between Mark 9:1, where Jesus predicts the imminent coming of the "kingdom of God," and its parallel in Matt 16:28, where he predicts the imminent "coming in his kingdom" of "the Son of Man."
47. The interpretation of the "Son of Man" sayings in the gospels is one of the most contentious topics in New Testament research. My own view, reflected here though not elaborated, is only one of many possibilities. See the excellent summary by George W.E. Nickelsburg in his article, "Son of Man," in The Anchor Bible Dictionary 6:137-50, with extensive bibliography.
48. One of the problems in Albert Schweitzer's reconstruction of the historical Jesus is that he failed to notice this distinction. Cf. n. 8 (above).
49. See discussion of the Scholars Version, below.
50. For two recent examples of imagination run amok in "Q" scholarship see Burton Mack, The Lost Gospel (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1993); and Leif Vaage, Galilean Upstarts: Jesus' First Followers according to Q (Valley Forge, Trinity Press International, 1994). For a critique of Mack see James M. Robinson, "The History and Religious Taxonomy of Q: The Cynic Hypothesis," in Holger Preißler and Hubert Seiwert (eds.), Gnosisforschung und Religionsgeschichte: Festschrift für Kurt Rudolph zum 65. Geburtstag (Marburg: diagonal-Verlag, 1994 [1995] 247-65. For a similar critique of Vaage, see Robinson, "Galilean Upstarts: A Sot's Cynical Disciples," forthcoming in another Festschrift.
51. This is one of the "almost indisputable facts" cited by Sanders (cf. n. 40).
52. The Seminar's interpretation of this passage is a common one, especially in German scholarship, and is surprisingly even upheld by E. P. Sanders (Jesus and Judaism, 252-55). Geza Vermes provides a more plausible scenario: the man's father is not dead yet, and the son's eventual filial responsibility is an excuse for procrastination. See The Religion of Jesus the Jew (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993) 27-29.
53. This is another of Sander's "almost indisputable facts."
54. See G.W.E. Nickelsburg, "Enoch, Levi, and Peter: Recipients of Revelation in Upper Galilee, Journal of Biblical Literature 100 (1981) 575-600, esp. 582-86; 590-600.
55. For a brief but useful discussion see John J. Rousseau and Rami Arav, Jesus and His World: An Archaeological and Cultural Dictionary (Minneapolis: Fortrss Press, 1995) 97-99.
56. There is a considerable literature on the question of the extent of Jewish cultural and religious influence in Galilee. For a recent discussion see Shmuel Safrai, "The Jewish Cultural Nature of Galilee in the First Century," in Malcolm Lowe (ed.), The New Testament and Christian Jewish Dialogue: Studies in Honor of David Flusser, Immanuel 24/25 (1990), 147-86. For recent discussions of the archaeological evidence and its bearing on Jesus research see James F. Strange, "First-Century Galilee from Archaeology and from the Texts," Richard A. Horsley, "The Historical Jesus and Archaeology of the Galilee: Questions from Historical Jesus Research to Archaeologists," and Douglas E. Oakman, "The Archaeology of First-Century Galilee and the Social Interpretation of the Historical Jesus," in Society of Biblical Literature 1994 Seminar Papers (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1994) 81-90, 91-135, 220-51. See now also Seán Freyne, "Jesus and the Urban Culture of Galilee," in Tord Fornberg and David Hellholm (eds.), Texts and Contexts: Biblical Texts in Their Textual and Situational Contexts, Essays in Honor of Lars Hartman (Oslo: Scandinavian University Press, 1995) 597-622; and Richard A. Horsley, Galilee: History, Politics, People (Valley Forge: Trinity Press International, 1995).
57. The SV reads Mark 7:19b as a comment on the digestive process described in 7:19a: "'. . .because it doesn't get to the heart but passes into the stomach, and comes out in the outhouse?' (this is how everything we eat is purified)." Considerable liberties have been taken with the text of 7:19b, which reads kaqarivzwn pavnta ta; brwvmata (lit. "purifying [or declaring pure] all foods").
58. This is the view of Geza Vermes, a prominent Jewish scholar who, unlike the Jesus Seminar, is thoroughly familiar with the ancient Jewish evidence: Religion of Jesus the Jew (cit. n. 52), esp. ch. 2: "Jesus and the Law; The Judaism of Jesus," 11-45. The strange saying in Gos. Thom. 14:1-2 ("If you fast, you will bring sin upon yourselves, and if you pray, you will be condemned, and if you give to charity, you will harm your spirits") is alien enough to the authentic Jesus tradition that even the Jesus Seminar colors it black.
59. For a careful analysis of the probable extent of Jesus' education see Meier, A Marginal Jew (cit. n. 24) 1:268-78. On Jesus' use of scripture in both Hebrew and Aramaic (Targumic traditions) see Bruce D. Chilton, A Galilean Rabbi and His Bible: Jesus' Use of the Interpreted Scripture of His Time (Wilmington: Michael Glazier, 1984). It is very strange to see Chilton's name on the roster of Jesus Seminar "Fellows" (p. 534)!
60. Examples are cited below, section 6.
61. See esp. Anthony J. Saldarini, Matthew's Christian-Jewish Community (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), esp. ch. 3, "Matthew's Opponents: Israel's Leaders," 44-67. The "woe" pronouncement at Matt 23:15 may be an authentic saying of Jesus, and the reference to the making of converts may reflect actual attempts on the part of Pharisees to attract other Jews to Pharisaic teachings. On this passage see now Martin Goodman, Mission and Conversion: Proselytizing in the Religious History of the Roman Empire (Oxford: Clarendon, 1994) 69-72. (I owe this reference to A. T. Kraabel.)
62. A convenient summary of the evidence on the Pharisees, with extensive bibliography, is provided in Anthony J. Saldarini's article, "Pharisees," in The Anchor Bible Dictionary 5: 289-303.