Crossan

• Crossan's 3 vectors

  1. cross-cultural anthropology
  2. Grecco-Roman society
  3. Literary Vector
• literary vector

  gospel of Thomas - aims to remove potential bias from the narrative by using texts that are not included in the traditional narrative of the bible
• Cross-cultural anthropology

  looking at the Mediterranean society at the time - Jesus lived in an area of the world which had been invaded and then reinvaded multiple times across history - it bears the marks of each invasion.

  it is a valuable port to hold as it allows you to transport goods with ease, and it also has rich and fertile land, meaning that when it is conquered it is held.
• Greco-Roman society 


  Jesus was born into this culture so he would have grown up believing in these gods and their power. This means that his teachings may reflect some of these beliefs. For example, if we look at the story of Lazarus, where Jesus raises him from the dead, there are similarities between this and the Greek myth of Orpheus who goes down to hell to rescue Eurydice. The difference being that Jesus does not need to go down to hell but instead just speaks the word and Lazarus comes back to life.
• criticisms of this approach


  it strips religion out of the search for the historical jesus, religion needs to be present somewhere, yet Crossan strips it out
• who does Crossan view Jesus as

  a Social revolutionary
• where does Crossan get the proof of that view from

  • Jesus flipping the tables in the temple - the action that got him killed