About the Book
Jesus remains a popular figure in contemporary culture
and Allison remains one of our best interpreters. He speaks around the country in a
variety of venues on matters related to the study of the Historical Jesus. In his new book,
he focuses on the historical Jesus and eschatology, concluding that the Jesus was not a
Hellenistic wonder worker or teacher of pious morality but an apocalyptic prophet. In an
opening chapter that is worth the price of admission, Allison astutely and engagingly
captures the history of the search for the historical Jesus. He observes that many
contemporary readings of Jesus shift the focus away from traditional theological,
Christological, and eschatological concerns. In provocative fashion, He takes on not only
the Jesus Seminar but also other Jesus interpreters such as N.T. Wright and Marcus Borg.
Table of Contents:
1. Secularizing Jesus
2. The Problem of Audience
3. The Problem of Gehenna
Excursus I: Percy Bysshe Shelley and the Historical Jesus
4. Apocalyptic, Polemic, Apologetics
5. Torah, Urzeit, Endzeit
6. Resurrecting Jesus
Excursus II: Joseph of Arimathea
Excursus III: The Disciples and Bereavement
Index of Scripture
Index of Modern Names
About the Author :
Dale C. Allison, Jr., is the Richard J. Dearborn Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary, USA, and the author of many books, including Constructing Jesus: Memory, Imagination, and History and the International Critical Commentary on James.
Review :
'...a truly amazing tour de force.' 'Allison is a fair and judicious scholar, who is prepared to interact as much with evangelical scholarship as with more liberal-minded critics and will not dismiss anything out of hand without a thorough examination. This is a scholar's book, but will bring great rewards to those who persevere in reading it.'
"This is the most interesting and illuminating piece of writing on the resurrection of Jesus that I have ever read." -Dr. Joel Marcus, Professor of New Testament & Christian Origins, Duke Divinity School
"Dale Allison is one the very best Jesus scholars of our time. The six essays in this volume show him to be the master of the pertinent Gospel and early Jewish texts, modern biblical scholarship, and everything from patristics to modern psychology and theology. Moreover, they sparkle with his intellectual independence, fresh insights, and good judgment." --Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., Weston Jesuit School of Theology, Cambridge, MA
"Dale Allison is one of the very few scholars today to whom each us must listen. Some think Jesus was bodily raised, some think resurrection is the explanation of encounters with Jesus after his death, and others think it is all balderdash. Resurrecting Jesus is one book that honest people must read. Belief in the resurrection, as Allison argues, is less a product of eschatological dissonance and more likely the cause of that dissonance, and resurrection language among Jews (as others have argued) transcends belief in the afterlife. This debate is not likely to die out soon and it will surely take place with Resurrecting Jesus in hand." Scot McKnight, Ph.D. Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies North Park University
"In these six essays, Dale Allison addresses some of the most important issues in contemporary research on the historical Jesus. The essays consistently raise and explore the theological issues that are related to the historical debates. Allison's breadth of knowledge, independence of judgment, and intellectual candor make these essays as stimulating as they are refreshing. The essays are a worthy companion volume to his earlier Jesus of Nazareth: Millenarian Prophet."--Gregory E. Sterling, Associate Dean of the Faculty, Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins, The Univeristy of Notre Dame
"Professor Dale Allison's learned work offers an impressive contribution to the most important questions regarding Jesus and Christian origins. Rich with literary and historical detail, finely nuanced in its assessment of complicted and often very contentious issues, and here and there written from an autobiographical perspective, Resurrecting Jesus is a joy to read. Beginning students and learned scholars alike will gain much from this engaging book." --Craig A. Evans, Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Acadia Divinity College, Wolfvillle, Nova Scotia
"Dale Allison has given us a fine and penetrating new assessment of some vexatious old problems. With characteristic candour he has blown fresh air into the discussions of Jesus and his audiences, and the themes of judgement, the Torah and apocalyptic, not to mention the fantasy of a ‘third quest'. But above all, by drawing on widespread evidence of reports of post-mortem apparitions and responses to bereavement, he has broken new ground in the study of the claim that Jesus was raised from the dead. For its carefulness in respect of what an historian may or may not legitimately claim, as well as for its combination of vigour and rigour, this book is a delight. Very hard to put down!"--David Catchpole, Professor Emeritus of Theological Studies, University of Exeter, UK
"Dale Allison has been one of the most stimulating and provocative contributors to the contemporary debate about (the historical) Jesus. You may not agree with all his interpretations of motifs and texts, but you certainly cannot ignore them, since they are invariably backed by extensive knowledge of historical and social, textual and bibliographic data, and they challenge any reader to look afresh at the evidence, and often from a new angle. Here he dispels the myth of a 'no quest for Jesus' between 1907 and 1953, presses the implications of Jesus having said different things to different people, challenges the refusal of the very idea that Jesus could have believed in hell and the polarisation of the debate about Jesus' attitude to the law, and in an almost book length treatment of Jesus' resurrection dispels any easy assumption that the debate on Jesus' resurrection can be reduced to a sequence of simple either-ors. And all this with some fascinating excursions into the byways and cul-de-sacs of the quest and an engagingly fresh and self-critical honesty."--James D.G. Dunn, Emeritus Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at the University of Durham, England.
"In this important collection of six essays, Allison (holding firm to his conception of Jesus as a millennial prophet) deals in a masterful way with several important critical issues and conundrums in the teaching of Jesus, the Gospels and modern Jesus scholarship, producing consistently competent, insightful and convincing results. In dialog with an amazing number of post-enlightenment authors and an unusually large array of patristic works, Allison exhibits a striking degree of critical candor and historical humility in pursuing his historical and exegetical inquiries, providing occasional autobiographical glimpses of his own intellectual struggles and faith commitment. Since excellent books are rare, I would counsel you to go, sell all that thou hast, and buy this one!"--David E. Aune, Professor of New Testament, University of Notre Dame
