Phase Three

Profiles of Jesus

As the Fellows of the Jesus Seminar neared the end of the twelve year period during which they systematically examined all of the words and deeds attributed to Jesus, attention turned to the question of what kind of figure was emerging from the evidence the Seminar had found to be most probably historically authentic.More than twenty Fellows presented papers over the two year period from 1996-1998 in which they either drew a profile of Jesus based on the evidence or critiqued important books on the historical Jesus by other scholars. The six critiques were published in Westar's academic journal, Forum, New Series 1,2 (Fall, 1998).

Profiles

In 2002, nine of the fifteen profiles written for Seminar sessions, together with three other profiles by Fellows that had previously appeared in Westar's popular magazine, The Fourth R, were published in Profiles of Jesus . This volume also contains an essay explaining the rationale for the Seminar's decision to start its work with the sayings of Jesus, and an essay on the historical Jesus and the Gospel of John..