Honest to Jesus with Dr. David Galston

In Honest to Jesus, Bob Funk makes three moves. He looks back on the tradition of the historical Jesus, he re-frames the question about the historical Jesus, and he looks to the future value of Jesus in a post-Christian age. In the process of examining these main themes, the book delves into the basics of biblical criticism, raising many problems about the Bible and the biblical worldview, and centers the primacy of parables when it comes to Jesus. Written in plain English, the book works well as an introduction to biblical studies and to the quest for the historical Jesus. All who wishes to deepen their understanding of these two key subjects will benefit from the course.

Instructor

David Galston is the Executive Director of the Westar Institute and the author of three books, Archives and the Event of God (McGill-Queens Press, 2010), Embracing the Human Jesus (Polebridge Press, 2012), and God’s Human Future (Polebridge Press, 2016). He holds a B.A. from the University of Winnipeg, a M.Div. from Vancouver School of Theology, and a Ph.D. from McGill University. David works cooperatively with the Westar Board of Directors and academic seminars and helps to recruit scholars, participates in conference planning, and assists in defining the development and direction of the Westar Institute.

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Required Text

Robert Funk, Honest to Jesus available at your local independent bookstore or on Amazon.

‍The Zoom link for live classes will be available in the Classes tab.

Course Outline:

WEEK ONE:  The Problem of the Historical Jesus: Prologue - Chapter 3

The opening chapters introduce the problem of the historical Jesus and set the “ground rules” for the quest. There is discussion about how the iconoclastic human Jesus became the icon of Christian faith.

WEEK TWO: Historical Jesus Solutions: Chapter 4 - Chapter 6

In these chapters, there is a short review of the history of the quest for the historical Jesus. The review includes commentary on the purpose of biblical criticism. This leads to examining basic problems in Greek translation and Bible formation.

WEEK THREE: Sayings, not Identity: Chapter 7 - Chapter 9

The search for the historical Jesus is founded, for Funk, on the question, what did Jesus really say and how did Jesus talk his subject. These questions are distinct from past quests and still uncharacteristic of historical Jesus studies today.

WEEK FOUR: Parables and Aphorisms: Chapter 10-11

For these chapters, we will review Form Criticism and its importance in the effort to identify the voice of Jesus among the fragments of his sayings.

WEEK FIVE: The Tradition: Chapter 12 - Chapter 14

The resurrection tradition related to Jesus is no simple matter. Funk examines and compares several presentations from both within and outside the Christian canon. We encounter the first formative expressions of Jesus as the Christian kerygma.

WEEK SIX:  The Future: Chapter 16 - Epilogue

Examining narratives about the divine birth of Jesus gives us a clue as to how Jesus was made into (a) God. The ancient universe was the backdrop of the divine Jesus. What is possible for the Jesus tradition against the backdrop of our modern universe?

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Scholarships available:

If you are in need of a scholarship, please contact Celene Lillie at academyinfo@westarinstitute.org.

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