Teaching the Historical Jesus: Issues and Exegesis ed. by Zev Garber (review)

Zev Garber draws together an exceptional group of twenty scholars, who, in turn, contribute essays on the benefits, challenges, and issues pertaining to teaching the historical Jesus in introductory college classes. The enriching conversation Garber facilitates includes a broad range of topics with a special emphasis on the pedagogical implications of stressing the Jewish context and identity of the historical Jesus. How Jesus figures into the contributors’ teaching provides the focus of the majority of essays, complimented by extended descriptions of their institutions’ religious or nonreligious affiliations, student characteristics and demographics, and curricular structures. What emerges is a refreshing compendium of perspectives on how Jesus provides an effective portal for a broad array of learning opportunities, while simultaneously provoking certain pedagogical challenges.

The book is remarkable for the rich array of contributing scholars, for the diversity of perspectives they represent, and the spectrum of academic contexts in which they teach. They work in diverse educational institutions, not only research and liberal arts universities, but also Jewish, Christian, and denominationally unaffiliated institutions. Each contributor focuses on how the teaching-learning exchange that takes place in their own classrooms is both challenged and benefited by curriculum that focuses on the historical Jesus. As such, the scholars who contribute are not necessarily leading voices in historical Jesus research (though there are exceptions), but rather, exemplary academics who treat the ethics, science, and art of teaching with the utmost importance.

Drawing on over four decades of experience teaching in the context of a Judaic Studies Program, Garber insists that “no one contemporary manifesto can be superimposed on the Jesus learning exchange.” Garber argues that the Jewishness of Jesus is a prominent feature of quests for the historical Jesus, and provides a sufficient entry point for exploring Jewish topics in the classroom. This stands in opposition to some of the more traditional ways Jesus has been discussed in the classroom, specifically as the “Christ of faith” who is often invoked to highlight anti-Jewish and antisemitic sentiments, similar to what one might encounter in age-old Good Friday sermons. According to Garber, teaching the historical Jesus provides a prime opportunity for Jews and Christians to explore Jewish beliefs and practices in the context of both Second Temple Judaism and Judea under Rome. Garber’s article includes a description of his own teaching context at a two-year community college in Los Angeles, which apparently provides an ample number of opportunities to discuss the historical Jesus with students. His own view of the Jesus of history is as a “proto-pharisaic rabbi-nationalist closely aligned with the anti-Roman zealot insurrection,” which regularly provokes student discussions and debates given the controversial nature of the view. Garber stages an engaging conversation and stands out as a leading voice in resisting age-old prejudices and in seeking to forge a new path.

Rochelle Millen reflects on growing up in a Jewish home that was subject to both positive and negative impressions of Christians. Millen acknowledges that any education she received about Christianity before college was largely in opposition to Judaism. Conversely, the students Millen now teaches at a university affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America bring with them misconceptions of Judaism that were largely taught in opposition to Christianity. These myths and misconceptions are epitomized in students’ misunderstandings of Jesus. As Millen argues, “Were I to encapsulate the central misconception about Jesus in the undergraduate classroom, I would say it is that Jesus was a Christian who opposed the Judaism of his time and bettered its alleged narrowness, turning particular—often supposedly legalistic—practices into universal principles of love. Jesus was a feminist, while first-century Judaism was anti-woman. The God of Judaism is the God of wrath—vindictive and angry—while the God of Jesus is overflowing with love. These myths pervade the consciousness of Christian young adults (and many older ones as well), leading not only to a superficial understanding of their...