Q. As for the Son of Man material I remember Charlie Moule saying that we should not equate the phrase ‘the Son of Man’ with more generic uses of the phrase ‘ben Adam’ etc. not least because the phrase is actually bar enosh, in Aramaic and does not seem to be an allusion to Adam like the phrase ‘a son of humanity’ can be. He argued that the definite article in front of the phrase was retrospective referring to ‘the... Read more

Q. As time has gone on, I have found the translation as kingdom for malkuta/baseleia less and less plausible and helpful. The English word always conveys a place, whereas often the word seems to refer to an activity, on Jesus’ lips the final divine saving activity at last breaking into human history, particularly the history of God’s people. I don’t find the term ‘reign’ which is more static as helpful as ‘saving activity’ because the term is not talking about... Read more

Q. At the end of day, do you think John the Baptizer was originally a member of the Qumran community but then later went solo?   A. Yes, I think I do. At least I imagine that John spent some time with the Qumran community, perhaps as one of their young trainees! But then he evidently had a more specific prophetic calling to go and to summon people to prepare for the arrival of God’s promised salvation by repentance and... Read more

Q. Sometimes scholars tend to say that history and archaeology can help us with the context of Jesus, but not with the content of his story. I don’t agree with this limitation, but I will say that there are not a lot of direct connections between persons mentioned in the stories about Jesus, and archaeological evidence such as the Pilate inscription, but there are some. I’m still convinced the inscription on the James ossuary is genuine, as the epigraphers continue... Read more

Q. One of the more interesting historical nuggets in your book is about how Nazareth seems to have been a resettlement town for Judean Jews. Interestingly, the name of the town ‘Branch town’ or something like it, might suggest a connection with Bethlehem. Had you thought about that? I quite agree that the old chestnut that Jews in Galilee were more Hellenized and less pious seems to be clearly refuted by all the mikvehs that are being found in Galilee.... Read more

Q. Who do you see as the audience for this book? I ask because it has a very clear historical orientation in terms of focusing on what we can know with reasonable certainty about the historical Jesus. It is neither an exercise in apologetics nor in skepticism. A. I suppose I saw it as a course book for college students doing a course on ‘Religion, Philosophy and Society’, giving basic information about what we know about Jesus and about scholarly... Read more

  Q. David what prompted you to write this book, and particularly at this point in time when the pace of the publication of Jesus books seems to have slowed down considerably now that the Jesus Seminar is long gone and the rebuttal books seem fewer in number? A. The prompt was a completely unexpected invitation from the editors of the Cambridge University Press series Cambridge Studies in Religion Philosophy and Society – Professors Paul Mose and Chad Meister –... Read more

9/21/80 ‘To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven’– Eccles. 3.1 To all things worldly there is a beginning and a time to end, and then a new beginning is offered. In every age and culture human beings have felt the awesome presence of time. Our consciousness has been seared with the knowledge that all things worldly have a beginning and an end.  Our lives are bracketed by the twin moments of birth and... Read more

10/26/80 Psalm 103.7– “he made known his ways to Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.’  In the Old Testament, it is stated that the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.  That is one of the greatest verses in the Bible. But how much more wonderful are the words of Christ when he declares ‘I will love him and manifest myself to him.’ Even in our age, a closer walk with God will bring a... Read more

10/25/81 Ephes. 4.13—  ‘Until we all come unto a perfect/complete person, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ’ An intelligent person does not work without an aim.  God has a purpose for his universe. That purpose encompasses every part the universe, even the individual human being.  And He has definitely told us what our portion in this great purpose is.  To come unto perfection. Lest we misunderstand the ideal, he has defined perfection for us. It... Read more