The Heart Of A Scholar with John Dominic Crossan

If you’ve been here with us for a while, you’ll know how much we like to highlight context and historical perspective when reading the Bible. You’ll also know we often reference and recommend reading the work of scholar, John Dominic Crossan. We’re so honored to have the opportunity to chat with him about the historical Jesus and what that means for Christians today. 

John Dominic Crossan is an Irish-American biblical scholar with two-year post-doctoral diplomas in exegesis from Rome’s Pontifical Biblical Institute and in archeology from Jerusalem’s École Biblique. He has been a mendicant friar and a catholic priest, a Co-Chair of the Jesus Seminar, and a President of the Society of Biblical Literature. His focus, whether scholarly or popular, whether in books, videos, or lectures, is on the historical Jesus as the norm and criterion for the entire Christian Bible. Crossan’s method is to situate biblical texts within the reconstructed matrix of their own their own genre and purpose, their own time and place, and to hear them accurately for then before accepting or rejecting them for now. 

Crossan explains how interpretation of translation can make a big difference in understanding the meaning behind biblical texts. ‘Gospel,’ for example, means ‘good news.’ But we can totally see how different people can interpret what would be good news to them! Crossan is excellent at showing how learning more and reading these texts as a scholar can be a faith building exercise as opposed to taking everything literally from an evangelical lens.

Resources:

• How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian by John Dominic Crossan
• Other books by John Dominic Crossan: https://www.harpercollins.com/collections/books-by-john-dominic-crossan 
• Does classes with Trip Fuller of Home Brewed Christianity https://trippfuller.com/2023/01/23/resource-page-easter-stories-w-john-dominic-crossan/ 

Join the online community Sanctuary Collective. 

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