Jesus of Nazareth: Millenarian Prophet

268 Pages·1991·8.203 MB·English

by  Dale C. Allison

J6SVS OF KIA^ARGTH
MILU^ARIAK! PROPHtt
D ale C. A llison
Fortress Press
M in n ea po lis
JESUS OF NAZARETH
Mil IENARLAN PROPHET
Copyright © 1998 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Except for bncf quota­
tions in critical articles or reviews, no pan of tais book may be reproduced in any
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Biblical quotations from the New Revised Standard Version Bible are copyright
O 1989 by die Division of Christian Education of the National Council of
Churches of Christ in the United States of Amcrica. Used by permission. Biblical
quotations from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible arc copyright ID 1946,
1952, and 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission.
Book and cover design by Joseph Bonyata.
Cover art: Cristo Benedicettte. Martini, Simone (1284-1344). Pinacoteca, Vati­
can Museums, Vatican State. Courtesy of SEF/Art Resource, N.Y. Used by per­
mission.
l ibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-PubUcanon
Allison, Dale C.
Jesus of Nazareth : millenarian prophet / Dale C Allison,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-8006-3144-7 (alk. paper)
1. Jesus Christ—Prophetic officc. 2. Millenn:alism—Palestine—History
3. Jesus Christ—Historicity. I. Title.
BT252.A44 1998 O'NEILL LIBRARY'
232.9'08 dc2i BOSTON COLLEGE* 98 21602
CIP
©The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of Ameri­
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C0KII£K1IS
Preface.................................he
Abbreviations.................................xi
1. The Jesus Tradition and the Jesus of History:
How to Find a Millenarian Prophet.................................1
Introduction.................................1
An Imaginary Case Study.................................7
The Method of John Dominic Crossan.......................
Quandaries, Alternatives, Paradigms..........................
The Best Research Program.................................39
Themes and Rhetorical Strategies...............................
Running the Gauntlet....................................51
Some Results.................................58
Speculations on the Evolution of the Tradition..........
Unscientific Postscript...................................75
Dctachcd Note
Some Common Features of Millenarianism.................
2. The Fscharology of Jesus:
Still Ratios after All These Years.................................95
Introduction.................................95
Marcus Borg against E. P. Sanders...........................
The Case against Marcus Borg.................................113
The Case against Stephen Patterson.................................
Some Particulars.................................129
vin • Jesus of Nazareth
The Final Judgment.................................131
The Resurrection of the Dead...................................136
The Restoration of Israel.................................141
The Great Tribulation.................................145
Imminence...................................147
The Language of Millenarian Eschatology.........................152
Concluding Observations.................................169
3. Jesus as Millenarian Ascetic:
Deleting a Consensus.................................172
Current Opinion....................................172
Sexual Desire in the Jesus Tradition.................................175
The Origin of the Complexes.................................182
Renunciation and Eschatology.................................188
The Functions of Jesus’ Eschatological
Asceticism...................................197
Final Remarks.................................211
Epilogue.................................217
Index of Ancient Sources....................................221
Index of Modem Authors 247
PREFACE
I ustu to tell friends that 1 wanted to write a book on the histori­
cal Jesus, but that I would not know enough or be wise enough to do
so until I was in my fifties. Well, I am still in my forties, and here is a book
on Jesus. The reason is not that 1 have gained sufficient knowledge and
wisdom but rather the opposite. The years have bestowed some humility
and taught me that, partly because of an inability to make up my mind
about so many things, I shall never be able to write the sort of thorough
tome I once envisaged. I shall instead always be limited to seeing and
wnring about only fleering glimpses of the past—and to making guesses
about all too much. These three chapters, then, are fragments that have
fallen from the ruins of a project that the builder has abandoned.
Chapter 1 sets out to discover how we might come to knowledge of
the historical Jesus and ends up concluding that the tradition about him
is best understood on the supposition that he was, among other things,
what sociologists and anthropologists call a millenarian prophet. Chap­
ter 2 considers what we can know about Jesus’ millenarian vision and
how his cschatological language should be interpreted. Chapter 3 argues
that Jesus was, despite so much written to the contrary, a sort of mil­
lenarian ascetic whose words and behavior are illuminated through com­
parative materials.
As a whole, this book functions as a belated prologue to my earlier
contribution. The F.nd of the Ages Has Come: An F^rty Interpretation of
the Passion and Resurrection ofJ esus (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985; Edin­
burgh: T. & T. Clark, 1987). In that volume I sought an explanation for
the so-called realized eschatology of rhe New Testament. During gradu­
ate days the study of millenarian movements persuaded me that the early
Christian interpretation of the death and vindication of Jesus in cschato-
IX
x ♦ Jesus of Nazareth
logical categories was due in the first placc to a post-Easter reinterpreta-
tion o! Jesus’ own eschatological prophecies. Of that I remain persuaded.
But the book’s reception h3s disappointed. The problem is not that it has
gone unnoticed bur that, when it has been referred to, the cause has been
for almost everything except the main thesis and the comparative materi­
als on which it is based. It is my hope that the present volume will be more
persuasive than its predecessor and encourage other students of Jesus and
early Christianity to pay more attention to worldwide millenarian move­
ments and comparative messianism.
All three chapters appear here for the first time. The opening chapter,
however, grows out of two panel discussions, both moderated by Amy-
Jill Levine. Ihe first was held at the SECSOR meeting in Macon, Geor­
gia, in March 1997, the second at the annual AAR/SBI meeting in San
Francisco in November of the same year. On both occasions I enjoyed
profitable encounters with John Dominic Crossan and Gcrd I.udcmann.
Quotations from the Bible are most often from the RSV and NRSV,
bur 1 have sometimes offered my own translations.
I should like to thank John Barclay, John J. Collins, W. L). Davies, and
Amy-Jill Irvine for commenting on portions of the manuscript. The
whole was read by Joel Marcus, and to him I dedicate this book. His en­
couragement first led me to think 1 should write it. His learned criticism
much unproved the final product. And his good humor and friendship
made life easier during a most difficult and confusing time.
ABBREVIATIONS
AGJU Arbcrtcn zur Geschichte des antikcn Judenturns und des
Urchristenrums
ALGHJ Arbciten zur Litcratur und Geschichte des helienistischen
Judenrums
ATR Anglican Theological Review
BBB Bonner biblische Bcirragc
BETL Bibliotheca ephemeridum theologicarum Lovaniensium
Bib Bihlica
BR Bible Review
BIB Biblical Theology Bulletin
BZ Biblische Zeitschrift
B7NW Bcihcftc zur Zeitschrift fur die ncutestamentlichc
Wissenschaft
CENT Conicctanca Biblica, New Testament Scries
CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly
q j Corpus Inscriptionum Judaicarum
CR1NT Compendia Rerum ludaicarum ad Novum Tesramenrum
DSD Dea Sea Discoveries
EB Echter Bibel
EKK Evangclisch-katholischer Kommentar
£77. F.phemerides theologicae bovanienses
ExpT Expository Times
FRLANT Forschungcn zur Religion und I.itcratur des Alten und
Neuen Testamenrs
HeyJ Heythrop Journal
IITKNT Herders Theologischcr Kommentar zum Neuen Testament
HTR Haward Theological Review
IBS Irish Biblical Studies
XI