The Resurrection of Jesus Christ as Saving Event and as ‘Object” of Historical Research

Extract

In November 1981 I was asked to speak as a historian to the Karl- Heim-Gesellschaft in Schloss Craheim in Germany on ‘The Resurrection of Jesus Christ’, and specifically to consider the question of the Resurrection both as an act of salvation and as a matter which admits of historical research. This request placed me in a dilemma as I was faced with the task of making not only historical but also theological statements based on the Easter texts in the Synoptic Gospels. The occasion seemed to me, however, to be a suitable opportunity to say something about the types of historical questioning and about the customary methods used in our branch of scholarship, and thereby to show the difficulties in applying such questionings and methods to texts which as ‘Word of God’ proclaim acts of salvation. The following paper is therefore concerned with the legitimate aims and limits of historical research, and is also designed to show the application of historical method to the Scriptures. The paper is substantially that which was delivered to the Karl-Heim-Gesellschaft, and may serve as a reminder that, when theologians claim to speak as historians, they cannot ignore the customary methods used in historical scholarship. The procedure is briefly this.