A review of Dale Allison’s forthcoming book, Constructing Jesus: Memory, Imagination, and History, illustrates both in its post details and subsequent comments how far removed Historical Jesus studies are from the way history is practiced in other (nonbiblical) fields.
These comments of mine on this review address
- starting assumptions of the reviewer
- problems left hanging by the reviewer’s discussion of Allison’s book
- the games played by HJ (Historical Jesus) historians when they claim they are doing what other (nonbiblical) historians do
- the game of avoidance used by HJ historians in response to radical critiques of their assumptions and methods.