EUGENE–John Dominic Crossan, one of the most prolific and influential scholars in the ongoing debate about the historical Jesus, will deliver the University of Oregon’s Gaston Lecture in Christianity at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22, in Room 175 of the Knight Law Center, 1515 Agate St.

Scholars have long been interested in trying to reconstruct as much as can be known historically about Jesus (as opposed to biblical stories and statements of religious faith), according to Daniel K. Falk, UO assistant professor of ancient Judaism and biblical studies.

"This attempt is currently one of the most heated and fascinating religious topics," he says. "Scholars have used increasingly complex criteria to sift out the meager reliable historical data, and their efforts have gone through several phases including disillusionment with the whole task as virtually impossible."

Falk says different research methods and assumptions lead to very different and conflicting pictures of Jesus, often strikingly at odds with the traditional Christian view of Jesus.

"Many popular best-sellers and tabloid articles have appeared, some claiming radical new ‘truths’ about Jesus while others are more straightforwardly trying to communicate to the general public the latest controversial views of scholars about Jesus," Falk explains. "The reactions of the public to all of this range from glee at the apparent deconstruction of Christianity, to defensiveness at the seeming affront against the faith, to a wholehearted embracing of new perspectives in Christian piety."

The problem, he notes, is that most of the public, including those fascinated by the subject and devouring all of the popular books, have little understanding of the nature of the scholarly task that produces these new and conflicting pictures of Jesus. The methods and presuppositions used determine the conclusions reached, and scholars disagree sharply on the methods and how they are to be applied.

"Professor Crossan will address the critical question of method in his talk, explaining the distinctive interdisciplinary method that characterizes his own research," Falk says. "His talk should be of interest and value to those with any interest in who Jesus was, even if they disagree with Crossan’s own conclusions."

Crossan, a DePaul University professor emeritus of religious studies, was co-chair of the famous Jesus Seminar from its founding in 1985 to 1996. He has received awards for scholarly excellence from both the American Academy of Religion in 1989 and DePaul University in 1991 and 1995.

He is the author of 18 books on the historical Jesus and early Christianity. Four of the most recent ones have been national religious bestsellers for a combined total of 22 months. Those include "The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant" (1991); "Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography" (1994); "Who Killed Jesus: Exposing the Roots of Anti-Semitism in the Gospel Story of the Death of Jesus" (1995); and "The Birth of Christianity" (1998).

Crossan’s work also has been translated into 10 foreign languages, including Korean, Chinese and Japanese. He has lectured to lay and scholarly audiences across the Unites States as well as in Ireland and England, Australia and New Zealand, Scandinavia and Finland.

He has been interviewed on more than 150 radio programs and on television programs in Great Britain and the United States. These include Weekend TV’s "Two Thousand Years of Christianity," Channel 4’s "The Real Jesus Christ," the BBC’s "Lives of Jesus" in Great Britain and many of A&E’s "Mysteries of the Bible" segments, PBS’s "From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians" and ABC’s "Peter Jennings Reporting: The Search for Jesus."

For further information or disability accommodations, call the UO Department of Religious Studies, (541) 346-4971, or send e-mail to <tnash@oregon.uoregon.edu>.

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