Jesus Seminar
American biblical research project / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Jesus Seminar was a group of about 50 biblical criticism scholars and 100 laymen founded in 1985 by Robert Funk that originated under the auspices of the Westar Institute.[1][2] The seminar was very active through the 1980s and 1990s, and into the early 21st century.
Formation | 1985; 39 years ago (1985) |
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Founder | Robert Funk |
Dissolved | 2006; 18 years ago (2006) |
Purpose | To decide their collective view of the historicity of the deeds and sayings of Jesus of Nazareth |
Methods | Votes with colored beads |
Membership | 150 |
Parent organization | Westar Institute |
Members of the Seminar used votes with colored beads to decide their collective view of the historicity of the deeds and sayings of Jesus of Nazareth.[3] They produced new translations of the New Testament and apocrypha to use as textual sources. They published their results in three reports: The Five Gospels (1993),[4] The Acts of Jesus (1998),[5] and The Gospel of Jesus (1999).[6] They also ran a series of lectures and workshops in various U.S. cities.
The work of The Jesus Seminar continued after the death of its founder (2005) and was succeeded by two seminars: The Seminar on God and the Human Future and The Christianity Seminar. The latter published its first report in 2022, After Jesus Before Christianity: A Historical Exploration of the First Two Centuries of Jesus Movements.[7] The seminars are the scholarly program units of Westar Institute. Westar publishes a bi-monthly magazine for the general public, The Fourth R: An Advocate for Religious Literacy.