Things Seen and True - review of Jesus and the Eyewitnesses

I find that a problem with certain books in theology, as with other specialized, is their tendency to resist all but the most perfunctory and uninterested (though not disinterested) reading--in short, they can be boring (as even the authors themselves sometimes admit). It comes as no surprise, then, that my primary aim when reading books such as Jesus and the Eyewitnesses (by Richard Bauckham, published by Eerdmans in 2006. A limited preview is available on Google Books), is to see if they can actually hold my attention. Baukham's book is a voluminous work of astonishing scope, and that volume is both a blessing and a curse, though more of the former if one has patience.

Image source: Google Books

Richard Bauckham is a professor of theology at the University of St. Andrew’s in Scotland, and this book was well received (other reviews/comments may be found here and here), winning the 2009 Michael Ramsey Prize for best theological work. His thesis can be found at the very end of the book: "[In summary,] if the interests of Christian faith and theology in the Jesus who really lived are to recognize the disclosure of God in the history of Jesus, then testimony is the theologically appropriate, indeed the theologically necessary way of access to the history of Jesus... It is in the Jesus of testimony that history and theology meet."

To understand this idea, a bit of context: There is a long-standing controversy over whether the Gospels represent a record of eyewitness testimony, and ever since the 1800s, it has been the consensus that they do not, having come down to us in a form that was compiled by the early Christian communities (mainly from their common oral heritage), not from eyewitness testimony. (This is a result of what biblical scholars call “form” and “source” criticism.) This would have made a satisfactory interpretation…except it seemingly contradicts the text of one Gospel itself:

“This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.” (Jn. 21:24)

Bauckham’s book aims to address the meaning of this statement. In 508 dense pages, he starts from a letter written by a church leader from Ephesus, and takes the reader through everything from lists of common names in Palestine, to studies on the anonymous characters (and why they are so) in the Gospel of Mark, to models of how oral tradition is developed (drawing on fields like anthropology and sociology). His work is painstaking, sometimes even difficult upon first reading, but there are rewards to be gained, most notably a fresh perspective on texts Catholics and other Christians hear in church week after week.

The passage I quoted from above is really at the culmination of this work, because of all the four Gospels, John’s account is the only one which makes a claim that this was based on recorded eyewitness testimony. Bauckham’s study works through how the early Church understood who wrote this Gospel, and examines the structure of the Gospel itself (a strategy he employs in this book extensively) to see how the author’s claim was made and strengthened. He reverts to the extra-biblical literature towards the end (making a detour in what I feel is one of the more important chapters of this book). He concludes with the hypothesis that it is more likely a disciple of Jesus named John the Elder, who may have also written the three epistles that bear John’s name, who penned the Gospel--not, as some Christians believe, John, the son of Zebedee and one of the Twelve Apostles.

The chapter on eyewitness memory and how it works, can stand apart and gives insight beyond the realm of biblical studies. I find that it offers new insights for those of us who are concerned not only with the preservation of our tangible history, like the buildings of Intramuros, but also with our intangible, oral ones. It discusses how eyewitness testimony is generally reliable and detailed, and goes through the workings of eyewitness memory and how it is remembered and recalled.

What Jesus and the Evangelists offers over-all, is a well-argued, carefully nuanced way of looking at the Gospels. Its conclusions are sharp and surprising, and in many ways, it poses a challenge to those who continue to unthinkingly assert the orthodoxies of modern biblical scholarship. However, it can also serve another, more important purpose; I recall an incident at a foreign theological school, where during a lecture on the doubtful authorship of certain passages in Paul’s letters, one older woman asked a remarkable question: “You know, I wonder if such views will be of any comfort to those back in the church where I come from.” I think Bauckham starts from the position of faith, and that is perhaps what makes the insights of the book more valuable: they are both theological and constructive. They challenge, but as a result, they strengthen.

As someone who believes that deepening one’s faith involves intellectual growth, I found much value in exploring this book. It forced me to return to familiar texts and ask, for example, why the woman who anointed Jesus was anonymous in one Gospel and named (Mary) in another. It made me wonder how valuable the stories of our ancestors, were in shaping our histories. Most of all, it allowed me to ask why indeed the Jesus story, as told by the eyewitnesses, became so powerful that it still wields a huge influence on us today. It may have been of the courage of the martyrs who lived and died for the faith. But it may have been because, in the end, these things were true.

(Image source: Google Books)

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