Religion Course: Jesus Scepticism

Religion and spirituality. Learn about systems of faith and worship.

COVID-19 update: arrangement of our courses

We are now delivering courses both online and in-person. Please check the delivery format for each class before you enrol.

Please note that course materials for all classes (excluding prescribed textbooks) are shared electronically within 48 hours of a course starting. Printing is not available.

Join us for a day-long workshop on Jesus. What are the Christian views? What are the secular views? We even address the resurgent debate on whether he existed at all. Learn about the many ways people in the past and today have thought about Jesus, and learn about how the debate over Jesus' very existence is becoming more mainstream and academic, as the methods of New Testament specialists are scrutinised by historians and philosophers (and themselves). We shall also expose the false dichotomy that people must be sure that Jesus either did or did not exist, introducing the increasingly fashionable ‘agnostic position’.

Aims

Learn to confidently describe and discuss the various confessional and secular views about Jesus. This course aims to introduce diverse ideas about Christian origins and theology.

Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• describe the various views about Jesus, and the methods for determining which should be preferred
• debate on the existence of Jesus
• apply epistemological concepts to other historical questions.

Content

Session 1: Christian Jesuses

• The Jesuses of the Bible
• The Jesuses of Christians

Session 2: Secular Jesuses

• The quest for the historical Jesus
• The Jesuses of contemporary secular scholars

Session 3: Questioning Jesus' historicity

• The sources and methods of the various stakeholders
• The best alternative hypothesis

Intended audience

Anyone with an interest in the various views about Jesus and in the current academic debate over his historicity.

Prerequisites

None

Delivery style

One-day workshop.