The Historical Jesus: Beyond Religious Tradition

Despite Jesus’s humble origins, no single individual in Western history has inspired more scholarship, speculation, or debate. The historical Jesus often diverges significantly from the figure presented through the lens of traditional religion. This course focuses on the man who lived over two thousand years ago in a remote province of the Roman Empire, stripping away centuries of theological layers to uncover the person beneath. In our exploration, we analyze theories that frame him alternatively as a political revolutionary, a divine spiritual man, an itinerant artisan, a philosopher, or a product of myth.