Jesus the Purifier: John's Gospel and the Fourth Quest for the Historical Jesus

by Craig L. Blomberg

The third quest for the historical Jesus has reached an impasse. But a fourth quest is underway--one that draws from a heretofore largely neglected John's Gospel.

In this book, renowned New Testament scholar Craig Blomberg advances the idea that John is a viable and valuable source for studying the historical Jesus. The data from John should be integrated with that of the Synoptics, which will yield additional insights into Jesus's emphases and ministry. Blomberg begins by reviewing the first three quests, reassessing both their contributions and their shortcomings. He then discusses the emerging consensus regarding demonstrably historical portions of John, which are more numerous than usually assumed. Peeling back the layers, we discover in Jesus's ministry an emphasis on purity and purification. The Synoptics corroborate this discovery, specifically in Jesus's meals with sinners. Blomberg then explores the practical and contemporary applications of Jesus the purifier, including the "contagious holiness" that Jesus's followers can spread to others.

408 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 28, 2023

About the author

Dr. Craig Blomberg joined the faculty of Denver Seminary in 1986. He is currently a distinguished professor of New Testament.

Dr. Blomberg completed his Ph.D. in New Testament, specializing in the parables and the writings of Luke-Acts, at Aberdeen University in Scotland. He received an MA from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a BA from Augustana College. Before joining the faculty of Denver Seminary, he taught at Palm Beach Atlantic College and was a research fellow in Cambridge, England with Tyndale House.

In addition to writing numerous articles in professional journals, multi-author works and dictionaries or encyclopedias, he has authored or edited 20 books, including The Historical Reliability of the Gospels, Interpreting the Parables, commentaries on Matthew, 1 Corinthians and James, Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey, From Pentecost to Patmos: An Introduction to Acts through Revelation, Christians in an Age of Wealth: A Biblical Theology of Stewardship, Neither Poverty nor Riches: A Biblical Theology of Possessions, Making Sense of the New Testament: Three Crucial Questions, Preaching the Parables, Contagious Holiness: Jesus' Meals with Sinners, and Handbook of New Testament Exegesis.

Reviews

[Jack R.]

Blomberg's book is a two-for-one deal: the first half is a meticulous, critically conservative account of the various quests for the historical Jesus since the 19th-century. He contends that we are potentially at the dawn of a fully-fledged "fourth quest," in which studies will break from scholarly tradition and more deeply incorporate the data located in the Gospel of John, now forcefully and persuasively argued as being historically accurate by a variety of Johannine and non-Johannine specialists, in constructing a historical Jesus. The second portion is an extended commentary on the motif of purity in in John's Gospel to document the historical core of the text's presentation of Jesus, with the primary method being the criterion of authenticity. This is not a pathbreaking work, but a great synthesis of hitherto research, a detailed proposal on the role of purity in Jesus' career and words, as well as an exciting call for future scholarship (and discipleship).

I hope Blomberg's reputation as an apologist does not dissuade potential readers from all corners of the New Testament guild to pick up "Jesus the Purifier" and seriously consider its depiction of John's Jesus as based in history rather than late-1st-century AD theologizing.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blomberg, a well-known and prolific evangelical NT scholar, argues in this book for the importance of a fourth quest which engages with the gospel of John. For the bulk of the book, Blomberg surveys the three quests for the historical Jesus, offering incisive comments along the way as well as some concluding critical remarks. What we discover is that the gospel of John has been woefully neglected in historical Jesus scholarship. Hence, with that in mind, in the last third or so of the book, the author walks the reader through the gospel of John, focusing on the historical Jesus, specifically, Jesus as the purifier who truly makes people pure.

While his critical survey of the quests may not benefit the more well-versed reader entirely, its clarity and overall thoroughness adds value to the student or even the scholar who is interested in Blomberg's specific take on the quests. On the other hand, his exploration of the historical Jesus in John, while, as the author says, is merely programmatic, it is also very insightful and compellingly demonstrates that giving attention to John's gospel really could move the quest for the historical Jesus in a new and more substantive direction. For this alone, this will be a volume worth consulting for any serious student or scholar of the historical Jesus.