Joe Bessler is the Robert Travis Peake Professor of Theology and Associate Dean at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He specializes in the interaction of religion and culture. He recently published a wonderful exploration of the three historic quests for the historical Jesus. He emphasizes Marcus’ contribution to that quest as identifying Jesus as a “Spirit person,” standing in the stream of mystical Judaism. Marcus was unapologetic about his insistence that Jesus’ experience of God, the Sacred, The More, shaped and informed Jesus and his vision of “the kingdom of God.”
Joe’s book, A Scandalous Jesus: How Three Historic Quests Changed Theology for the Better is an indispensable read for understanding the search for the historical Jesus over the centuries.
Joe will be in Beaverton, Oregon November 4-5 exploring Christianity, God, and the future of Religion, a program offering of the Jesus Seminar on the Road. I am not going to miss it.
