The Jesus Quest: The Danger from Within

The Jesus Quest: The Danger from Within

This work examines the historical and philosophical strengths and/or weaknesses of current evangelical approaches espousing some forms of post-modernistic historiography and its resultant search for the "historical Jesus." It demonstrates the marked undermining impact these efforts have had on the biblical text, especially the Gospels, as well inerrancy issues. It compares the Jesus Seminar's approach with current evangelical practices of searching in terms of their evidential apologetic impact on the trustworthiness of the Gospels. A number of well-known, contemporary evangelical scholars are involved in the so-called "Third Quest" for the historical Jesus. This book raises serious questions about such an endeavor. CONTRIBUTORS: Norman L. Geisler, Ph.D., Chancellor, Veritas Evangelical Seminary; Distinguished Professor of Apologetics and Theology F. David Farnell, Ph.D., Senior Professor of New Testament, The Master's Seminary Richard G. Howe, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy and Apologetics, Southern Evangelical Seminary Thomas A. Howe, Ph.D., Professor of Bible and Biblical Languages, Southern Evangelical Seminary William E. Nix, Ph.D., Professor of Historical and Theological Studies, Veritas Evangelical Seminary William C. Roach, Ph.D. candidate, Co-Author of Defending Inerrancy Dennis M. Swanson, D.Min., Vice President for Library and Educational Assessment Norman L. Geisler is a world-renown Christian apologist who has written over 80 books. He is Chancellor of Veritas Evangelical Seminary in Murrieta, California. Dr. Geisler was a key founder of the historic International Council on Biblical Inerrancy (1978) as well as the International Council on Biblical Hermeneutics (1982). F. David Farnell is Senior Professor of New Testament at The Master's Seminary. He was co-editor of The Jesus Crisis (1998) as well as contributor to other books (e.g. Three Views on Origins of the Synoptic Gospels, 2002). He specializes in the impact of historical-critical philosophical ideologies in New Testament Criticism and Interpretation. From Dr. Joseph Holden, President, Veritas Evangelical Seminary, says: "In The Jesus Quest , Drs. Geisler and Farnell, along with their competent array of contributing scholars, draw a line in the sand by offering a masterful treatment of the alarming skeptical trend permeating evangelical scholarship and its graduate institutions. This work is a timely and sobering wake-up call to evangelical faculties everywhere as well as to Bible college and evangelical seminary presidents and academic deans who are responsible for overseeing them!" Dr. Richard Land, President, Southern Evangelical Seminary, says: "The Jesus Quest 's subtitle "The Danger from Within" emphasized that very serious threats to the total truthfulness of Scripture have risen within the confines of "evangelical" scholarship. In raising the alarm in The Jesus Quest, Geisler and Farnell have taken on the role of biblical prophets, the "watchmen on the wall" who when they saw danger or peril, sounded the alarm. Geisler and Farnell, having discerned the threat from within the walls of evangelicalism, have sounded a clarion call of warning.  Thankfully, they have done far, far more. They have not only diagnosed the threat, but they have also shown how dangerous such threat have been to true biblical orthodoxy in the past and, most importantly, how to combat and defeat these threats intellectually and spiritually. Far too often, such books diagnose the disease or malady, but provide little or no positive prescription or treatment to cure the sickness and return the Body of Christ to full health. The Jesus Quest not only says, "Here is the threat," but also declares, 'Here are the answers.'" From Dr. John MacArthur, President, The Master's Seminary, says: "The hard-fought victory of ICBI proved to be short-lived and of precious little lasting consequence . . . . Now a new surge of old-style academic skepticism is rolling in again . . . . The men who have written the essays in this volume see the heaving swells on the horizon and are braced for the onslaught . . . . My hope is that these essays will help rally a new generation of young evangelicals to stand together in a sober-minded, steadfast, earnest defense of biblical inerrancy and true biblical scholarship . . . . Tolle lege ." From Dr. Albert Mohler, President, The Southern Baptist Seminary, says: "I am thankful for The Jesus Quest . In this book, Geisler and Farnell examine the particular historical and philosophical approaches being used in the recent speculations of man set over the eternal self-revelation of God. Key to understanding the Bible and its presentation of Jesus as the Christ is a proper hermeneutical humility that submits to God's Word by taking him at his word in Scripture. To this end, Geisler and Farnell argue convincingly for the reliability of the New Testament books, its writers, and the God who inspired them. Along the way, they hel