The University of St. Thomas

Jesus in History | Historical Jesus

Research Resources 

For further help, contact Jan Malcheski, Theology Reference Librarian at Ireland Library.

REFERENCE SOURCES
(See also Basic Bible resources handouts)  

Life of Jesus Research
IRL Ref BT 301.9 .E944 1996
Revised edition of annotated bibliography. Scholarly but often helpful in identifying articles/books with
historical slant.  

Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluation of the State of Current Research. Ed. Bruce Chilton
and Craig A. Evans.
IRL Ref BT 303.2 .S78 1998
Recent survey with bibliographies, see above. Sections by different scholars often arguing their own views.

Synopsis of the Four Gospels (K. Aland, ed.)
New Gospel Parallels (R. W. Funk, ed.) 2 vols.
Ref BS 2560.A2 A35 and .F84
Parallels make comparing texts side by side easier. The Funk ed. covers non-canonical sources as applicable.

 Anchor Bible Dictionary
IRL & OSF Ref BS 440.A54  6 vols.
The standard Bible dictionary, published in 1989.. Number of articles on Jesus, including the Quest, with bibliographies for further research.  

Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels
IRL Ref BS 2555.2.D53 1992
Has a useful entry on Jesus that surveys recent work. From evangelical perspective.  

New Interpreter?s Bible.
IRL & OSF Ref BS 491.2 N484 vol. 8
Vol. 8 has a background article on Jesus.  

New Jerome Biblical Commentary
IRL & OSF Ref BS 491.2.B7
More than just commentary--look up Jesus in index.  

Verbum Caro: An Encyclopedia on Jesus, the Christ
IRL Ref BT 19.O23 1992
Basic Catholic sourcebook on Christology, fidelity a
hallmark.  

Additional Bibliographies: 

New Testament: a Bibliography
Ref BS 2330.2.Z9 H37 1985
Section on Jesus contains a beginning list--up to the
mid-1980?s.  

Jesus the Christ: a Bibliography
Ref BT 202.W45 1988
A basic guide in the format of New Testament: A Bibliography. Note date. 

New Testament Introduction
Ref BS 2330.2.P67 1995
A basic bibliography with annotations--with an evangelical but balanced approach.  

New Testament Christology: a Critical Assessment & Bibliography
Ref BT 198.H84 1988
Detailed in-depth work with annotations. Note date. 

While not in Reference, this book is a good resources:
Powell, Mark Allen.  Jesus As a Figure in History. 
Aa useful subject overview listing resources.
IRL BT 303.2 .P68 1998

 

CLICNET LIBRARY CATALOG SEARCHES
In CLICnet type Jesus Christ as SUBJECT. In the list below, you can see examples of the great variety of sub-headings that could be used for searching. 

  • Biography
  • Crucifixion
  • Family
  • Historicity
  • History of doctrines
  • Jewish interpretations
  • Parables
  • Passion
  • Person and offices
  • Prophecies
  • Resurrection
  • Teachings
  • Words

Many related subjects headings may also leading to useful sources.  Examples:

  • Apocalyptic literature
  • Eschatology
  • Incarnation
  • Kingdom of God
  • Messiah
  • Miracles
  • Salvation
  • Second Advent
  • Son of Man
  • Trinity 

As with many interdiciplinary or newer topics, browsing the stacls can be an effective straegy.

Some of the main classification numbers:
(See also BS on Scripture)

  • BS 2415-2417 Teachings of Jesus
  • BT 198 Christology
  • BT 250 Offices of Christ

Note that the library catalog uses headings that are rather specialized or unusal in their phrasing. A good examples is Priesthood, Prophecy, etc. Uner this subheading, you will finding many further breakdowns of note. Note espeially BT 295 and the 300's.

  • BT 295 Life of Christ
  • BT 303 Historicity
  • BT 310 Birth, Childhood, Public Life
  • BT 430 Passion
  • BT 480 Resurrection
  • BT 580 Miracles
  • BT 590 Other Topics: Children, Old  Testament, Women, etc.

As is clear from above, many books and articles, if not a majority, in Jesus research will not be assigned the heading "historicity." This makes computer searches a little more challenging, of courset. To locate more resources, you may need to use bibliographies in known books/articles. See also the first two entries in this guide,  or other broad surveys. And if you need help, contact your instructor or the Theology Reference Librarian at Ireland Library: j9malcheski@stthomas.edu

 

DATABASES AND INDEXES

See library research guides for using CLICnet (for books) and ATLA (for articles and essays).

In ATLA, Jesus as Subject combined with other subject terms can be effective. Anywhere searches
can be helpful. See previous page for exact term searches in CLICnet. These same terms often also
work in ATLA. As above, though, there is no fool-proff way to assure items take an historical approach.

ATLA search examples:

  • jesus and historicity
  • jesus and history
  • jesus and events
  • jesus and words

Some general keyword search examples: 

  • baptism and john
  • jesus and appearances
  • jesus and quest
  • jesus seminar
  • magdalen and resurrection
  • nt and biblical and events (use with below)
  • new testament and biblical and events (use with above)
  • resurrection and women
  • synoptic and john


WEB SITES

While the Web is great for some Biblical studies, especially in many other historical topics,  the library remains essential for preliminary research in a field like "historical Jesus"  that obviously attracts controversy and contrversalists. Be sure to check with your instructor before relying on any free web sites in your research.

Used with discretion, the Web is becoming another essential research tool. One of the best ways to whittle down the huge numbers of sites about Jesus is to begin with directory sites (maintained by reliable web authors who list sites they endorse or find useful).

Among the longstanding and most useful has been:

New Testament Gateway
With a section on the Histoprical Jesus. ntgateway.com/Jesus/

Selected Free Web Sites of Interest