Abstract:
This article reviews a number of psychologically informed studies of Jesus in view
of the criteria pertaining to psychobiography. It argues that the studies have produced divergent
interpretations of Jesus because of a lack of data and the nature of the sources. This is especially
true of these studies as they used psychological approaches based on childhood experiences. The
framework for psychobiography also allows for the use of other methods that are more concerned with
religious adults in coping situations. These may be applied to explore theories about the
psychological development of the adult Jesus. The article shows also that the use of the New
Testament sources also implies assumptions with regard to the nature of these sources and the people
who had produced those sources.
