Abstract:
In Part I, John Dominic Crossan's profile of the historical Jesus was discussed.
This article focuses on Andries van Aarde's view. According to Van Aarde, Joseph the father of Jesus should historically be seen as a legendary figure and that Jesus grew up fatherless. The stories of Jesus' virginal conception are myths.
However, they reflected an historical context of the separation between the postEaster synogogical movement and the Jesus movement. The article also discusses
Van Aarde's view on the resurrection narratives, the contininuity and discontininuity between Jesus, and earliest Christianity and his view on canon and
dogma. It concludes with a comparison between Corssan's and Van Aarde's
perspectives.
