Geyser, Piet A.2011-01-072011-01-071999Geyser, PA 1999, 'Historicity and theology, and the quest for historical Jesus', HTS Teologiese Studies/ Theological Studies, vol. 55, no. 4, pp. 827-844.0259-9422 (print)http://hdl.handle.net/2263/15533Spine cut of Journal binding and pages scanned on flatbed EPSON Expression 10000 XL; 400dpi; text/lineart - black and white - stored to Tiff Derivation: Abbyy Fine Reader v.9 work with PNG-format (black and white); Photoshop CS3; Adobe Acrobat v.9 Web display format PDFThe issue of history and historicity is reviewed in this article. The efforts of New Historicism is brought to bear on this question in an effort to find a way out of the impasse created by the modernist demand for objectivity and the postmodern resignation to radical relativism. The possibility of historiography is explored in conjunction with the pragmatic approach and leads to the conclusion that a kind of historical knowledge is attainable which can be described as useful even if not perfect. The author concurs with Crossan and his working definition of history as the past reconstructed interactively by the present through argued evidence in public discourse. The intersubjective nature of any historical enterprise leads the author to the conclusion that the search for the historical Jesus can only be done in the dialectical approach of a both ... and: both the historical Jesus and the kerygmatic Christ.enFaculty of Theology, University of PretoriaPublic discourseHistorical JesusKerygmatic ChristNew HistoricismHistory -- Religious aspects -- ChristianityArticle