Examining the Quest for the Historical Jesus and its Relevance Today

Abstract

The Akans of Ghana have a proverb that says, tete wo bi ka, tete wo bi kyere nti hwe na sua – which literally means – the past has something to say, it has something to teach, therefore, learn from it. It emphasizes the importance and significance of History. History enables humanity to look at the past with the view to understanding the present in order to make projections into the future. Jesus Christ is one person who has influenced humanity very significantly. However, Jesus Christ lived in a different era. In order to understand him and see his relevance, there is the need to enter the world in which he lived and see whether his life and teachings make sense today. This necessitates the fusion of two horizons. It calls for deconstruction and construction again of the life and ministry of Jesus to make his teaching more meaningful and significant for people of today. This article discusses the search for the Jesus of History; whether this quest is possible and the relevance for this quest for contemporary society. The purpose of writing this article is to retrieve the significance of Jesus Christ in Salvation History and make Him relevant in contemporary society.

Keywords

• deconstruction
• demythologize
• fusion of horizons
• historical jesus
• reconstruction and quest