The Person of Jesus Christ
Jesus as unique
The definition of unique means ‘the only one of its kind’.
• Christ-event – Jesus’ birth, ministry, death and resurrection. Used to
suggest Christ’s significance does not lie in one particular historical
moment but in the whole of his life and its relationship with history
before and after.
• Exegesis – close analysis and interpretation of a text.
Jesus’ Relationship with God – very Special or Unique?
If Jesus is not unique and is just like other teachers of wisdom/
visionaries , then the Christian message is undermined.
E.P. Sanders Jesus and Judaism (1985)
• Historical Jesus – Christian claims of Jesus’ uniqueness cannot be verified
through historical claims alone
• History and faith are separate categories.
“History, in fact, has difficulty with the category ‘unique’... It is, rather, a
fault of New Testament scholarship that so many do not see that the use
of such words as ‘unique’ and ‘unprecedented’ shows that they have
shifted their perspective from that of critical history and exegesis to that
of faith. We can accept with argument Jesus’ greatness as a man, but we
must stop well short of explaining his impact by appeal to absolutely
unique personal qualities”. (p. 320).
• Jesus was substantially different to others of his time because of his
teaching on God’s grace and hope for outcasts, as well as his non-
violence. This is NOT enough to class him as unique though.
• Resurrection cannot be analysed historically – it belongs to the category
of faith and therefore, Sanders cannot take the significance of this into
account when commenting on Jesus’ uniqueness.
• For others – even of a low Christology – the resurrection is the deciding
factor in Christ’s divinity being uniquely revealed.
Jesus Offers ‘the Way’ not ‘a Way’
Jesus as unique
The definition of unique means ‘the only one of its kind’.
• Christ-event – Jesus’ birth, ministry, death and resurrection. Used to
suggest Christ’s significance does not lie in one particular historical
moment but in the whole of his life and its relationship with history
before and after.
• Exegesis – close analysis and interpretation of a text.
Jesus’ Relationship with God – very Special or Unique?
If Jesus is not unique and is just like other teachers of wisdom/
visionaries , then the Christian message is undermined.
E.P. Sanders Jesus and Judaism (1985)
• Historical Jesus – Christian claims of Jesus’ uniqueness cannot be verified
through historical claims alone
• History and faith are separate categories.
“History, in fact, has difficulty with the category ‘unique’... It is, rather, a
fault of New Testament scholarship that so many do not see that the use
of such words as ‘unique’ and ‘unprecedented’ shows that they have
shifted their perspective from that of critical history and exegesis to that
of faith. We can accept with argument Jesus’ greatness as a man, but we
must stop well short of explaining his impact by appeal to absolutely
unique personal qualities”. (p. 320).
• Jesus was substantially different to others of his time because of his
teaching on God’s grace and hope for outcasts, as well as his non-
violence. This is NOT enough to class him as unique though.
• Resurrection cannot be analysed historically – it belongs to the category
of faith and therefore, Sanders cannot take the significance of this into
account when commenting on Jesus’ uniqueness.
• For others – even of a low Christology – the resurrection is the deciding
factor in Christ’s divinity being uniquely revealed.
Jesus Offers ‘the Way’ not ‘a Way’
