Honest to Jesus is far and away the best book about the goals and work of the contemporary Historical Jesus movement. Robert W. Funk is director of the Westar Institute, which sponsors an annual Jesus seminar in which scholars attempt to establish which events recorded in the gospels actually happened and which did not. In Honest to Jesus, Funk describes these scholars' professional methodologies and personal goals, and summarizes their surprising findings. His prose is clear, his passion is bracing, and his conclusions are challenging. Funk's Jesus, in the end, emerges as a revolutionary figure for a new age, without being the least bit New Age-y.


From Publishers Weekly
In his 1963 book, Honest to God, Bishop John A.T. Robinson questioned the ways in which the traditional Christian doctrine of God could address the concerns of a church and culture that, Robinson said, had largely left the traditional doctrine behind. How could Christians, in his words, be "honest to God?" Now, Robert Funk, the provocative founder of the Jesus Seminar, asks a similar question about the ways in which late-20th century Christianity can be honest to Jesus in the light of work by the Jesus Seminar and other critics that argues that the traditional portait of Jesus as a supernatural miracle worker is neither supported by the Gospels nor meaningful to a contemporary technological society. Funk's Jesus is a person who "caught a glimpse of what the world is really like when you look at it with God's eyes and who endeavored to pass that glimpse along in disturbing short stories we call parables." But, the Gospels often conceal Funk's Jesus, so that he concludes that "the New Testament conceals the real Jesus as frequently as it reveals him." Funk proposes 21 theses, among them setting Jesus free from the "scriptural and creedal and experiential prisons in which we have entombed him"; abandoning the doctrine of the atonement based upon the blood sacrifice of Jesus; and "declaring that the New Testament is a highly uneven and biased record of various early attempts to invent Christianity." With this last declaration, Funk, exhibiting a self-assurance that often borders on self-righteousness, advocates revising the canon of scripture by which the Christian church has measured itself for the past 2000 years. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


The New York Times Book Review, Alexandra Hall
With historical data in one hand and theories about relativism in the other, Robert W. Funk is a scholarly curmudgeon poised to incite a contemporary reformation: the cultural transformation of Jesus the icon into Jesus the iconoclast.


From Booklist
In this important glimpse into the rationale and procedure of the Jesus Seminar, founded by Funk in 1985, his contentious style may put off some readers, but that style has been a major factor in bringing contemporary historical Jesus research into public consciousness. Of particular interest is the discussion of sources and canon formation, both of which highlight the extent to which the contemporary controversy surrounding historical Jesus research revolves around the question of authority. Not surprisingly, Funk sides with scholars but not with the academy--and that paves the way for a running commentary on how to make scholarship publicly accessible. In this regard, Funk also offers some fascinating reflection on the art of translation. Authority and translation are significant issues well beyond the boundaries of historical Jesus research, and that should significantly expand the potential audience for this book. Steve Schroeder


Book Description
Robert Funk, eminent biblical scholar and founder of the Jesus Seminar, documents his brilliant and provocative search for the original voice and vision of Jesus.This bold investigation takes the reader through the ancient gospels and history to find Jesus the subversive, the social critic, the dissident, the sage. Funk envisions and proposes a revitalized Christianity--shaped by history, not orthodoxy, and based on the unparalleled power of the authentic teachings of Jesus.


From the Publisher
"Honest to Jesus is a powerful, provocative and eminently readable book. Robert Funk will threaten the traditional uncritical believer, but he will excite, encourage and give hope to countless millions who are drawn to Jesus, but who are repelled by the theological structures of the past which have captured Jesus. Perhaps Funk has constructed the bridge over which faith in Jesus can travel with integrity in its quest to enter the 21st century." -The Rt. Rev. John Shelby Spong, author of Liberating the Gospels: Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes Speaking out on the historical Jesus for the first time, the founder of the pioneering Jesus Seminar launches a landmark new investigation into who Jesus really was. With brilliant insight, Robert Funk reveals how Jesus was transformed from iconoclast to icon, and outlines a daring, tradition-shattering agenda for freeing Jesus from the constraints of orthodoxy and reinventing Christianity for the coming era. "I am inclined to the view that Jesus caught a glimpse of what the world is really like when you look at it with Gods eyes. He endeavored to pass that glimpse along in short stories we call parables and in subversive proverbs we call aphorisms. But he did not spell out what he meant. I have a glimpse of the real Jesus stealing a peek at Gods domain. My glimpse is informed by, but bypasses, the Jesus of the Gospels the Christ superimposed by the evangelists on their own glimpse of the real Jesus... I am convinced that the New Testament conceals the real Jesus as frequently as it reveals him."-from the Introduction In Honest to Jesus, Robert Funk, one of the preeminent biblical scholars of our time, embarks on a radical investigation into the transformation of Jesus, the social rebel and iconoclast, into Jesus, the religious icon. Founder of the Jesus Seminar the group of writers, philosophers, and theologians spearheading new research into the historical Jesus and the authenticity of the gospels -- Funk has never before articulated his own bold and fearless vision of who Jesus truly was and how his legacy should be approached by the modern world. In brilliant detective work, Funk dismantles the ancient gospels in his search for the true voice of Jesus -- the coiner of sayings, the teller of tales and aphorisms, and the performer of symbolic acts. And Funk finds in the gospels a Jesus whose troubling and even subversive vision of Gods domain on earth led him to Jerusalem, to persecution, and finally to execution as a common criminal. Funk's investigation concludes with an explosive call to arms. In twenty-one theses, Funk articulates a revolutionary new vision of Jesus and Christianity for the next millennium. Freed from religious and political propaganda, liberated from the cobwebs of orthodoxy, this is a Jesus restored to the roles of social critic, dissident and sage. Funk envisions a revitalized Christianity shaped by history rather than orthodoxy and based not on the Christ of the creeds but on the teachings of Jesus in all their original power. Forthright, penetrating, and as radical as the mysterious figure it investigates, Honest to Jesus is a new classic in the debate over the search for the real Jesus and its implications for modern Christianity.


About the Author
Robert W. Funk is founder of the Jesus Seminar and Director of the Westar Institute in Santa Rosa, California. He has been a distinguished leader in biblical scholorship for more than thirty years. A Guggenheim Fellow and Fulbright Senior Scholar, he is the author of a dozen books, including Honest to Jesus and The Five Gospels.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The founder of the Jesus Seminar and one of the preeminent biblical scholars of our time, Robert Funk dismantles the ancient gospels in his search for the true identity of the coiner of sayings, teller of tales and aphorisms, and performer of symbolic acts.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In Honest to Jesus, Robert Funk, one of the preeminent biblical scholars of our time, embarks on a radical investigation into the transformation of Jesus the social rebel and iconoclast into Jesus the religious icon. Founder of the Jesus Seminar - the group of writers, philosophers, and theologians spearheading new research into the historical Jesus and the authenticity of the gospels - Funk has never before articulated his own bold and fearless vision of who Jesus truly was and how his legacy should be approached by the modern world. Funk's investigation concludes with an explosive call to arms. In twenty-one theses, Funk articulates a revolutionary new vision of Jesus and Christianity for the next millennium. Freed from religious and political propaganda, liberated from the cobwebs of orthodoxy, this is a Jesus restored to the roles of social critic, dissident, and sage. Funk envisions a revitalized Christianity - shaped by history rather than orthodoxy and based not on the Christ of the creeds but on the teachings of Jesus in all their original power. Forthright, penetrating, and as radical as the mysterious figure it investigates, Honest to Jesus is a new classic in the debate over the search for the real Jesus and its implications for modern Christianity.

FROM THE CRITICS

Luke Timothy Johnson - Society of Biblical Literature