The Messiah of That Most Mischievous Superstition

The suitability of the image of »the parting of the ways« has been challenged in recent years for understandable reasons.And yet the question abouthowthe historical Jesus relates to the development ofadistinguishable social movement in his name remains a crucial one in the study of Christian origins. This essay provides an overview of those aspects of Jesus's career that are most relevant for this topic by charting some of the argumentative subcurrents in Jesus research. Attention then turns to the defense of three historical arguments: that Jesus was a controversial and divisive figure already in his own time, that his eschatological message about the kingdom was of such a nature that it left the spectrum of acceptable responses to it relatively narrow, and he was critical of the practices and beliefs of others in ways that made possible further group differentiation. Thus, we should stand by the conclusion of Joseph Klausner – ex nihilo nihil fit – if perhaps for reasons that differ from his.