The Bible and Beyond Podcast Episode

The Historical Jesus: Surprise Yourself!

An Interview with Dr. Joseph Bessler

Dr. Joseph Bessler

Dr. Joseph Bessler challenges and delights us with his suggestions that learning what we can about the historical Jesus contributes to the betterment of society. The surprise of the past few decades has been the revelation that our traditional teaching of Jesus has been used to silence the voices of any ‘other.’ Certain texts reinforce certain theologies. But the loving gesture of listening to others brings to our attention surprising texts we have not noticed before.

Dr. Joseph Bessler is Robert Travis Peake Professor of Theology at Phillips Theological Seminary, where he says his colleagues and students are the constant joy in his life. His book, A Scandalous Jesus: How Three Historic Quests Changed Theology for The Better, is featured in this podcast interview. He has written numerous articles for the Westar Institute’s Fourth R, and he served as Chair of Ethics, Society, and Cultural Analysis section of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) Southwest Region from 1999 to 2001.

This podcast is part of our May – July 2023 focus on the “Surprising Things about Jesus.”  Click here to see more content from the series.

Occasionally our Bible and Beyond podcast episodes are made available as video podcasts on our YouTube channel. This month’s episode can be found here.