• The Jesus Seminar: The Search for Authenticity -- Richard Shand's detailed summary of the debate over the criteria, methodology, & conclusions of the Seminar (1996).

• Jesus Seminar - editable article in Wikipedia (12/16/2002-present).

• Matthew Arnold & the Jesus Seminar -- Tod E. Jones' 1997 paper draws parallels between the work of the Jesus Seminar & that of the 19th c. British literary critic. 

• The Jesus Seminar -- Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance review the history, principles, conclusions & criticisms of the Jesus Seminar (7/5/98).

• Bob Funk's Radical Reformation Roadshow -- Jeffrey Sheler surveys reaction to the traveling seminars sponsored by the Westar Institute from supporters, critics & fellows of the Jesus Seminar (U.S. News & World Report 8/4/97).

• Debate Rages Over the Jesus Seminar -- Matt Andrews' 1994 review of the controversy surrounding the publication of The Five Gospels (Midwest Today 3/94).

You do not have to look far to find someone saying something nasty about the Jesus Seminar, from pulpits, in print or on the internet. The Seminar has no desire to dignify such abuse with counterattack. The critiques selected here are those that raise substantive issues that merit an intelligent response.

• The Jesus Puzzle: Was There No Historical Jesus? -- Earl Doherty posts essays in radical historical criticism arguing that Jesus never existed; pages include a review of R. W. Funk's Honest to Jesus.

• The Gospel according to the Jesus Seminar -- Birger A. Pearson's 1995 critical review of The Five Gospels calls the Jesus Seminar for faulty historiography for ascribing eschatological materials to sources other than Jesus while failing to recognize the eschatology implicit in sayings it recognized as genuine & claims the Seminar produced a non-Jewish secularized image of Jesus. (Expanded version of article printed in Religion 25, pp. 317-338).

• The Corrected Jesus -- Richard B. Hays 1994 critical review of The Five Gospels faults the "attempt to assess the authenticity of Jesus' sayings in isolation from a more comprehensive reconstruction of the events of his life, ministry, and death" as "methodologically problematic" (First Things 43; posted 12/6/96).

• The Gospels According to Luke -- summary of L. T. Johnson's critique of Jesus Seminar in The Real Jesus with reaction from fellow Emory scholar and JS Fellow Vernon Robbins (Emory Magazine Fall/96).

• Jesus Seminar Under Fire -- twice updated transcript of Gregory Koukl's flamboyant 1995 diatribe from the radio show ironically entitled, "Stand to Reason."

• The Seventy-four 'Scholars': Who does the Jesus Seminar really Speak for? -- Craig L. Blomberg argues that the Seminar does not represent a real consensus of scholars except 'in a small percentage of the issues.' (Christian Research Journal 1994).

 

• The Jesus Seminar & the Public -- Robert J. Miller summarizes the intentions, procedures & conclusions of the Seminar & challenges other scholars to do collaborative research report to the public (The Bible & Interpretation July 2003).

• Jesus & the Scholars: being honest to Jesus ...and to each other -- Gregory C. Jenks summarizes the work of the Jesus Seminar & the implications of its conclusions for Christian churches (Anglican diocese of Brisbane, Australia FOCUS 9/98).

• Can the Historical Jesus be Made Safe for Orthodoxy?: A Critique of The Jesus Quest by Ben Witherington III. Robert J. Miller assesses this 1995 criticism of the Jesus Seminar & the author's claims that Jesus was an apocalyptic preacher & embodiment of divine wisdom [Journal of Higher Criticism 4.1 (Spring 97) 120-137].

• Robert M. Price reviews  L. T. Johnson's Real Jesus [Journal of Higher Criticism 4.1 (Spring 97) 156-158].

• The Jesus Seminar & its Critics. Robert J. Miller reviews scholarly critiques of the Seminar with particular attention to the issues of consensus, voting, apocalyptic, the gospel of Thomas and the Jewishness of Jesus. Paper delivered to Historical Jesus section of Society of Biblical Literature (11/96).

• Roy W. Hoover reviews Jesus Under Fire ed. by M. J. Wilkens & J. P. Moreland [Journal of Higher Criticism 3.2 (Fall 1996) 310-315]

• Marcus Borg responds to Luke Timothy Johnson -- E-mail from Jesus at 2000 debate week 4 regarding Prof. Johnson's characterization of the Jesus Seminar (3/14/96). Johnson retorts (3/18/96) & Borg rebuts (3/20/96).

• The Jesus of History & the Future of Faith -- R. W. Kropf reviews the philosophical issues involved in the renewed quest of the historical figure of Jesus & its potential for renewing the faith of (rather than in) Jesus; with response by Mahlon H. Smith (DiaLogos 6; 6/5/97).