Paul Barnett and the logic of history

Abstract

"Is there a methodology or historiography that will allow us to have a distinctively scientific approach to the (third) quest for the historical Jesus?2 The evangelical Anglican Neutestamentaler and former Bishop of North Sydney, Paul W. Barnett, answers this question in the affirmative. He argues that the New Testament letters are “more valuable” than the Gospels and Acts for information about the historical Jesus.3 At the heart of Barnett’s methodology there is a logical syllogism at work.4 The major premise is that the letters contain information about the historical Jesus. From this reasoning two minor premises follow: 1) the letters are not intentional history and are occasional in that they “are innocent of any attempt to convey new information about the historical Jesus,”5 and 2) the letters are written only to “those who are already persuaded to be Christians"