Internationally known New Testament scholar and best-selling author John Dominic Crossan is coming to Lawrence in the spring to speak about his work uncovering the historical Jesus.

Eight members of the In-Depth Bible Study Group at Plymouth Congregational Church, 925 Vt., are sponsoring a free series of advance workshops — offered at 6:30 p.m. Sundays from Jan. 11 to April 11 — to familiarize Lawrence residents with Crossan’s extensive body of work.

Crossan’s visit to Lawrence, during which he’ll serve as the speaker for the Theologian in Residence 2004 program, is a happy circumstance for the Bible study group, which meets at 8:15 a.m. Sundays at Plymouth and has spent the past year or so closely studying his ideas and books.

“We were very pleasantly surprised when we learned that John Dominic Crossan, of all people, was coming to town. I never dreamed that we’d get him (in Lawrence). I guess I learned about it last May,” said John Burch, who has led the Bible study group since fall of 1999.

“His erudition is phenomenal. The painstaking detail in his analysis and writing, combined with an overall, big-picture consciousness, is very impressive. We’re thrilled that he’s coming, because he’s such a good scholar in this field.”

Burch and the members of the study group talked about Crossan’s upcoming visit and decided to take it upon themselves to put together the workshop series, which will examine several of the scholar’s best-selling books.

Members of the group will take turns leading sessions of the workshop at Plymouth. Each one will last about an hour and a half.

Crossan’s theme for the Theologian in Residence 2004 program is “The Historical Jesus and American Christianity.”

The annual program is sponsored by a consortium of campus ministries at Kansas University, Lawrence congregations, KU’s religious studies department and the philosophy departments of Baker and Washburn universities, to bring together the academic and faith communities with acclaimed speakers to address issues and questions of faith.

Crossan will speak April 18-19 at several events in Lawrence and April 20 at Washburn University in Topeka.

PLYMOUTH congregational church member John Burch poses with a stack of books used in the church's 10-week workshop in preparation for religious scholar John Dominic Crossan's visit in the spring.

Sharing scholar’s ideas

The first session of the workshop was Jan. 11, and the event, led by Burch and Paul Mirecki, professor of religious studies at KU, attracted about 40 people.

The topic was an introduction to New Testament research and Crossan’s work — which is voluminous. Crossan, who is professor emeritus of religious studies at DePaul University in Chicago, has written some 20 books on the historical Jesus in the last 30 years.

Four of them have become national religious bestsellers: “The Historical Jesus” (1991); “Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography” (1994); “Who Killed Jesus?” (1995); and “The Birth of Christianity” (1998).

Priscilla McKinney, a member of the Bible study group and a lecturer in English literature at KU, will lead the second session of the workshop. She will discuss two of Crossan’s books, “The Essential Jesus: Original Sayings and Earliest Images” (1994) and his autobiographical work, “A Long Way from Tipperary: What a Former Irish Monk Discovered in His Search for the Truth” (2000).

“It’s a privilege to be able to present some of his ideas to people who aren’t in the (Bible study) class. But it’s pretty scary — we’re used to just our intimate group on Sunday,” McKinney said.

“So this is an adventure for us to reach out to others to share what we’ve learned and our enthusiasm for Crossan.”

Understanding historical methods

Different aspects of the research that will be examined in the advance workshops could meet with surprise — or resistance — from participants.

“The new way of seeing the Bible that we’ll be discussing in these workshops is controversial. Some of the ideas and interpretations of text may offend traditional Christian sensibilities and may shock those who hold a conservative view of the Scriptures,” Burch said in his opening remarks at the Jan. 11 introductory session.

“John Dominic Crossan is a leading researcher in the scientific study of early Christianity and biblical origins. He and his colleagues use multidisciplinary methods of scientific inquiry and historical scholarship. They regard traditional creeds and ecclesiastical interpretations of biblical texts as part of their object of study, not as useful guides to the actual originating events of Christianity. In a sense, they are professional ‘doubting Thomases.'”

Crossan is a co-founder of the controversial Jesus Seminar, a group of New Testament scholars that has met periodically since 1985 to discuss — and then vote upon — the probability that Jesus actually said the things that are attributed to him in the four Gospels.

Crossan and fellows of the Jesus Seminar have raised questions about the literalness of some critical aspects of the New Testament, such as the virgin birth of Jesus and his actual, physical resurrection after death.

Having the series of advance workshops is a good idea, according to Mirecki, who represents KU’s religious studies department in the consortium that sponsors the Theologian in Residence program.

“I think what’s going on at Plymouth is ideal. I hope the attendance (at the workshop) builds,” he said.

“They (participants) can start to ease themselves into an understanding of the methods that are used in historical research. There’s a long process of education, and what Plymouth is doing is introducing people to the methods and the issues … so that when Crossan comes (to Lawrence), he’ll be much more understandable to the participants.”