ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the interpretations of Jesus of two conservative historians. One might have thought that the difference between conservative and liberal historical Jesus scholars would stem from liberals' being more committed to naturalism than are conservatives. E. P. Sanders says that New Testament authors, in characterizing Jesus as fulfilling biblical statements and prophesies, were inventive, but not dishonest. He thinks that there were some genuine parallels between Jesus and characters or prophesies in Hebrew scripture and that Jesus did what he could to strengthen these parallels, such as riding into Jerusalem on an ass, thus consciously recalling a prophesy in Zechariah. Sanders thinks that Jesus' baptism by John implies that Jesus agreed with John's message. He bristles at what he takes to be the fact that New Testament scholars "often attack" first-century Jews for observing a plethora of commandments, such as those governing sacrifice and food.
