Jesus is not only a historical character. As a historical character it is very important that he existed historically, but he died. He was historical in the sense that he belonged in a particular culture, a particular religion, a religious view of the world. We know him in a different way. St Paul says we know him ‘no longer after the manner of the flesh’ (2 Cor 5:16). We don’t know him in this historical way anymore. It can be helpful and useful and enriching to reflect on and learn about the historical context in which Jesus lived and taught; it can throw some light onto some of the words he used in the passages of his teaching and so on. But that isn’t the essence of what Christian faith means.
( Finding Oneself 1 Laurence Freeman )
