Travel Diary: Minneapolis, Sunday

I had another job to do before heading back home. I talked for an hour to the Adult Education group at Westminster Presbyterian Church on what we can really know about the Historical Jesus, and how we can know it. Again, it was a good, large audience, with lots of excellent questions and comments, and I made a really conscious effort to speak more slowly so that those present could understand my foreign accent, apparently with some success. I walked them through some of the key issues in Jesus research, looking at the question of sources, explaining the Synoptic Problem and introducing them to non-canonical sources like the Gospel of Thomas, explaining historical context and introducing them to people like Josephus. And I talked about the value if beginning one's historical journey with the crucifixion and working backwards from there.

I flew back to Raleigh-Durham at lunch time and arrived at 5, catching up on a couple of articles, a couple of Russell Brand podcasts, and some sleep, on the way.