A NOTE ON METHOD IN HISTORICAL JESUS STUDIES.

Historical method continues to be a challenge for investigations into Jesus' life. One aspect of that challenge is addressed here: how we decide when information contained in sources is relevant for understanding what actually occurred. It is proposed that there are three fundamental questions to consider: what are the sources of the account, when was the account written, and why was the account written. The timing of the execution of Jesus, for which there exists a general consensus as to when it occurred, will be used as a test case. When the three questions are examined, the references to the timing of Jesus' death in the gospel accounts do not have credence as records of when Jesus was actually executed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]