John Dominic Crossan

John Dominic Crossan (born 17 February 1934) is an Irish-American New Testament scholar, historian of early Christianity and former Catholic priest. He was a prominent member of the Jesus Seminar, and is an emeritus professor at DePaul University. His research has focused on the historical Jesus, the theology of noncanonical gospels, and the application of postmodern hermeneutical approaches to the Bible.

His work is controversial, portraying the Second Coming as a late corruption of Jesus' message and saying that Jesus' divinity is metaphorical. In place of the eschatological message of the Gospels, Crossan emphasizes the historical context of Jesus and of his followers immediately after his death. He describes Jesus' ministry as founded on free healing and communal meals, negating the social hierarchies of Jewish culture and the Roman Empire.

Crossan is a major scholar in contemporary historical Jesus research. In particular, he and Burton Mack advocated for a non-eschatological view of Jesus, a view that contradicts the more common view that Jesus was an apocalyptic preacher. Provided by Wikipedia