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Abstract

All introductory textbooks to the New Testament have something to say about the miracles and resurrection of Jesus, sometimes implicitly but more often explicitly. Not surprisingly, conservative textbooks take a conservative approach, rejecting outright the “naturalism” that governs other human and natural sciences. Yet even liberal textbooks stop short of assuming a fully naturalistic paradigm. This paper analyses the assumptions that serve as the foundation of both conservative and liberal treatments of the miraculous, and joins others in calling for the academic study of Christian Origins to situate itself more fully within the academic study of religion.

Tous les manuels d’introduction au Nouveau Testament ont quelque chose à dire sur les miracles et la résurrection de Jésus, parfois implicitement, mais le plus souvent de manière explicite. Comme on pouvait s'y attendre, les manuels conservateurs adoptent une approche conservatrice, en rejetant purement et simplement le « naturalisme » qui régit les autres sciences humaines et naturelles. Pourtant, même les manuels libéraux s'arrêtent avant d’assumer un paradigme entièrement naturaliste. Cet article analyse les hypothèses qui servent de base aux traitements conservateurs et libéraux du miraculeux, et s'unit à d’autres pour l’appel à une étude universitaire des origines chrétiennes afin de s'intégrer pleinement dans l’étude scientifique de la religion.

Keywords

miracles epistemology secular biblical criticism naturalism anti-naturalism academic study of religion épistémologie critique biblique laïque naturalisme anti-naturalisme étude scientifique de la religion

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