![Francesco Albani - Baptism of Christ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Francesco_Albani_-_Baptism_of_Christ.jpg)
The criterion of embarrassment is a type of historical analysis in which a historical account is deemed likely to be true under the inference that that the author would have no reason to invent a historical account which might embarrass them. Certain
Biblical scholars
Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 For ...
have used this as a metric for assessing whether the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
's accounts of
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
' actions and words are
historically probable.
[Catherine M. Murphy, ''The Historical Jesus For Dummies'', For Dummies Pub., 2007. p 14]
The criterion of embarrassment is one of the criteria of authenticity used by academics, the others being the
criterion of dissimilarity
The criterion of dissimilarity (often used as a shorthand for criterion of double dissimilarity;''The Historical Jesus and the Final Judgment Sayings in Q'' (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament) by Brian Han Gregg (30 June 2006) ...
, the criterion of language and environment, criterion of coherence, and the
criterion of multiple attestation The criterion of multiple attestation, also called the criterion of independent attestation or the cross-section method, is a tool used by Biblical scholars to help determine whether certain actions or sayings by Jesus in the New Testament are from ...
.
History
The criterion of embarrassment is a long-standing tool of New Testament research. The phrase was used by
John P. Meier
John Paul Meier (August 8, 1942 – October 18, 2022) was an American biblical scholar and Roman Catholic priest. He was author of the series ''A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus'' (5 v.), six other books, and more than 70 articles ...
in his 1991 book ''A Marginal Jew''; he attributed it to
Edward Schillebeeckx
Edward Cornelis Florentius Alfonsus Schillebeeckx (November 12, 1914–December 23, 2009) was a Belgian Catholic theologian born in Antwerp. He taught at the Catholic University in Nijmegen. He was a member of the Dominican Order. His books on ...
(1914–2009), who does not appear to have actually used the term in his written works. The earliest use of the approach was possibly by
Paul Wilhelm Schmiedel
Paul Wilhelm Schmiedel (December 22, 1851 – April 10, 1935) was a German theologian and professor of New Testament exegesis born in Zaukeroda ( Zauckerode, now a part of Freital, Saxony) near Dresden.
He studied theology in Jena, where he h ...
in the ''
Encyclopaedia Biblica
''Encyclopaedia Biblica: A Critical Dictionary of the Literary, Political and Religion History, the Archeology, Geography and Natural History of the Bible'' (1899), edited by Thomas Kelly Cheyne and J. Sutherland Black, is a critical encyclopedia ...
'' (1899).
Examples
The assumption of the criterion of embarrassment is that the
early church
Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish ...
would hardly have gone out of its way to create or falsify historical material that embarrassed its author or weakened its position in arguments with opponents. Rather, embarrassing material coming from Jesus would be either suppressed or softened in later stages of the
Gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
tradition. This criterion is rarely used by itself, and is typically one of a number of criteria, such as the
criterion of dissimilarity
The criterion of dissimilarity (often used as a shorthand for criterion of double dissimilarity;''The Historical Jesus and the Final Judgment Sayings in Q'' (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament) by Brian Han Gregg (30 June 2006) ...
and the
criterion of multiple attestation The criterion of multiple attestation, also called the criterion of independent attestation or the cross-section method, is a tool used by Biblical scholars to help determine whether certain actions or sayings by Jesus in the New Testament are from ...
, along with the
historical method
Historical method is the collection of techniques and guidelines that historians use to research and write histories of the past. Secondary sources, primary sources and material evidence such as that derived from archaeology may all be drawn o ...
.
The
crucifixion of Jesus
The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and consid ...
is an example of an event that meets the criterion of embarrassment. This method of
execution
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the State (polity), state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to ...
was considered the most shameful and degrading in the
Roman world
The culture of ancient Rome existed throughout the almost 1200-year history of the civilization of Ancient Rome. The term refers to the culture of the Roman Republic, later the Roman Empire, which at its peak covered an area from present-day Lo ...
, and advocates of the criterion claim this method of execution is therefore the least likely to have been invented by the followers of Jesus.
Limitations
The criterion of embarrassment has its limitations and is almost always used in concert with the other criteria. One limitation to the criterion of embarrassment is that clear-cut cases of such embarrassment are few. Clearly, context is important, as what might be considered as embarrassing in one era and social context may not have been so in another. Embarrassing details may be included as an alternative to an even more embarrassing account of the same event. As a hypothetical example, Saint
Peter's denial
The Denial of Peter (or Peter's Denial) refers to three acts of denial of Jesus by the Apostle Peter as described in all four Gospels of the New Testament.
All four Canonical Gospels state that during Jesus' Last Supper with his disciples, he p ...
of Jesus could have been a substitution for an even greater misdeed of Peter.
An example of the second point is found in the stories of the
Infancy Gospels Infancy gospels (Greek: ''protoevangelion'') are a genre of religious texts that arose in the 2nd century. They are part of New Testament apocrypha, and provide accounts of the birth and early life of Jesus. The texts are of various and uncertain or ...
. In one account from the
Infancy Gospel of Thomas
The ''Infancy Gospel of Thomas'' is a Biography, biographical gospel about the childhood of Jesus, believed to date at the latest to the second century.
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is generally considered to be Gnostic in origin because of ...
, a very young Jesus is said to have used his
supernatural power
Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
s first to strike dead, and then revive, a playmate who had accidentally bumped into him. If this tradition had been accepted as worthy of inclusion at some key juncture in the formation of the
Christian Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
(and hence integrated in one way or another among the
canonical Gospels
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
), arguably many modern Christians would find it quite embarrassing—especially strict believers in
biblical inerrancy
Biblical inerrancy is the belief that the Bible "is without error or fault in all its teaching"; or, at least, that "Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact". Some equate inerrancy with biblical i ...
. But as is suggested by the existence of this early non-canonical
pericope
A pericope (; Greek , "a cutting-out") in rhetoric is a set of verses that forms one coherent unit or thought, suitable for public reading from a text, now usually of sacred scripture. Also can be used as a way to identify certain themes in a cha ...
, it must not have been embarrassing to some
early Christians
Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish d ...
.
Gerd Thiessen
Gerd Theißen (or Theissen; born 24 April 1943) is a German Protestant theologian and New Testament scholar. He is Professor of New Testament Theology at the University of Heidelberg.
Early life and education
Theissen obtained his doctorate in th ...
& Dagmar Winter. ''The Quest for the Plausible Jesus: The Question of Criteria'', Westminster John Knox Press, 2002.
A further limitation is the possibility that what could be classed as embarrassing could also be an intentionally created account designed to provoke a reaction. For instance,
Saint Peter
Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...
's denial of Jesus could have been written as an example of the consequences of denial. : "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven."
See also
*
Criterion of contextual credibility
The criterion of contextual credibility, also variously called the criterion of Semitisms and Palestinian background or the criterion of Semitic language phenomena and Palestinian environment, is a tool used by Biblical scholars to help determine w ...
*
Criterion of dissimilarity
The criterion of dissimilarity (often used as a shorthand for criterion of double dissimilarity;''The Historical Jesus and the Final Judgment Sayings in Q'' (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament) by Brian Han Gregg (30 June 2006) ...
*
Criterion of multiple attestation The criterion of multiple attestation, also called the criterion of independent attestation or the cross-section method, is a tool used by Biblical scholars to help determine whether certain actions or sayings by Jesus in the New Testament are from ...
* ''
Lectio difficilior potior
' (Latin for "the more difficult reading is the stronger") is a main principle of textual criticism. Where different manuscripts conflict on a particular reading, the principle suggests that the more unusual one is more likely the original. The pr ...
''
*
Declaration against interest
In United States law, a declaration against interest is an exception to the rule on hearsay in which a person's statement may be used, where generally the content of the statement is so prejudicial to the person making it that they would not have ...
References
{{Reflist
Further reading
*Meier, John P., ''
A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus'', Doubleday: 1991. vol 1: p. 168–171.
External links
The Criterion of Embarrassment and Jesus' Baptism by John
Historiography
Biblical criticism
1899 introductions