This volume marks the first sustained attempt to write the history of Jesus research outside the "Three Quests Model," moving the discipline beyond a paradigm that has framed research for decades. Many of the participating scholars have contributed to the demise of the model, hinted at possibilities for the future and demonstrated the lasting importance of studying the history of research for current Jesus scholarship.
While traditional approaches and concepts, methodological developments, and influential scholars are not ignored, the contributors also focus on topics related to the Next Quest, such as gender, slavery, theological orientation, intellectual background, race, and class. This approach to the intellectual and social history of the Quests for the historical Jesus from the perspective of social history aligns the field within the broader humanities, and contextualizes Jesus research within a post-modern history of ideas.