I just started reading "The Mystery of The Kingdom of God: The Secret of Jesus' Messiahship and Passion" by Albert Schweitzer. I've also read a bit of Ehrman, which I've also written about, and this school of thought (Ehrman speaks highly of Schweitzer) has a similiarity that is very apparent. Their largest problem with scholarship is that they can define the life of person and Jesus however they like. But that definition does not allow for his death. If Jesus is just a good moral teacher, he wouldn't have been killed. If Jesus is just another Jewish prophet, he wouldn't have been killed. Even if Jesus opposed the political and religious order of the day - many many others did before and after him - he wouldn't have been killed. He didn't start a riot, or uprising, or any violence against Herod or Rome. He told the people to pay taxes to Rome - why would Rome do away with that?

So Schweitzer will instead start with the passion and Messiahship claims to define the life and person of Jesus. It should be interesting. I already know a few conclusions that I've heard of - but I'm more interested in the method, and perhaps some tangential conclusions.