The Bad Jesus: The Ethics of New Testament Ethics

In The Bad Jesus: The Ethics of New Testament Ethics, Hector Avalos challenges the pervasive tendency within both ecclesiastical and secular academic circles to present Jesus as a morally flawless figure. Avalos argues that the "ecclesial-academic complex" creates a conflict of interest, where scholars—often tied to religious institutions or personal spiritual stakes—apply a hagiographic lens to Jesus that they would never apply to figures like Alexander the Great or Augustus Caesar. By contrasting the scholarly consensus of Jesus's virtue with the biblical account in Mark 10:18 and contemporary accusations of him being a glutton and a drunkard, Avalos asserts that the portrayal of Jesus as the absolute peak of moral evolution hinders objective historico-critical analysis.

Drawing on a methodology that incorporates psychological and psychoanalytic frameworks, Avalos engages with a small minority of critical voices, such as J. Harold Ellens, who analyze Jesus's violent tendencies and emotional instability, and Charles F. Dole, who emphasized Jesus's human limitations and egoism. The work further examines the tension between the ethical teachings attributed to Jesus and the modern global consensus codified in the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This volume is essential for serious Bible students and scholars who seek to move beyond religious apology and "religionism" toward a rigorous evaluation of the New Testament. Readers should approach this text as a provocative critique of the field's biases, using it as a catalyst to question whether high christology has effectively replaced historical criticism in the study of Jesus's ethics.