Karisma som sociologisk förklaringsmodell i tolkningen av Jesus

Max Weber’s model of charismatic authority, which was influenced by Rudolph Sohm’s interpretation of the earliest church as a ”charismatic organization”, has been more used by exegetes since 1968 as a help in interpreting Jesus. They have emphasized different aspects of his charisma — radical life-style and revolutionary message, or miraculous powers of healing, or conflict and self-stigmatization. The latter aspect is here seen as having the greatest elucidative power. Charisma should not be understood as a cause behind Jesus’ behaviour, but as a model of heuristic and explanatory value in historical research