Placing Neoliberal Jesuses: Doing Public Geography with the Historical Jesus

This essay attempts to further James Crossley's project in Jesus in an Age of Neoliberalism by proposing the development of a literature on how historical Jesus scholars construct neoliberal geographical formations. Reviewing the discipline of human geography, this proposal suggests that biblical scholars move beyond examining geographical contexts for texts to show how historical Jesus studies actively make place. This approach is demonstrated through a brief case study of historical Jesus scholarship constructing and contesting the secular public sphere in post-handover Hong Kong, especially in the recent Occupy Central debate.