Who Was Jesus? - Softcover

Wright, N. T.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802806945 ISBN 13: 9780802806949

Publisher: Eerdmans Pub Co, 1993

Synopsis

Did the historical person Jesus really regard himself as the Son of God? What did Jesus actually stand for? And what are we to make of the early Christian conviction that, following his execution by the Romans, Jesus physically rose from the dead? N. T. Wright's Who Was Jesus? considers these and many other questions thrown up by the latest wave of controversial books about Jesus, including * Barbara Thiering's Jesus the Man: A New Interpretation from the Dead Sea Scrolls, * A. N. Wilson's Jesus, * John Shelby Spong's Born of a Woman, and * John Dominic Crossan's The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant. Each of these books portrays a different Jesus, and each portrait is markedly different from the traditional, orthodox Christian view of Jesus. While Wright agrees with these "Jesus" authors that the real, historical Jesus has many surprises in store for institutional Christianity, he also argues that they "fail to reach anything like the right answer" as to who Jesus was. Who Was Jesus? examines the recent Jesus publications in the context of the many modern Jesus books, dominated by Albert Schweitzer's masterful portrait, The Quest of the Historical Jesus (1906). As Wright shows, the modern "quest" displays many variations on the same themes, so that the latest portraits of Jesus are not nearly as novel as they are made out to be. Wright also outlines the arguments made specifically by Thiering, Wilson, and Spong, and he presents solid reasons for discounting their arguments. Written from the standpoint of professional biblical scholarship yet assuming no prior knowledge of the subject, Wright's Who Was Jesus? shows convincingly that much can be gained from a rigorous historical assessment of what the Gospels say about Jesus. This is a book to engage skeptic and believer alike.

About this title

Review

-- Calvin Theological Journal"A gem. . . . Instead of buying and reading one of the avant-garde portraits of Jesus discussed by Wright, spend your money and time more wisely with this witty and devout rebuttal and alternate portrait."-- Image"In eighteen pages, Wright provides the nonspecialist with more useful information about the research on the history of Jesus than most seminarians know at graduation. . . . This book will provide reliable guidance for those wanting to better understand who Jesus really was and what he was about."

"-- Calvin Theological Journal"
"A gem. . . . Instead of buying and reading one of the avant-garde portraits of Jesus discussed by Wright, spend your money and time more wisely with this witty and devout rebuttal and alternate portrait."
"-- Image"
"In eighteen pages, Wright provides the nonspecialist with more useful information about the research on the history of Jesus than most seminarians know at graduation. . . . This book will provide reliable guidance for those wanting to better understand who Jesus really was and what he was about."

-- Calvin Theological Journal
-A gem. . . . Instead of buying and reading one of the avant-garde portraits of Jesus discussed by Wright, spend your money and time more wisely with this witty and devout rebuttal and alternate portrait.-
-- Image
-In eighteen pages, Wright provides the nonspecialist with more useful information about the research on the history of Jesus than most seminarians know at graduation. . . . This book will provide reliable guidance for those wanting to better understand who Jesus really was and what he was about.-

About the Author

Tom Wright is Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St Andrews. He is the author of over fifty books, including the For Everyone guides to the New Testament, the highly acclaimed series, Christian Origins and the Question of God, and the best-selling Simply Christian, Surprised by Hope, Virtue Reborn, Simply Jesus and How God Became King (all published by SPCK).

Edition details

• Publisher: Eerdmans Pub Co
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802806945
• ISBN 13: 9780802806949
• Binding: Paperback