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Title: Jesus and the Victory of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God, Volume 2) by N. T. Wright ISBN: 0-8006-2682-6 Publisher: Fortress Press Pub. Date: August, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $41.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.48 (23 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Good British Common Sense!!
Comment: Is it coincidence that it falls to a British scholar, Tom Wright, to be, arguably, the major stumbling block in the way of an ever-active Jesus Seminar with its witty, aphorism-producing Jesus? British scholarship has always been more conservative than that produced in the States and this is shown here in Wright's argument for a Jesus who sees himself as a representative both of God and of Israel, one who is seen as releasing Israel from exile and the power of her enemies (spiritual and temporal) and "reconstructing Israel around himself".
Wright's thesis, for all his conservatism, is both bold and distinctive. He holds to an "eschatological" Jesus, one who has a future aspect to his theology and also one who, in Crossan-like ways, has compassion for the poor and the outcast of Palestinian society in his acts of healing and eating. Wright though, in distinction from Crossan and the Jesus Seminar, is, it seems, looking to give an historical account of the historical Jesus which can dovetail nicely with a more traditional reading of the Synoptic Gospels and the New Testament more generally. In this book you will not find a plethora of references to either the Gospel of Thomas or to the Q Gospel. Instead, you will find historical argument, replete with numerous biblical and extra-biblical Jewish quotations and texts, which aims to build up a picture of a Jewish prophet and more than a prophet. This does not, in my opinion, spill over into worship or sycophancy but the argument is carefully pitched so as not to upturn too many applecarts. One might almost call it "historical evangelism" but I hope that by using that term readers wil not think that this book is either crassly evangelistic or proselytizing; it is neither. But Jesus is clearly here a hero of sorts and someone who, for the writer, answers questions of deep and meaningful significance which can only be understood by present readers within the matrix of Christianity (though Wright goes out of his way to show Jesus off as a Jew in every sense of the word).
I really liked this book and valued its argument. I think Wright procedes along the correct line of interpretation to view Jesus as eschatological(in a future sense, though not simplistically so) and I think he argues correctly for a Jesus who saw himself connected both to the Jewish God and to Israel. I also think that Jesus fits into the paradigm of "leadership prophet" and I think that he had a distintive "prophetic consciousness". So I think that on a number of things Wright is right. But the reason I would recommend this book is because it offers a coherent and cogent opposition to a nascent belief in the Jesus of the Jesus Seminar. That Jesus has many aspects which I would disagree with, and disagree with on historical grounds. This book critiques and causes damage to the arguments of the Jesus Seminar ON HISTORICAL GROUNDS and if that is where the battle takes place then Wright's book should be welcomed and read by all who have an interest.
Rating: 5
Summary: Wright paints a brilliant picture of the Synoptic Jesus
Comment: N.T. Wright, in this exhaustively documented work, sets the standard for Historical Jesus research. By virtue of his explicit agenda to set forth a portrait of Jesus based on his understanding of a parsimonious hypothesis which situates Jesus between 1st century Judaism and the early church, Wright brilliantly examines every aspect of his model for doing history-praxis,story symbol,questions and beliefs- which makes his Jesus historically credible. The portrait which emerges is a Jesus who is an eschatological prophet/messiah whose mission is to proclaim, implement and embody YHWH's Kingdom program, climaxing in the establishment of a new covenant for the renewed Israel he is forming. What is so impressive about this study is the detailed arguments advanced which make his portrait of Jesus plausible in terms of his fit within his socicultural context and, at the same time, shows how Jesus' work was the root of, yet different from the early church's interpretation of him. Finally, one outstanding,yet underemphasized, aspect of this book is Wright's attempt to ground Christology in the life of Jesus, the 1st century Jew. His novel thesis, that Jesus' prophetic/messianic vocation led him to attempt certain tasks that were ascribed to YHWH in the OT, sets the stage for further fruitful research in both biblical studies and theology, at a time when the Church needs to develop Christologies grounded in the "Jewishness" of Jesus. These aspects of this work, along with a scholarly and theologically insightful survey of previous Historical Jesus research, makes this the premier work of this kind available today. It is a must read for any serious student of Jesus-whether believer, non-believer or agnostic!
Rating: 5
Summary: JVG
Comment: As mentioned in my review of NTPG, reading this book is like joining a train that has by now built up a considerable head of steam, and travelled some distance. Building on the work of NTPG Wright now turns his gaze to questions specifically about Jesus. And in doing so starts to paint a picture of who is was and what he was wanting to achieve.
Again for me this was another time of personal epiphany for me as I discovered for the first time a Jesus who seemed real and understandable. Meeting a desire that had stirred in me since more ephemeral encounters with God and, I presumed, Jesus had in church.
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Title: The Resurrection of the Son of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God, 3) by N. T. Wright ISBN: 0800626796 Publisher: Fortress Press Pub. Date: May, 2003 List Price(USD): $39.00 |
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Title: What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity? by N. T. Wright, Tom Wright ISBN: 0802844456 Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Pub. Date: June, 1997 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is by N. T. Wright ISBN: 0830822003 Publisher: Intervarsity Press Pub. Date: November, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship by N. T. Wright ISBN: 0802841325 Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Pub. Date: October, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Jesus & the Restoration of Israel: A Critical Assessment of N.T. Wright's Jesus and the Victory of God by Carey C. Newman ISBN: 0830815872 Publisher: Intervarsity Press Pub. Date: November, 1999 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
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