The Historical Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide

Rating:
Summary: The BEST overview of the Historical Jesus for scholars...
Review: Alright, this book goes twofold, which I respect a lot. First of all, you get a complete history and overview of the history of the quests for the Historical Jesus. You get the different views from Strauss on forward and you get them, though summarized, with just the right amount of information included.

Second, you get definitions and explanations of all the different viewpoints. The fact that this book uses Greek terms goes beyond most overviews I've read, which while it may not appeal to the layman, appeals to the scholar moreso. For example, you get the different viewpoints of Jesus for the most part, eschatalogical prophet, sage, magician, teacher, etc.

This book is the best guide for those who are scholars, yet still want a good survey of the Historical Jesus. I would reccommend this book to professors who need to teach the Historical Jesus from different perspectives, and while the Greek may be hard for those that don't know it, they could sift the useful information out as needed, provided and assuming that the professor has a working knowledge of the language. For the scholar, this will give a very direct overview of the history and views on the Historical Jesus. It is unbiased, which is why I would give it five stars, and you do not have to worry about being told "what to believe". You can come to your own conclusions.

I could sift through any book and find problems with it, but this is different. I could not find problems with this book. This was a welcoming addition to my library and is the best working overview on the Historical Jesus I have seen because it is short (falling short of 600 pages), to the point, unbiased, and not TOO hard to understand. I HIGHLY recommend this book to any professor or student in the field of the Historical Jesus, liberal, conservative, or somewhere in between.

Rating:
Summary: non-scientific
Review: I bought this book expecting (due to its title) a scientific
study on the origins of christianity. Instead I found a
believers version of the Bible.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Introduction to Jesus Research
Review: The subtitle 'A Comprehensive Guide' is well-earned. Amazon.com incorrectly lists its length as 624 pages; in actuality, it is 642 pages long, and every page is large. There is plenty of information here on almost every aspect of Jesus research. The book consists of the following sixteen chapters.

1. The Quest of the Historical Jesus

2. Christian Sources about Jesus

3. The Non-Christian Sources about Jesus

4. The Evaluation of the Sources: Historical Scepticism and the Study of Jesus

5. The Historical and Religious Framework of the Life of Jesus

6. The Chronological Framework of the Life of Jesus

7. The Geographical and Social Framework of the Life of Jesus

8. Jesus as Charismatic: Jesus and his Social Relationships

9. Jesus as Prophet: Jesus' Eschatology

10. Jesus as Healer: The Miracles of Jesus

11. Jesus as Poet: The Parables of Jesus

12. Jesus as Teacher: The Ethics of Jesus

13. Jesus as the Founder of a Cult: The Last Supper and the Primitive Christian Eucharist

14. Jesus as Martyr: The Passion of Jesus

15. The Risen Jesus: Easter and its Interpretations

16. The Historical Jesus and the Beginnings of Christology

Finally, there is a retrospect in which a short life of Jesus is presented.

This work was created with use as a textbook in mind. At the end of each chapter, there are 'Tasks' required of the reader that encourage a direct participation in the interpretation of the primary source materials. While it is suited for use in the classroom, it is also easily adaptable to personal study. Each chapter can be easily covered in a convenient session of a couple hours. There are extensive bibliographic notes for further study in particular topics.

The following historical facts about Jesus emerge from _The Historical Jesus_:

1. Jesus was from Galilee (p. 164).

2. Jesus was baptized by John (p. 207).

3. Jesus performed exorcisms and healings (p. 301, p. 304).

4. Jesus was accused of being in league with the devil (p. 76, p. 297).

5. His family thought him to be mad (p. 570, p. 582).

6. Jesus rejected an overestimation of himself as 'good teacher' (p. 558).

7. Jesus preached about the Kingdom of God; e.g., the logion concerning 'Taking the kingdom by storm' (p. 580).

8. Jesus spoke most of the parables that have been preserved (p. 338).

9. Jesus said something against the Temple cult (p. 432).

10. The disciples of Jesus fled at his arrest (p. 428).

11. Jesus was crucified with the titulus 'The King of the Jews' (p. 458).

12. The disciples were disappointed that Jesus did not 'redeem Israel' (p. 428).

One possible weakness of the book is that it offers no over-arching explanation or model for the historical Jesus. Rather, the book investigates each aspect of Jesus ('Jesus as...') more or less individually. On the other hand, this may be considered a strength, especially given that the real Jesus himself is not a cardboard cut-out figure but rather an actual human being. This is brought out beautifully in another book by Theissen, _The Shadow of the Galilean_.