Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration
Product Details | Similar Products | Customer Reviews | Author: Pope Benedict Xvi List Price: £8.99 Our Price: £6.24 You Save: £2.75 (31%) Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours  |
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 | Product Details: Paperback 400 pages Release Date: 07 April 2008 Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC ISBN: 0747593787 Rating:   Sales Rank: 2842 | | Look for similar books by subject:
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| | Customer Reviews: Radical, readable, scholarly (03 August 2008)A friend recommended I read this book. Although I was initially sceptical, as I had not always been keen on Josef Ratzinger's actions before he became Pope, I thought I'd suspend my prejudice and take my friend's advice. I am so grateful I did. Basically, this book takes the fruits of several decades of scientifically-rigorous 'historical-critical' exegesis and asks "What does all this scholarship mean for the understanding a person of faith might have of Jesus of Nazareth?". The answer is at once clearly presented and utterly radical. There are sections in this book - for instance the treatment of the temptation narratives - which cannot be read without bringing you face to face with the very challenges Jesus posed his contemporaries. I found myself forced to a critical self-examination many times, and absolutely 'wowed' at others. I've already recommended this book to other close friends. If you really want to be exposed to Jesus as he meant to present himself, this book is a great place to start. I do hope that the Pope delivers on his stated desire in the introduction to produce a second volume, extending the present coverage (on the public ministry of Jesus) to the infancy, passion and resurrection narratives. If this present work is anything to judge by, that future volume will be an immensely valuable contribution. Jesus (10 July 2008)Most books that have been written about Jesus recently seem to have been written with the intention of shocking the religious community. This is the Popes book and so it stands to reason that he's obviously going to follow the Catholic line. However even in the early chapters he makes those other authors seem self indulgent and exposes Jeremy Bowen's dreadful BBC documentary Son of God for the lazy hatchet job that it was. Ratzinger argues with ease that you cannot separate the historical Jesus from the religious figure because Jesus preached about God above all else. He includes enough historical detail to make the reader understand the context of Jesus said and what it meant to the Jews when he said it. Ratzinger also clears up any misconceptions people have about Jesus' teaching. For example I never really properly understand his teaching about doing good on a Sunday until I read this book. The language Ratzinger uses isn't lofty or overly dramatic. He communicates his meaning clearly and you don't have to be a member of the clergy to get it. You really get the sense that Ratzinger is on his home turf here, he's not trying to argue his case, he doesn't need to, he's just explaining what he knows. And so you a get clearer portrait of the Jesus that lived 2000 years ago. A figure that is more radical, life changing and shocking than perhaps any of those other authors can come up with. Good but not brilliant (27 June 2008)I thought this was a most enjoyable read in accessible language on the mystery of Jesus. It was not, however, wholly satisfying. To give two examples, Pope Benedict makes the point that many people ask why Jesus has not done more to reveal himself in more recent times. It is an intriguing question. His response seems, at least to me, incomplete and says nothing more than the totality of Christ's revelation was the Cross. Quite so, but we knew that anyway, so why 'tease' the reader that he might have more to say on the subject? A second example is in his excellent analysis of the 'Our Father'. He asks the question 'Is God also mother?': again, an intriguing question. However, once again, his answer is confined to a few lines on p140 which seem incomplete and leave one puzzling about why he asked the question if he had so little to say about it. Notwithstanding the above, I am looking forward to Part Two when it is published. Beautifully Written (21 February 2008)This is a beautifully written book, accessible to the non-theologian yet requiring some solid concentration to take fully on board the theology. It has proved to me beyond doubt that Pope Benedict is an excellent communicator, his thoughts are lucid and he makes great effort to explain through numerous reference works the writings of the Church Fathers and other theologians through the ages on the subject of just who was Jesus of Nazareth. The particular highlights for me were the chapters on "The Lord's Prayer" and "The Message of the Parables", they were truly sublime. I concur fully with an earlier reviewer who says that this book is one to be read and re-read again. Ratzinger at his utter best (16 February 2008)This is a book to be read and re-read so that the reader can imbibe the fruits of Pope Benedict's extraordinary intelligence and palpable holiness. I will list just four reasons, although there are many more. 1. The Pope enabled me to see again the decisive radicality of Jesus of Nazareth, the new Moses, whose authority caused many in Israel to react with alarm. I was particularly taken by his use of the work of Jacob Neusner, an american Rabbi, who has written a notable work on Jesus. What is remarkable is that Jacob Neusner sees clearly the "problem" with Jesus, a man who claims to have divine authority and who proclaims himself as the new "Torah" in the sermon on the mount. The Pope himself acknowledges his indebtedness to Jacon Neusner for enabling him to see Jesus afresh through the lense of judaism. 2. The Pope's dialogue with modern exegetes is particularly illuminating in that he draws from their work those golden nuggets which enable one to see Jesus in his historic reality. He also dialogues with those exegetes who have lost sight of Jesus by erroneously seeing Jesus in the gospels as some sort of modern liberal rabbi and underlines how such views do not sit squarely with the gospel accounts. 3. Critically, the Pope announces that he personally trusts the gospels and rejects Bultmann's rejection of the historicity of John's gospel. He shows how John sits squarely within the ambit of the faith and feasts of Israel. 4. Above all, amidst the scholarly analysis, the Pope shows himself as a man of immense faith. At certain parts of the book, I felt myself movingly humbled by being, so to speak, at the feet of a man, who is himself a great teacher. Long may he live so that we can enjoy the fruits of his labours. | |
