Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI
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Book Reviews of Jesus of Nazareth
Book Review: The Jesus of Faith is the Jesus of History
Summary: 5 Stars
This fine work by Pope Benedict XVI, a.k.a. Joseph Ratzinger, is an instant classic. In this first of a two volume study, the Pope defends, in 370 pages, the position that the Jesus of Faith is the Historical Jesus.
It is absolutely crucial to read the 14 page foreword, as Benedict lays out his approach to the subject. The problem as the Pope sees it, is "... the impression that we have that there is very little certain knowledge of Jesus and only at a later stage did faith in his divinity shape the image we have of him" (xii). While discussing his methodology Benedict says "The main implication of this for my portrayal of Jesus is that I trust the Gospels" (xxi). He then makes the point that "Unless there had been something extraordinary in what happened... there is no way to explain why he was crucified and why he made such an impact. As early as twenty or so years after Jesus' death, the great Christ-hymn of the Letter to the Philippians offers us a fully developed Christology stating that Jesus was equal to God, but emptied himself to become man, and humbled himself to die on the cross, and that to him now belongs the worship of all creation..." (xxii).
The rhetorical question Benedict asks is, how could this understanding develop in only twenty years, if the Jesus of History was not the Jesus of Faith?
"Jesus of Nazareth" Benedict says "is in no way an exercise of the magisterium, but is solely an expression of my personal search for the face of the Lord. Everyone is free then to contradict me" (xxiii).
Following the foreword is an introduction, and then ten chapters, commencing with the Baptism of Jesus and going to the Transfiguration. It is not presented completely chronologically. For example chapter eight, at 69 pages the longest chapter by far, is titled "The Principal Images of John's Gospel." Benedict starts by discussing "The Johannine Question" - who was the author and how reliable is it historically? He then writes a section entitled "The Principal Johannine Images", going into the theology of the fourth Gospel.
Throughout the chapters there are extended sections which seem to be almost homilies. If I were a priest or deacon I would dig deeply into Jesus of Nazareth as a homiletical source.
The Pope makes use of many scholars, ancient and contemporary, Catholic and non-Catholic, as he builds his various analyses in the different chapters. For example, there is a wonderful dialogue in chapter four, The Sermon on the Mount, as Benedict compares the Catholic take on the Jesus of the Sermon, with Rabbi Jacob Neusner in his book published seven years ago "A Rabbi Talks with Jesus." It is captivating.
Benedict is masterly at relating the various biblical scenes under discussion to the total context of the Bible and to how they would be viewed from the perspective of the Judaism of the time.
The book is accessible to people with limited knowledge of scripture or theology. It is not a dense book - although certainly several sections require a close read - and the Pope shows quite a few flashes of humor.
So highly recommended. I am sure this work will stir discussion and debate amongst people interested in Christianity, but who don't want a heavy dose of dogma or scholarly minutiae. As a work aiming for a popular audience, Jesus of Nazareth succeeds admirably. I am looking forward to the second volume.
Book Review: Rediscover Jesus of Nazareth
Summary: 5 Stars
A few months ago someone asked me what book I would recommend that they give to their adult children who no longer practiced the faith, without hesitation I named this book as the one. At the time I had only read some excerpts available online from Germany and Italy. It was an act of faith then, now that I have the book I know that my recommendation was justified.
This is a great book, magisterial (even though the pope doesn't want it thought of in that way). It is not just another book about Jesus, it a revolutionary book about Jesus...in that it recaptures why people have had their lives changed by their belief in Jesus for over 2,000 years.
What makes this book so special? It is like a modern Summa (those who know St. Thomas Aquinas will understand me here) in that it answers modern questions of doubt, skepticism and even inquiry on not only who Jesus is, but why Jesus is the most important person anyone has ever or can ever know.
The pope's methodology is to take a scene from the Bible, like the Lord's baptism and then to draw on that scene from the entire Bible, to show what modern scholarship has done to help us to understand the historical context of the scene, tell us how the early Church fathers interpreted the scene, how would it have been viewed in Judaism (he uses the reflections of a Rabbi when discussing the Sermon on the Mount) and then to give the reader the meaning of this event for them. Along the way he answers questions to the many objections modern people bring to their encounter with Jesus.
As someone who has studied theology for a number of years and been exposed to every screwball theology out there, I found this book to be a corrective lens to refocus and correct my vision of who Jesus is and what following him means. What impresses me (and I'm not easily impressed) is that the Pope takes on the "screwball (my term, not his)" theologies in such a way as to making them seem silly (although he is incredibly charitable in his approach).
This book will have a great effect on renewing the Church and centering it on an image of Christ that is Biblical and credible, erasing years of poor and faulty preaching and teaching.
If you are not Catholic, but a Christian you will love this book too. In fact I predict you will be come a big fan of Joseph Ratzinger and will want to read his many published works to encounter someone rooted in Scripture and conversant with modern attacks on it. If you are a non Christian I think you will find in the book an excellent introduction to what Christians believe about the God-man from Nazareth. To all you parents out there who sent your kids to Catholic schools and now wish they would practice their faith, give them this book and reintroduce them to Jesus of Nazareth.
Once you've read this, you'll want to check out the Pope's take on the Apostles, in an excellent follow-up to this book:
The Apostles: The Origin of the Church and Their Co-Workers
I am the author of The How-To Book of the Mass: Everything You Need to Know but No One Ever Taught You
Book Review: Fruit of the narrow path faithfully followed
Summary: 5 Stars
In Jesus Of Nazareth, Benedict XVI shares a lifetime of scholarship. He clears a bewildering variety of conflicting paths.
His "personal search for the Face of the Lord" is a determined effort to answer the Lord's question, "And who do you say that I am?"...not only for himself but for his readers too. In other words, folks, the Shepherd desires to lead his flock into rich pasture, . . . providing REAL "Grass" !
And, having found It, through an unrelenting labor of love, Benedict thereby presents the person of Jesus to the reader as believable and encounterable.
Employing his immense scholarship, Benedict's language, phrasing, subject organization is economical, at once complete yet brief. It moves. At least, for those of us who do not read German, the translater has offered good concise English. Three hundered odd pages is a "booklet" within which to present so much scholarship, and yet present the truth clearly.
In his heart, Benedict desires for each reader the option of a deep and EVER-lasting relationship with the Lord, born of "recognition" and of Love, THAT IS TO SAY: with the inescapable focus of THE GOSPELS, inescapable and, therefore, ..uh, scary? ..we're meeting up with He who IS: "the Vine" .."the Bread from Heaven" .. BOTH "the good shepherd" AND "the Gate to the sheepfold" .. "the way, the truth, the life".
Benedict will not let us be fooled into believing that we need go no further than comfortable concepts, that "Jesus" is merely a matter of conceptual knowledge. Right thinking is, of course, a WAY to the truth.
That truth Benedict pretty well sums up on page 305: "...the appearance of HIS GLORY ( during the Transfiguration )is connected with THE PASSION motif. Jesus' DIVINITY belongs with THE CROSS -ONLY WHEN WE PUT THE TWO TOGETHER do we recognize Jesus correctly..." (Emphasis mine)
By "Love" is meant "Love UNTO THE END", Benedict's repeated qualifier... i.e. "even unto death on a Cross"... it is Jesus' Love born of His UNBROKEN communion with the Father throughout His earthly sojourn ...including His final "Father, forgive them, for they know not ...", and "Into your hands I commend my spirit ... it is finished"...affirmed, confirmed, given authenticity by Jesus' subsequent, promised Resurrection from THE DEAD.
From a secular humanist's point of view "the Cross" can amount to no more than a varied form of masochism .. or mental fiction. From the point of view of Faith -pure GIFT through Baptism- the Cross becomes, and is, one's RETURN-LOVE lived out "through Him and with Him and in Him."
Admittedly, this hasn't been a SCHOLARLY assesment; I'm not a scholar. But then all scholarship -knowledge- evporates when "face to face" with the Face of the Lord. I'm a "bleater" who has and does recognize the Voice of the true Shepherd, relieved, and jumping for joy at the sound, clearly knowing it in the welter of false voices.
In Jesus of Nazareth, Benedict begins with the Gospel accounts of Jesus' adult years -in ministry, hoping to address the Infancy Narratives, the early years, in a second volume.
Book Review: JESUS OF NAZARETH by Pope Benedict XVI
Summary: 5 Stars
Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) and I did not get off on the right foot. He was in my doghouse immediately with his "Rock music is so completely antithetical to the Christian concept of redemption and freedom, indeed its exact opposite. Hence music of this type must be excluded from the Church on principle."
From there he started to work his way back a little with his iron-fisted unwillingness to pander to other religions and to the spiritually relativistic. I kind of liked the last pope (the friendly one), and I'm warming up to this pope (the mean one).
JESUS OF NAZARETH is, in his own words, Benedict's "personal search for the face of the Lord." This is part one, and covers Jesus' life from his Baptism to the Transfiguration; part two will cover the infancy narratives and post-Transfiguration. Benedict wanted to get this out in case he died in the meantime, and says as much in his foreword.
The book, seventy years in the making, is part commentary, part exegesis. While it is not ponderous or dry, it does assume a certain degree of scholarship and familiarity with the Gospels on the part of the reader. Something I particularly appreciate is how Benedict picks out certain nuances from different Evangelists, focusing on their unique themes. Benedict is, as one might expect, a fairly conservative theologian; there is not a whiff of liberal scholarship here. Nor is there more than token Catholic theology to which a Protestant such as I might take offense, and it does not detract at all.
The book covers Jesus' baptism, the temptations of Jesus, the gospel of the Kingdom of God, the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord's Prayer, the disciples, parables, the principal images of John's gospel, Peter's confession and the Transfiguration, and the identity of Jesus.
In the chapter on the Sermon on the Mount, Benedict discusses the Beatitudes, the Torah of the Messiah ("You have heard that it was said...but I say to you..., the dispute concerning the Sabbath, the Fourth Commandment, and compromise and prophetic radicalism). Interesting insight here on Jesus as the new Moses. The Lord's Prayer he breaks down line by line. In his discussion of parables, he discusses their nature and purpose, and covers the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son (which he re-terms "The parable of the two brothers (the prodigal son and the son who remained at home) and the good father"), and the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. In his chapter on John, he focuses on the imagery of water, vine/wine, bread, and the shepherd. In his chapter on Jesus' identity, Benedict covers "Son of Man", "Son", and "I Am".
I did not get far into this book before I started to get excited about it. There is interesting, insightful commentary on every page. It should go without saying, I suppose, since he's the pope, but the expertise here is refreshing, as are the solid hermeneutics and the utter lack of anything stupid. The reader gets the sense that this is personal for Benedict, not just for scholarship's sake, but because he is as deeply interested as we in what he finds.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Book Review: A MAJOR THEOLOGICAL EVENT: "JESUS OF NAZARETH" BY THE POPE.
Summary: 5 Stars
Five INSPIRATIONAL Stars! Pope Benedict XVI has brought decades of scholarly examinations of and meditations on Jesus Christ to fruition with this incredible book. Under his pen, the Catholic faith opens like a flower which can be clearly understood by any Christian. This book is not written from the standpoint of 'Papal Infallibility' or in concert with "the magisterium", but is "an expression of my personal search for the face of the Lord", says the Pope.
This is volume one, with the Pope giving a detailed examination of the periods from the Baptism of the Lord to Peter's confession of faith and the Transfiguration: His public ministry. At last, we have Jesus Christ as the Pope sees Him and explains Him to us! What a wonderful gift to the world from the new Pontiff ! And you may encounter some fascinating insights and lower order revelations herein that you may never have heard before. This book shows the pontiff not as someone closed off in his own world as sometimes rumored, but a person who is scripturally grounded, widely-read, intellectually astute and agile. He quotes the Bible continuously, uses tradition, as well as other theological sources and authors. Working with both the historical Jesus, as well as the biblical Jesus, the Pope informs us that we can't have one viewpoint of Jesus without the other and the historical Jesus is very crucial to the faith, actually underpining our faith. Without the historical viewpoint, he says, the faith would become something other than what we have.
The Pope's initial consideration of the figure of Jesus begins with a discussion of Moses and the limitations of his very close relationship with God. Then he gets right to the main point: Jesus as the Son "lives before the face of God" and "in the most intimate unity with the Father". And, Benedict says, we who walk with Jesus are in communion with God the Father because of it. That is the capstone of everything a believer needs as a jumping off point to becoming a believer of Christ. The rest, from the genealogical breakdown of the "three groups of fourteen generations", the true meaning and place of Israel for the rest of us believers, the emergence of the Trinitarian God, 'refuting' the Baptism event as an "evocational experience" where Jesus suddenly realizes who He is, the true meaning of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus, why He was tempted, the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord's Prayer, the Synoptic Gospels and John's Gospel, are all beautifully examined and explained. And it does not end as a book drawing summary conclusions, but as a volume, with more to come. This is an essential book for all Catholics and a great resource for all who believe in Jesus. It's a wonderful read by a man who was the Church's leading theologian before he became Pope. My Highest Recommendation! Five EXCELLENT Stars!!
(This review is based on an unabridged digital download in secure eReader format. Save a tree, download your books.)