In this highly anticipated volume, N. T. Wright focuses directly on
the historical
Jesus: Who was he? What did he say? And what did he mean by
it?
Wright begins by showing how the questions posed by Albert Schweitzer a century ago remain central today. Then he sketches a profile of Jesus in terms of his prophetic praxis, his subversive stories, the symbols by which he reordered his world, and the answers he gave to the key questions that any world view must address. The examination of Jesus' aims and beliefs, argued on the basis of Jesus' actions and their accompanying riddles, is sure to stimulate heated response. Wright offers a provocative portrait of Jesus as Israel's Messiah who would share and bear the fate of the nation and would embody the long-promised return of Israel's God to Zion.
Wright begins by showing how the questions posed by Albert Schweitzer a century ago remain central today. Then he sketches a profile of Jesus in terms of his prophetic praxis, his subversive stories, the symbols by which he reordered his world, and the answers he gave to the key questions that any world view must address. The examination of Jesus' aims and beliefs, argued on the basis of Jesus' actions and their accompanying riddles, is sure to stimulate heated response. Wright offers a provocative portrait of Jesus as Israel's Messiah who would share and bear the fate of the nation and would embody the long-promised return of Israel's God to Zion.
- Publisher Fortress Press
- Format Paperback
- ISBN 9780800626822
- eBook ISBN 9781451414974
- Dimensions 6 x 9
- Pages 770
- Publication Date February 7, 1997
Endorsements
"N. T. Wright [is] one of the most formidable of traditionalist Bible scholars."
—Richard N. Ostling,
TIME Magazine
"With this brilliant and thoroughly argued book, N. T. Wright has established himself as the leading British Jesus scholar of his generation. He thinks we can know quite a bit about the aims and beliefs of Jesus—not just about what he said and did but about the mind of Jesus himself."
—Marcus Borg
Author of Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time
"Tom Wright's bold and brilliant book challenges us to rethink everything we thought we knew about the Jesus of history. Wright masterfully surveys the field of research on Jesus and proposes a fresh account of Jesus as a first-century Jewish apocalyptic prophet. . . . The result? A portrait of Jesus that situates him firmly 'on the ground' in the politics of first-century Judaism while integrating the data of the Gospel traditions in original and surprising ways. Wright's sweeping hypothesis, presented in delightfull lucid prose, sets a benchmark for all subsequent investigations of the historical Jesus."
—Richard B. Hays
Duke University Divinity School
—Richard N. Ostling,
TIME Magazine
"With this brilliant and thoroughly argued book, N. T. Wright has established himself as the leading British Jesus scholar of his generation. He thinks we can know quite a bit about the aims and beliefs of Jesus—not just about what he said and did but about the mind of Jesus himself."
—Marcus Borg
Author of Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time
"Tom Wright's bold and brilliant book challenges us to rethink everything we thought we knew about the Jesus of history. Wright masterfully surveys the field of research on Jesus and proposes a fresh account of Jesus as a first-century Jewish apocalyptic prophet. . . . The result? A portrait of Jesus that situates him firmly 'on the ground' in the politics of first-century Judaism while integrating the data of the Gospel traditions in original and surprising ways. Wright's sweeping hypothesis, presented in delightfull lucid prose, sets a benchmark for all subsequent investigations of the historical Jesus."
—Richard B. Hays
Duke University Divinity School