Jesus in Context
Jesus in Context
Jesus changed our world forever. But who was he and what do we know about him? David Wenham's accessible volume is a concise and wide-ranging engagement with that enduring and elusive subject. Exploring the sources for Jesus and his scholarly reception, he surveys information from Roman, Jewish, and Christian texts, and also examines the origins of the gospels, as well as the evidence of Paul, who had access to the earliest oral traditions about Jesus. Wenham demonstrates that the Jesus of the New Testament makes sense within the first century CE context in which he lived and preached. He offers a contextualized portrait of Jesus and his teaching; his relationship with John the Baptist and the Qumran community (and the Dead Sea Scrolls); his ethics and the Sermon on the Mount, his successes and disappointments. Wenham also brings insights into Jesus' vision of the future and his understanding of his own death and calling.
- Accessible introduction to a subject of global interest
- Offers a critical examination of all sources - Jewish, Christian, Roman - for the historical Jesus
- Situates Jesus within his historical and spiritual contexts
Reviews & endorsements
'The book is appropriate for undergraduate students and scholars interested in the historical Jesus and would be an asset for courses in the Gospels, Historical Jesus, and NT Survey/Introduction. Highly recommended.' Craig D. Saunders, Religious Studies Review
Product details
November 2021Paperback
9781108700047
200 pages
229 × 153 × 18 mm
0.46kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Part I. SETTING THE SCENE:
- 1. Sources for our knowledge of Jesus' context
- 2. The historical and social contexts
- 3. The religious context
- 4. Our sources of information about Jesus
- 5. The writing of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
- 6. Finding the historical Jesus
- PART II. JESUS' LIFE. MINISTRY AND TEACHING: CONTEXT AND HISTORY:
- 7. Beginnings
- 8. Baptism and John the Baptist
- 9. Amazing teacher in Galilee: parables
- 10. The kingdom of God
- 11. Healings, miracles and the Son of man
- 12. Friend of the 'poor'
- 13. Followers and supporters
- 14. Following Jesus in practice: way of life
- 15. Opposition, new directions, Jesus as Messiah
- 16. So to Jerusalem: journey, arrival, confrontation
- 17. Jesus' vision of the future and of his own divine authority
- 18. On the way to crucifixion: why did Jesus have to die?
- 19. Finale in Jerusalem
- 20. After the death of Jesus: victory
- 21. Final conclusions, and postscript.
