Books : Jesus of Nazareth - Pope Benedict XVI

Jesus of Nazareth

View Shopping Cart or Checkout

Jesus of Nazareth

by: Pope Benedict XVI

List Price: $16.95

Amazon.com's Price: $11.53

You Save: $5.42 (32%)
as of 09/08/2010 14:44 EDT

Used Price: $8.39
Third Party New Price: $9.03

Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.

Binding: Paperback
Brand: Ignatius Press
Dewey Decimal Number: 230
EAN: 9781586171988
ISBN: 1586171984
Label: Ignatius Press
Manufacturer: Ignatius Press
MPN: 9781586171988
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 415
Publication Date: September 30, 2008
Publisher: Ignatius Press
Release Date: September 15, 2008
Studio: Ignatius Press

Related Items:

Editorial Review:

Product Description:
In this bold, momentous work, Joseph Ratzingerin his first book written since he became Popeseeks to salvage the person of Jesus from recent popular depictions and to restore Jesus true identity as discovered in the Gospels. Through his brilliance as a theologian and his personal conviction as a believer, the Pope shares a rich, compelling, flesh-and-blood portrait of Jesus and invites us to encounter, face-to-face, the central figure of the Christian faith. From Jesus of Nazareth: the great question that will be with us throughout this entire book: What did Jesus actually bring, if not world peace, universal prosperity, and a better world? What has he brought? The answer is very simple: God. He has brought God! He has brought the God who formerly unveiled his countenance gradually first to Abraham, then to Moses and the Prophets, and then in the Wisdom Literaturethe God who revealed his face only in Israel, even though he was also honored among the pagans in various shadowy guises. It is this God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the true God, whom he has brought to the peoples of the earth. He has brought God, and now we know his face, now we can call upon him. Now we know the path that we human beings have to take in this world. Jesus has brought God and with God the truth about where we are going and where we come from: faith, hope, and love. Publisher: Ignatius Press Author: Pope Benedict XVI Format: 415 pages, paperback ISBN: 9781586171988

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- A text to return to again and again
This is a text I return to again and again. I find myself quoting it in conversation and needing to find the precise wording of the text to convey the special and nuanced meaning I had found there. This is a text that I carry with me on long journeys as a source of inspiration. The voice of this author is not the voice of a rigid authoritarian but that of a compassionate deeply thoughtful pastor.

Rating:

- Scholarly & Encompassing
This book is to be studied, not just read lightly, there is so much to learn from it.

Rating:

- a surprising book
Before starting the review, I think the reader is entitled to know my theological position.
I was raised a Catholic. I have always held to the inerrancy and absolute authority of the Bible, and, the more I studied It, the more I came to believe that many teachings of the Catholic Church are in direct contrast with biblical truth. For this is reason I converted to protestantism.
Therefore, as you can imagine, I was very skeptical about this book.
However, I was soon proved wrong; from the first few pages, two things really surprised me:
1)the book contains very little Catholic theology, which can be, depending on the point of view, a strength or a weakness
2)it does not rely on higher criticism, which today seems to be so sadly popular.
Pope Benedict XVI attempts to present the historical person of Jesus relying entirely on the Gospels (which is, I believe, the only sensible and correct way to go).
I think the final result is outstanding. Some chapters, especially the beautiful exposition of the parable of the prodigal son, left in me a permanent influence in the way I understand the word of God.
I warmly recommend this book to every Christian, whether Catholic or Protestant (even though I am conscious that many Protestants will disagree with me).
The only thing that I would criticize is the language used.
While Ratzinger's style is very pleasant to read, I had the impression that it is purposedly too academic.
Jesus' words are so simple yet powerful that unlearned fishermen of the first century could understand Him; why explain something that is clear with complicated words?

Rating:

- Jesus as told by the current Pope - revised 30.08.2010
As far as I can tell, this is the best book on Jesus outside of the Bible itself. I actually give the first 2/3 of the book five stars, but only three for the material on the book of John, which is radically different from the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke. The Pope does his best to explain the book of John, perhaps even enthusiastically so, but in my opinion that's a venture into religion not suitable for the non-Christian, for many reasons. One is the general tone of the first three gospels, where Jesus asks of his followers "Who do you think I am?" In the book of John he just tells them outright, which is puzzling given the difference from the other gospels.

But there are other problems with John. Taking the four gospels from the beginning of each book up to but not including the arrest, trial and crucifixion, the term Jew (as a whole word or substring) is found in the first three gospels only one time each. In John it occurs 48 times. This is due to John using the term interchangeably with Pharisees or other officials. And since everyone in the story up to that point is Jewish anyway, it's not merely a redundancy, it puts Jews in a negative light as accusers of Jesus, when in fact those accusations would occur in any ethnic context.

So despite the above, I recommend this book, or at least the first 2/3 of it, as the most inspirational text I've read outside of the Bible. The following is my review, excluding the Gospel of John.

FOREWORD

The Pope shows how scholarship in the 20th century created a division between the historical Jesus (as discovered by biblical historians) and the Jesus whose words are contained in the 4 gospels. This division led many modern Christians to believe that Jesus' divinity or ultimate purpose was discovered only much later than the first couple of centuries, by the Christians of that time period.

The Pope shows that only through the relationship of Jesus to his Father can he be understood; without that he cannot be understood at all. History is important in that the story of Jesus is necessarily historical fact and actually occurred, but that the historical facts do not convey the meaning of his life and mission.

The limitations of historical analysis include the fact that the historical narrative is consigned to the past without direct links to the present, and there is some lack of unity to the scriptures from that perspective.

The Pope explains that the Old and New Testaments must go together, because the scriptures are not mere literature - they are the story of the People of God, and these people do not exist alone - they are led and spoken to by God. Whereas the People of God in the Old Testament are Israel, or the Jews, they become the Church in the New Testament, and it is in the Church that the words of scripture are always in the present.

INTRODUCTION

The Pope sees Jesus as a "new Moses" based on a promise found in Deuteronomy. This vision of Moses as prophet more-or-less is based not on Moses' application of magic, miracles, or leading the people out of Egypt. It's based on Moses' in-person encounter with God, and Moses' direct receipt of the law from God, as only this in-person meeting could form the basis for the law that would govern Israel (and by extension Western civilization) for all future generations. Jesus fulfills the promise, as he has the unique in-person knowledge of God that provides the ultimate understanding and expression of the law.

Jesus' teaching does not come from any school - it is radically different from what can be learned in schools. It is teaching "with authority" - the authority that can come only from direct contact with the Father. Our contact with the Father through Jesus allows us to step beyond the limits of human nature, something that existed as a possibility since Adam's fall, and not realized until Jesus' appearance.

BAPTISM OF JESUS

Here the Pope makes the point that Jesus' teaching of "render unto Caesar" was compatible with the Romans since it didn't interfere with Roman sovereignty. On the other hand, when the imperial power made claims to divinity, followers of Jesus would be obligated to refuse acknowledgement of such claims, and thus suffer martyrdom and other deprivations.

John the Baptist's appearance was something completely new - baptism was meant to be performed only once, unlike other religious rituals. Jesus' own baptism was puzzling to many Christians, since baptism involved a confession of sins, and Jesus had no such sins to confess. The Pope goes on to suggest that the Cross was not the only place where Jesus bore the sins of the world - he began that process at the point of his baptism, and his ongoing dialog with the Father included discussion of that process.

The Pope notes here that the theme of Jesus' universal mission is that ... Read More

Rating:

- A long and insightful sermon
I was given this book as a gift. I could hardly put it down and finished it in just a few days, it was that good. It is more approachable and readable than other books by Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict.

The book covers the life of Jesus between his baptism and the transfiguration. Note that the most celebrated events, his birth, death, and resurrection, are not the focus of this book. And yet, Pope Benedict manages to weave together a very interesting narrative and analysis of who Jesus is, and why he stands out from his time in history until now.

Before anyone reads this book, they should have first read the whole Bible. There are plenty of references to the New Testament, Isaiah, Psalms, and the Torah (books of Moses). Most references are self contained, including quotes from the Revised Standard Version Bible. Sometimes the references include only partial or no quotes. In either case, it helps to be able to put things in context in your head, so it helps to be familiar with the text of the Bible before hand.

Pope Benedict is a first rate theological scholar. By the way, there is practically nothing Catholic-specific in this book - everything applies to all Christians. The point of view is conservative, decidedly not liberal. You will no doubt see positive reviews by Protestants and Mormons of this book. Sometimes the tone is a bit scholarly, discussing the work of other theologians. All in all, probably not a good book for someone who is unfamiliar with the Bible.

I cannot recommend it highly enough. This is one of most inspired and intelligently written books I own. In the preface, Pope Benedict promises to write a sequel about the rest of Jesus' life, and I look forward to that next book.

Browse for similar items by category: Click to Display

Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

Abraham, Adam, David, Isaac, Job, Joseph, Judith, Moses

Informative site dedictated to god, religion and ethics

Jesus of Nazareth

Jesus of Nazareth

Books by Joseph Ratzinger

Catholic Books

Books about Jesus

Books about Orthodoxy

Books about Mormonism

Books about Evangelism

Books about Protestantism

Books about Buddhism