Familiar Stranger: An Introduction to Jesus of Nazareth (Bible in Its World) - Softcover

McClymond, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802826806 ISBN 13: 9780802826800

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2004

Synopsis

Familiar Stranger by Michael McClymond is a very readable introduction to that elusive figure known as “the historical Jesus” ― his life, his world, his sayings and doings, accounts of his death and resurrection, and his followers’ efforts to understand him.

Three features set Familiar Stranger apart from the many other available books on Jesus. First, it’s targeted to general readers but doesn’t dumb down in its attempt to inform them. Second, it’s ideologically balanced, exhibiting a refreshing lack of agenda or ulterior motive beyond the desire to genuinely present what we can and cannot know about Jesus today. Third, it brings together the two most fruitful models for understanding Jesus and his mission ― Jesus the “moral sage” and Jesus the “eschatological prophet.” The result is a truly well-rounded picture of Jesus.

Marked by concision, clarity, and thoroughness, McClymond’s Familiar Stranger is ideal for classrooms, study groups, and individuals in search of an up-to-date, trustworthy guide to the historical Jesus. Readers familiar with Jesus may well find him becoming stranger to them through these pages, and, conversely, those to whom Jesus is a stranger may well discover a growing familiarity with him.

About this title

About the Author

 

Michael J. McClymond is professor of modern Christianity at Saint Louis University. His other books include The Devil's Redemption: A New History and Interpretation of Christian Universalism.

From the Back Cover

"Familiar Stranger" by Michael McClymond is a very readable introduction to that elusive figure known as bthe historical Jesusb -- his life, his world, his sayings and doings, accounts of his death and resurrection, and his followersb efforts to understand him.

Three features set "Familiar Stranger" apart from the many other available books on Jesus. First, itbs targeted to general readers but doesnbt dumb down in its attempt to inform them. Second, itbs ideologically balanced, exhibiting a refreshing lack of agenda or ulterior motive beyond the desire to genuinely present what we can and cannot know about Jesus today. Third, it brings together the two most fruitful models for understanding Jesus and his mission -- Jesus the bmoral sageb and Jesus the beschatological prophet.b The result is a truly well-rounded picture of Jesus.

Marked by concision, clarity, and thoroughness, McClymondbs "Familiar Stranger" is ideal for classrooms, study groups, and individuals in search of an up-to-date, trustworthy guide to the historical Jesus. Readers familiar with Jesus may well find him becoming stranger to them through these pages, and, conversely, those to whom Jesus is a stranger may well discover a growing familiarity with him.

Reviews

The timing of this book--in the wake of the Ash Wednesday emergence of Mel Gibson's Jesus as a box-office idol--couldn't be better, for it provides an Easter overview, as it were, of the scholarly encounter with a complex Jesus in an even more complex context. Writing for a popular audience, McClymond faithfully summarizes "recent historical research on the life of Jesus"; successfully avoids any dumbing down in his presentation; and, furthermore, in his notes guides the interested to the "piles of books" produced by the scholarly encounter with Jesus. After a "thumbnail portrait" and historical overview, nine chapters are devoted to sources, methods, and issues. The last two chapters turn directly to questions of identity and contemporary conceptions of Jesus. Those inspired by the particular, cinematic vision of Christ's Passion to learn more about the person of Jesus and the passionate responses competing versions of his story continue to evoke may find this book a good first read. Steven Schroeder
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Edition details

• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802826806
• ISBN 13: 9780802826800
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224