The Challenge of Jesus (with DVD) - Hardcover

Wright, N. T.

4.14

2,892 ratings by Goodreads

9780830838325: The Challenge of Jesus (with DVD)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0830838325 ISBN 13: 9780830838325

Publisher: IVP Books, 2011

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Today a renewed and vigorous scholarly quest for the historical Jesus is underway. In the midst of well-publicized and controversial books on Jesus, N. T. Wright is widely recognized for providing a fresh, provocative and historically credible portrait. Out of his own commitment to both scholarship and Christian ministry, Wright challenges us to roll up our sleeves and take seriously the study of the historical Jesus. He writes, "Many Christians have been, frankly, sloppy in their thinking and talking about Jesus, and hence, sadly, in their praying and in their practice of discipleship. We cannot assume that by saying the word Jesus, still less the word Christ, we are automatically in touch with the real Jesus who walked and talked in first-century Palestine. . . . Only by hard, historical work can we move toward a fuller comprehension of what the Gospels themselves were trying to say." The Challenge of Jesus poses a double-edged challenge: to grow in our understanding of the historical Jesus within the Palestinian world of the first century, and to follow Jesus more faithfully into the postmodern world of the twenty-first century. Now included in this special edition is the fifty-minute DVD Resurrection, shot on location in Israel, Greece and England. Here Wright presents the political, historical and theological issues of the first century and today regarding the startling claim that Jesus rose from the dead. Throughout he brings clarity and insight to one of the most profound mysteries in human history. Free group discussion guide to Resurrection DVD available at ivpress.com.

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Review:

"We cannot assume that by saying the word Jesus," writes N.T. Wright--Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey and formerly Dean of Lichtifeld Cathedral--"still less the word Christ, we are automatically in touch with the real Jesus who talked in first-century Palestine." Even less are we automatically in touch with "the Jesus who ... is the same yesterday, today and forever." Wright's goal in this volume is to present in a simplified form the findings that are occupying him in his monumental six-volume series entitled Christian Origins and the Question of God, and in particular in the second volume, already published, Jesus and the Victory of God. Distinguishing himself from the "Jesus Seminar" theologians, who question the literalness of the resurrection (among other things), Wright affirms the absolute centrality of both the Last Supper and the Easter experience as historical events. Through these experiences with Jesus, Wright suggests, the early Christians came to see that "Jesus--and then, very quickly, Jesus' people--were now the true Temple, and the actual building in Jerusalem was thereby redundant."

Written with refreshing clarity and passion, The Challenge of Jesus serves as an excellent introduction to the thinking of this influential New Testament historian. --Doug Thorpe

From the Publisher:

Features & Benefits

* provides helpful insight into Scripture and the life of Christ

* gives a historical picture of Jesus that also rings true to the resurrected Christ of Christian belief, worship and experience

* offers scholarly, historical analysis of first-century Judaism and Christianity

* useful for those just learning about Jesus as well as for the seasoned scholar in search of fresh perspectives

* written by one of the leading Jesus scholars of our day

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