Literary Food for the Soul
A Review of Jesus of Nazareth
By Mike Lambrecht
Pope Benedict XVI appropriately chose Jesus as the topic of his first published book as the Holy Father in 2007. He admits in the foreword that there has been some dichotomy since the 1950’s between the “historical Jesus” and the “Jesus of the faith.” This is due in part because of advances in the empirical sciences, trends in biblical exegesis, and also of a growing world view that is skeptical of anything having to do with faith.
Throughout his book, Pope Benedict examines the life of Jesus from his Baptism to his transfiguration while scrutinizing the four Gospels in detail in order to come to a better understanding of just who Jesus is. The pope uses a very methodical approach that is both intellectual and comprehensible. He uses biblical citations throughout to support his views and draws from the Old Testament as well as the New. In his book, the Holy Father addresses the importance and limitations of the historical-critical method of interpreting scripture. He also devotes an entire chapter to each of the following subjects: the baptism of Jesus, his temptation, the Gospel, the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord’s prayer, the disciples, the parables, the principle images of John’s Gospel, Peter’s confession and the Transfiguration, and Jesus’ declaring of his identity1.
The bottom line is that the supreme pontiff has written an excellent book that should be of great interest to anyone who would like to learn more about Jesus and who is even moderately interested in studying the bible on a deeper level. I would strongly recommend picking up this book and reading. I am very much looking forward to part two of this book which does not yet have a release date as far as I know. Jesus of Nazareth has recently been released in paperback format with a MSRP of $14.95.
1 Benedict XVI, Pope. Jesus of Nazareth. New York: Doubleday, 2007.