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's lectures and writings have been widely recognized for providing a fresh, provocative and historically credible portrait. Out of his own commitment to both historical 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. - Publisher.
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Short review: Great book. Good example of why we need to continually look at research into scripture. The biggest complaint that some will have is that Wright likes to explain things and not give simple answers. But that is the point of research like this. Highly recommend you pick it up if you are at all interested in biblical studies or the person of Jesus.
A MUCH longer review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/challenge-jesus-wright/ (almost 1100 words unfortunately)
Why wrestle with the historical Jesus?
1. We are made for God
2. We are loyal to Scripture
3. We have a Christian imperative to seek truth
4. We have a commitment to Christian mission
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