Martin Hengel's New Jesus Book Jan 31 08
By bock - Posted on January 31st, 2008
Martin Hengel and Anna Maria Schwemer have published a new work on Jesus in German, Jesus und das Judentum (Mohr/Siebeck is the publisher in the WUNT series). Hengel is professor emeritus at the University of Tübingen in Germany. Schwemer has been his research assiatant for years. I am reading it right now. It is a solid look at Jesus in the Second Temple Jewish context. On page 175, as he overviews the basic messianic roots of Jesus' ministry through his choosing of the 12, he notes how so much German study of Jesus since Bultmann has been misdirected and has led New Testament study down the wrong path. This led to the misdirected second (or New) Quest for Jesus by paying far too little attention to the Jewish and Old Testament foundations of Jesus' work, while erroneously denying his messianic claims. If the rest of the book is as good as the start, this should be quite an interesting look at Jesus. The first two hundred pages cover the historical and religious context in Israel at the time, as well as overviewing the historical Jesus discussion. For those of you who know German, it is worth the read. For those who do not, I will try to summarize as I go through this excellent book.
I am looking forward to your summary of the reading. Unfortunately, I do not read German. So I have to wait for your summary.
Dear Dr Bock,
I will deeply appreciate your analysis of this book as I do not read German fluently. Just a quick question: Does Hengel in this latest book advance the argument found in his earlier work Studies in Early Christology (1995) that the development of Christology in the earliest Christians is ultimately rooted in Jesus' self understanding? If yes, how does he advance his argument? Thank you very much.
Andrew
Andrew:
Yes, Hengel basically expands arguments made earlier. The key is to see how early the attachment to the title Christ comes (in all our earliest sources, even seen in the name Jesus Christ). One should combine this with the recognition that for the church to go there without some impetus from Jesus makes no sense because of the social-political risk it meant for the movement to go there on its own in terms of reaction from Rome for claiming an independent rule. Only the momentum Jesus could supply from the response to him as a person would propel people into a position to take such a risk.
dlb
Post new comment