This past week I finished N.T. Wright’s The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is
(1999). It helps the reader examine the actions and words of Jesus from the perspective of his contemporaries, an undertaking Wright calls “The Quest for the Historical Jesus.” Once the singular “vocation” of Jesus is understood from the standpoint of a 1st Century Hebrew, his seemingly random teachings, symbolic actions and parables present a surprisingly cohesive message that was received far differently than we typically assume today. What was all the “kingdom” talk about? Why were the Pharisees so threatened by what Jesus was doing? And why were his disciples so confused? Wright answers these questions brilliantly and then explains what they mean for the church today. Our task is to build on the foundation that Jesus prepared: announce the good news, proclaim God’s love, and be the light of the world. Finally we must continue to study the story of Jesus, then find compelling ways to share it with our generation.
Sounds Interesting. Have you ever read any of Lee Strobel’s books? Particularly, The Case for Christ examines how he, originally an atheist, sought to prove that Jesus really existed and to confirm how we know what we know about him from contemporary historical documents.
As a classicist, one thing that originally drew me (and continues to draw me back) into Latin and Greek was a search for understanding about what was going on and why things happened in the ancient biblical world. Of course, a lot of it was not meant to be quantified, but understanding the context gives greater potential for application to modern contexts.