Rediscovering Jesus

Sunday Quote!- Finding the “real” Jesus

Every Sunday, I will share a quote from something I’ve been reading. The hope is for you, dear reader, to share your thoughts on the quote and related issues and perhaps pick up some reading material along the way!

Finding the “real” Jesus

There is a continuing quest to try to find the “real” Jesus. Whether that quest is done by critical New Testament scholars who shave off almost everything the Bible says Jesus said or did or it is done by spiritualists attempting to recruit Jesus’s teaching to their cause, many diverse people are searching for Jesus. Rediscovering Jesus offers a way forward in the cacophony of perspectives:

This is what we need to do: take in the entire New Testament, and let each biblical writer teach us about Jesus. Rather than rely upon our favorite parts, our preferred picture of Jesus, we need to rediscover the “whole Jesus”—every portrait, every picture, every single verse. By looking at many different images of Jesus, even the ones outside the Bible, we might be in a better position to rediscover Jesus beyond our preferences, challenging our prejudices and enhancing our faith. (20, cited below)

We should not unnecessarily limit the scope of our search into the “real” Jesus. Although some sources of insight are certainly more reliable than others, an a priori assumption that we must excise the biblical texts or ignore the insights of scholars could actually limit the scope of the greatest event in history: the Incarnation.

Read my review of the book if you’d like to know more about it. It is excellent.

Links

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Sunday Quote– If you want to read more Sunday Quotes and join the discussion, check them out! (Scroll down for more)

Eclectic Theist– Check out my other blog for my writings on science fiction, history, fantasy movies, and more!

Source

David B. Capes, Rodney Reeves, and E. Randolph Richards, Rediscovering Jesus (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2015).

SDG.

Book Review: “Rediscovering Jesus” by David B. Capes, Rodney Reeves, and E. Randolph Richards

Rediscovering Jesus is part project of unearthing aspects of Jesus which are often ignored, part recovery of the biblical portrait of Jesus, and all intriguing.

The book is structured such that each chapter presents a specific portrait of Jesus. Each chapter has a brief introductory section that gives an overview of that specific Jesus, an exposition of how the specific work presents Jesus, how that Jesus is different or unique, and what we would believe about Jesus if that were the only information about Jesus we had.

The first part focuses on biblical images of Jesus, but does so by looking at individual books of the Bible (though a few writings are lumped together). Thus, rather than seeing a composite Jesus made up of all four Gospels put together–not itself a bad thing, necessarily–the chapters provide a deeper look at the individual focus of each Gospel or book. Thus, readers are confronted by a Jesus who is a man of action in Mark, a priest in Hebrews, and an apocalyptic judge in Revelation.

The second part examines pictures of Jesus outside the Bible: the ones examined are the Gnostic, Muslim, Historical, Mormon, American, and Cinematic Jesus.

The primary value of the work is how it challenges readers to rethink how they have viewed Jesus. If their Jesus has been shaped predominantly by cultural and non-biblical portraits, the book serves as a call to return to the biblical portrayal. But it does not do so at the expense of all extrabiblical imagery. The authors carefully outline how there might be truth found in various images of Jesus. If our Jesus has been shaped by biblical imagery, the authors challenge us to see how we might have glossed over specific emphases of the different authors of the New Testament.

Each chapter is filled with insights and things to explore. Readers will be continually challenged in how they may have a deficient or composite view of Jesus that does not match the Jesus of the Bible. It is a book which calls us, primarily, to learn about our Lord Jesus Christ. It does so in a way that is constantly exciting and invigorating.

I recommend Rediscovering Jesus wholeheartedly. It was a phenomenally interesting read, and one which will challenge you to rethink how you have conceived of Jesus, while calling readers back to biblical portrayals. I can’t really recommend it highly enough.

The Good

+Illuminates a number of aspects of the biblical Jesus that we often miss
+Great chapter organization
+Excellent information found throughout the book

The Bad

-Very brief on several points

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of the book from the publisher. I was not required to leave any specific kind of feedback whatsoever.

Links

Be sure to check out the page for this site on Facebook and Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies and more!

Book Reviews– There are plenty more book reviews to read! Read like crazy! (Scroll down for more, and click at bottom for even more!)

Source

David B. Capes, Rodney Reeves, and E. Randolph Richards, Rediscovering Jesus (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2015).

SDG.

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Sunday Quote!- Making a Composite Jesus

Every Sunday, I will share a quote from something I’ve been reading. The hope is for you, dear reader, to share your thoughts on the quote and related issues and perhaps pick up some reading material along the way!

Making a Composite Jesus

I finished reading through Rediscovering Jesus not too long ago and I was struck by something fairly early on: the authors challenged readers to come to the realization that we are often operating under a kind of composite portrait of Jesus:

My Jesus is often a smorgasbord Jesus, a Jesus who doesn’t look like the one in the Bible. Just like a buffet in the cafeteria, where I go through the line and pick out what I want, I read through the Gospels, pulling out stories I like. (17, cited below)

The authors go on to note that our view of Jesus is not only formed buffet-like from imagery found in the Bible, but also through various ways the culture has influenced us to think about Jesus. What are some of the ways that your picture of Jesus may have been shaped by extra-biblical imagery? How might we find the composite Jesus we have created that often stands alongside us as we try to read about Jesus in the scriptures?

Rediscovering Jesus is full of insights like this, and I highly commend it to you, dear readers.

Source

David B. Capes, Rodney Reeves, and E. Randolph Richards, Rediscovering Jesus (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2015).

Links

Be sure to check out the page for this site on Facebook and Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies and more!

Sunday Quote– If you want to read more Sunday Quotes and join the discussion, check them out! (Scroll down for more)

SDG.