Jesus: A Colloquium in the Holy Land

Description

In June 2000, five internationally renowned biblical scholars and one equally well known systematic theologian traveled to Israel with 60 non-academic pilgrims to share their insights on the Jesus of history and the meaning of the "historians' Jesus" for Christian faith. The result is a book that provides a succinct summary of what is currently known about Jesus and his times-his setting in Galilee, his relationship to the Qumran community, his sense of mission as an eschatological prophet and miracle worker, and, finally, the mechanics of how the memories of Jesus's words and deeds circulated among his followers and were passed on in oral performance to be enshrined eventually in the written Synoptic tradition. The book concludes with reflections by Elizabeth Johnson on the relevance of such scholarship for contemporary Christian faith. Rather than a challenge to faith, she sees it as a gift.

Doris Donnelly is director of the Cardinal Suenens Program in Theology and Church Life at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio.

"The scholarly, yet accessible, essays in this volume are not to be sneezed at. With such big names as Elizabeth Johnson and John Meier on the title page, one expects (and is not disappointed) serious scholarship. [The articles] are excellent, lucid introductions for the non-specialist into some of the most important, but most jargon-ridden, questions of theology to have developed in recent decades." --Travis du Priest, The Living Church, October 2001 "This book is a helpful collection which rounds up what these important scholars have to say about significant topics in the study of the historical Jesus." --Robert J. Miller, Religious Studies Review, January 2003 "...when piety, scholarship and sacred sites are brought together in popular theological writing, does the mixture prove beneficial? On the strength of this collection, I would say that it does. The scholars use their gifts for clear exposition and work seriously at serious questions... Each essay raises interesting issues, and offers teachers excellent material for discussion in tutorials." -Andrew Hamilton