Who Is Jesus?

by Rausch, Thomas P.

• ISBN13: 9780814650783
• ISBN10: 0814650783
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-07-01
• Publisher: Michael Glazier

Summary

Who is Jesus? This is the fundamental question for Christology. The earliest Christians used various titles, most of them drawn from the Old Testament or Hebrew Scriptures, to express their faith in Jesus. They called him prophet, teacher, Messiah, Son of David, Son of Man, Lord, Son of God, Word of God, and occasionally even God. In Who Is Jesus? Thomas Rausch, S.J., focuses on the New Testament's rich variety of Christologies. Who Is Jesus? covers the three quests for the historical Jesus, the methods for retrieving the historical Jesus, the Jewish background, the Jesus movement, his preaching and ministry, death, and resurrection, the various New Testament Christologies, and the development of christological doctrine from the New Testament period to Chalcedon. Chapters are "The Three Quests for the Historical Jesus," "Methodological Considerations," "The Jewish Background," "Jesus and His Movement," "The Preaching and Ministry of Jesus," "The Death of Jesus," "God Raised Him from the Dead," "New Testament Christologies," "From the New Testament to Chalcedon,

Author Biography

Thomas P. Rausch is the T. Marie Chilton Professor of Catholic Theology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Abbreviations	xi
Introduction	1	(1)
Images of Jesus	1	(2)
Starting Points for Christology	3	(6)
1. The Three Quests for the Historical Jesus	9	(14)
The First Quest: Reimarus to Schweitzer	10	(3)
The New Quest: Käsemann to Schillebeeckx	13	(2)
The Third Quest	15	(5)
Conclusion	20	(3)
2. Methodological Considerations	23	(18)
From Precritical to Critical Christology	23	(5)
The Development of the Gospel Tradition	28	(7)
Recovering the Historical Jesus	35	(2)
Doubtful Criteria	37	(1)
Conclusion	38	(3)
3. The Jewish Background	41	(20)
The Messianic Tradition	42	(6)
The Wisdom Tradition	48	(3)
The Apocalyptic Tradition	51	(4)
First-Century Palestinian Judaism	55	(5)
Conclusion	60	(1)
4. Jesus and His Movement	61	(16)
Jesus and John the Baptist	62	(6)
The Jesus Movement	68	(8)
Conclusion	76	(1)
5. The Preaching and Ministry of Jesus	77	(18)
The Sayings of Jesus	77	(5)
The Parades of Jesus	82	(2)
The Kingdom of God	84	(7)
A Note on the Miracle Tradition	91	(2)
Conclusion	93	(2)
6. The Death of Jesus	95	(16)
The Offense Behind Jesus' Death	96	(3)
Theological Perspectives	99	(4)
How Did Jesus Understand His Death?	103	(6)
Conclusion	109	(2)
7. God Raised Him from the Dead	111	(14)
The Easter Experience	111	(2)
The Easter Tradition	113	(5)
Reflections on Easter Faith	118	(5)
Conclusion	123	(2)
8. New Testament Christologies	125	(22)
Easter Christologies	127	(4)
Son of God Christologies	131	(6)
Wisdom Christologies	137	(5)
Preexistence Christologies	142	(3)
Conclusion	145	(2)
9. From the New Testament to Chalcedon	147	(18)
Faith and the Dialogue with Culture	147	(5)
From the Third Century to Nicaea	152	(4)
From Nicaea to Chalcedon	156	(7)
Conclusion	163	(2)
10. Sin and Salvation	165	(18)
Sin and Salvation in Scripture	166	(5)
Sin and Salvation in Christian History	171	(7)
The Sixteenth Century	178	(3)
Conclusion	181	(2)
11. A Contemporary Approach to Soteriology	183	(22)
The Mystery of Iniquity	184	(2)
Jesus Mediates God's Salvation	186	(11)
Is Jesus the Source of Our Salvation?	197	(5)
Conclusion	202	(3)
Glossary	205	(4)
Index of Names	209	(4)
Index of Subjects	213