Jesus: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) by Richard Bauckham (PDF)

Description

Two billion people today identify as Christians, with the implication that Jesus is the focus of their relationship with God, and their way of living in the world. Such followers of Jesus are now more numerous and make up a greater proportion of the world’s population than ever before. Despite its decline in the West, Christianity is rapidly increasing in areas such as Africa and China.Richard Bauckham explores the historical figure of Jesus, evaluating the sources and concluding that they provide us with good historical evidence for his life and teaching. In order to place Jesus in his proper historical context, as a Jew from Galilee in the early first century of our era, Bauckham looks at Jewish religion and society in the land of Israel under Roman rule. He explores Jesus’ symbolic practices as well as his teachings, looks at his public career and emphasises how hisactions, such as healing and his association with notorious sinners, were just as important as his words.Bauckham shows that Jesus was devoted to the God of Israel, with a special focus on God’s fatherly love and compassion, and like every Jewish teacher he expounded the Torah, but did so in his own distinctive way. With a discussion about the way Jesus understood himself and what finally led to his death as a criminal on a Roman cross, he concludes by considering the significance Jesus has come to have for Christian faith worldwide.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐For a Christian searching for a feeling you know Christ better than you did before reading this book, you may have found just the right vehicle. My Lutheran congregation selected it to be read and discussed in small groups during Lent. Overall, it was very well received and generated an abundance of spirited conversation. Physically, it is a little hard to read by aging eyes because of the small font selected and the fact the book itself is small enough to fit into one’s coat pocket.I highly recommend it, especially given its historically factual presentation style and the author’s surprisingly helpful editorial comments. A friendly caveat – you may want to keep a dictionary handy for the author is a Brit emeritus having taught at Cambridge whose extensive vocabulary is likely to challenge casual readers.

⭐I’m a fan of Oxford’s A Very Short Introduction series. They generally don’t disappoint, and this brief book by Dr. Bauckham is no exception. I found it an excellent overview of the one whom he calls “the bst known and most influential human person in world history.” He ends with the assertion “The Gospels read as narrative of incarnation are at the heart of historic Christian faith.” I read it in preparation for creating a course and found it a helpful treatment.

⭐Bauckham’s book on the historical Jesus does not make many assertions which would be considered controversial which means it is actually a breath of fresh air in Jesus scholarship. What he does do is start with a very different assumption than much of the historical Jesus scholarship of the past century: the Gospels can be considered reliable eyewitness testimony into the life of the historical Jesus. The phrasing of that last statement is very important as Bauckham does not view the Gospels as history but as ancient biography (please read his “Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony” for further development of his argument for this method of reading.)What I very much appreciated was Bauckham’s ability to trust the biblical witness and show how the teachings of that witness would have been received in the context in which spoken. This is a bit different from other scholars like Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan who relish the historical situation but have a massive distrust of the Gospel accounts. My theological training was in the latter, and it always rubbed me the wrong way since one could subject the Gospels to a subjective criteria to formulate one’s own picture of Jesus–a picture that was not necessarily in accord with the ancient texts.Bauckham methodology allows the reader to understand the cultural dynamics AND be true to the witness of the Gospels. His short exegesis of the Parable of the Good Samaritan was particularly good. Further, Bauckham does a nice job of showing how Jesus embodied both God’s radical love accompanied with judgement for those who rejected that love–a nice antidote to the “God is love and there should be no judgement” strain of Christianity pervading some Christian circles.

⭐This is the best short introduction I have read. Bauckham manages to deal with every major issue in the field of historical Jesus studies with evidence and reason that leaves the reader with the most accurate picture of Jesus modern scholarship can provide in such a short book.

⭐R. Bauckham is a messianic author that provides a fascinating exposure of Jesus’ ministry and his cultural background during the 1st century. A very enjoyable and short read that helped me a lot in understanding better what ‘kingdom of heaven’ really means. I think it’s the first time that I’ve read from a more realistic and not just emotional perspective what miracles look like.

⭐Rather than receiving the book “Jesus a very short introduction” I received a book called “How life changed in Victorian times”. It would cost me more to send the book back for the correct item.

⭐Quite a good, brief introduction. Prof. Bauckham covers the life, death and resurrection of Jesus in a way that even longtime believers will benefit from.

⭐This is the best short explanation of what Jesus did and what his intentions were that I have read. It would suffice as an excellent intro to Jesus for anyone, either Christians who have some questions that have not been answered or for a person outside Christianity who wants to get at the heart of the faith. The author has accomplished in a short book what many have not done in much longer books.

⭐This is an excellent book. It explains Jesus by drawing upon the author’s deep knowledge of the history and Jewish religion of the times. There are many superb insights.But Richard Bauckham makes one claim which is shocking. On page 76 he states that the community of the followers of Jesus has no place for “human fathers”. He claims that this is because God is the only Father for Christians. He bases this opinion on one occurrence in Jesus’ life. Jesus was visited by his earthly family (mother Mary, brothers and sisters) to persuade him to tone down his ministry. Jesus refused to see them, and said that his followers were his family. He declared “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3: 31-33). The flaw in Bauckham’s argument is obvious. By that time, Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph, was probably dead. And so Jesus would not have referred to a father in that context.As a father and a Christian, I was apalled by Bauckham’s analysis. On checking the internet, it appears he is a senior Anglican theologian. No wonder the Church of England has fewer and fewer men in their congregations, and the CofE has a ‘Mother’s Union’ organisation, but nothing for fathers.Having said that, page 76 can be ignored, as the rest of the book is well worth reading.

⭐The Oxford Very Short Introduction series really hits it out of the park with Richard Bauckham’s slim book on Jesus. Whatever your religious affiliation, an obscure carpenter from Nazareth has, against all the norms of history, gone on to become the most influential person to have ever lived. Richard Bauckham is probably the most important scholar working today on the historical life of Jesus (his Jesus and the Eyewitnesses was a truly paradigm shifting book on the whole quest for the historical Jesus) and in this short book Bauckham synthesises all that down to a hundred pages. If you’re interested in the question of who Jesus was, did he really exist and did he do what people said he did, this is an excellent introduction: rigorous, scholarly and beautifully written. A book almost worthy of its subject.

⭐This is an outstanding work of popularization, making the fruits of ground-breaking research accessible to a general readership. The central argument, that the Gospels are based on the eye-witness accounts of those who knew and followed Jesus, is highly convincing and deserves the attention of believers and sceptics alike.

⭐A clear, concise review of Jesus by a truly excellent scholar and writer. This book is so accessible and will assist anyone wishing to study Jesus from any angle or viewpoint

⭐Really loved this book. Underlined some of the clear thinking around Jesus, who he was, what he did, what his message was etc.

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