Jesus
Word Made Flesh
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This book means to explore who Jesus was, is, and is to come, and by what series of events this man of Jewish history came to be viewed by millions as a man of God-like powers in their present lives and their hoped for future." Rich in familiarity with Jesus' Jewish world, Gerard Sloyan helps us discover a Jesus thoroughly situated in his own time and place. Grounded in the New Testament gospels, Sloyan's study leads us to an already interpreted Jesus, distinctly portrayed by each evangelist. Going outside the New Testament, Sloyan takes us into the theological questions and developments that culminated in the affirmations of the councils of Nicaea and Chalcedon. This impressive, clearly written work challenges readers to see both the historical Jesus who preached the in-breaking of God's reign and the post-resurrection Jesus whom Christians named Lord and Savior.
Gerard S. Sloyan, STD, PhD, is professor emeritus of religion at Temple University and currently visiting professor at Georgetown University, Washington, DC. He has written extensively on Jesus, including The Crucifixion of Jesus (Fortress Press, 1995) and Why Jesus Died (Fortress Press, 2004).
Editor’s Preface ix
Author’s Preface xi
Chapter One:
Who Jesus Was in the Religion of Israel 1
The Actual or Real Jesus 2
Being Raised Up from the Dead to a New Life—Fact or Fancy? 3
Witnesses to the Movement Rather Than to the Man 6
The Little Known of Jesus’ Infancy and Early Years 8
Jesus Grown to Adulthood 13
Jesus as Teacher: Debates over Law Observance 13
The Distinctive Purpose of Each Evangelist 18
The Story of Israel Without Which Jesus Cannot Be Understood 19
Kings and Kingdoms 20
The Influence of the Babylonian Exile and Hellenism 22
Jesus the Quintessential Jew 23
The Chronicle Continued: The Markan Story 24
Chapter Two:
The First We Hear of Jesus in History’s Record 30
The Biblical Title Messiah (Christos), Anointed One 32
Kyrios as Sovereign Lord or Master 33
Jesus’ Coming (Parousia) at the End in Glory 35
Saul/Paul’s Faith in Jesus Found in Other Letters 37
The Silence of Paul’s Extant Letters on Jesus’ Public Life 40
Jesus in Paul’s Corinthian Correspondence 42
The Jesus of the Epistolary Corpus 48
Signs of Jesus’ Jewishness Wrongly Imposed on Gentiles 52
Jesus in the Last Written Extant Letter of Saul/Paul 56
A Pauline Letter That Paul Did Not Write 58
Jesus in Hebrews and Revelation 59
Chapter Three:
Knowing Jesus from What He Taught 68
Jesus’ Many Teachings in Matthew 70
The Beatitudes and the Woes 71
The Our Father 76 The Devil in the Desert 78
Recorded Prayers from Jesus’ Lips 79
The Lengthy Prayer Spoken at the Last Supper 80
Jesus’ Descent from a Long Line of Storytellers 81
More of Jesus’ Teaching in Matthew 85
Some Further Matthew Parables Explored 88
Luke’s Teachings of Jesus Special to Him 93
Prodigality Can Mean Generous Giving but Not Here 97
Jesus as Exorcist and Wonderworker 101
A Brief Foretelling of Jesus’ Life, Death, and Resurrection as Bringing Redemption 103
Chapter Four:
What John Does with the Figure of Jesus 105
John’s Technique of Having Jesus Mystify, Then Explain 108
The Last Supper Discourse 113
Chapter Five:
Jesus’ Death and Resurrection 117
The Markan Passion Narrative as Basic to Matthew and Luke 118
The Roman Legionaries and the Pilate Characterization 123
Some Touches Proper to Luke and John 127
The Crucifixion Proper 129
All Other References to Jesus’ Death Unlike These Playbooks 133
The Resurrection of Jesus that Changed Everything 135
Three Non-Markan Ways of Bringing the Story to an End 137
Chapter Six:
Jesus in Late New Testament Epistles and Second-Century Writings 146
Jesus in the Extra-Canonical Writings: 1 Clement 149
Jesus in the Didache 151
The Letters of the Great Ignatius, Martyr 153
Jesus in the Second-Century Apologists 154
Jesus in the Lengthy Treatise of a Missionary Bishop 155
Late Apocryphal Gospels, Some Orthodox, Some Gnostic in Intent 158
Chapter Seven:
Jesus at the Center of Doctrinal-Political Argument 160
The Vocabulary of Debate and Its Major Topic 162
The Heretical Teaching of Arius 164
Basil’s Defense of the Holy Spirit as a Divine Person 166
The Christological Teaching that Prevailed After Nicaea 168
Nestorius’s Defense of the Humanity of Christ 170
Eutyches and the Chalcedonian Settlement 172
Epilogue 178
Further Reading 183
Index of Scripture and Ancient Texts 185
Index of Subjects and Persons 192