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Review Summary: Terrific Survey of the Life of Christ |
Date: 2008-10-19 |
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Details: Bob Stein's survey of the life of Christ stands out among other works on the Gospels in the way he summarizes both the teaching and the life of Jesus. It is remarkable how much helpful material Stein is able to include in a relatively brief book. |
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Review Summary: The best of its kind |
Date: 2008-07-22 |
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Details: Jesus the Messiah by Robert H. Stein is the best survey of Jesus' life that I've had the privilege of reading. From the moment I picked it up I didn't want to put it down. Maybe it's because as a communicator Stein is clear, as a scholar he is thorough, and as a theologian he is faithful to the biblical text. Or maybe it's his ability to make his material flow so smoothly that won me over. Whatever the reason -- and I suspect I love it for all these reasons -- Stein's work is a triumph in Jesus literature.
Stein divides his book into two parts. Part One, called Key Issues in Studying the Life of Christ, has only three chapters. Part Two, called The Life of Christ, has sixteen. In Part One Stein guides us through some preliminary issues that prepare us to be able to adequately approach the meat of the book. Chapter one explores the role of presuppositions in studying the life of Jesus. Chapter two navigates through the sources available to us. And chapter three looks at chronology -- the when of Jesus' life.
In Part Two Stein covers all the bases. He devotes chapters to the virgin birth, Jesus' silent years, his baptism, his temptation, his call of the disciples, his message concerning the kingdom of God, the person of Jesus, his time at Caesarea Philippi, his transfiguration, his triumphal entry, his cleansing of the Temple, the last supper, Gethsemane and his arrest, his trial, his passion, and finally his resurrection.
Most special about Part Two is the cohesiveness of the material. These chapters, although great as stand alone treatments, read even better in sequence. Those who allow each chapter to feed into the next will, at the end, witness a breathtaking full scale picture of the glory of the life of Christ. For example, the final chapter deals with the resurrection. But along the way Stein deals with the material that intimates the resurrection, such as Jesus' predictions of his own death and resurrection, Jesus' statements concerning the Temple, the Transfiguration, Joseph of Arimathea's request to have Jesus' body placed in his tomb, etc. Reading all the material together seems to augment each individual aspect of Jesus' life.
I recommend Jesus the Messiah to anyone wanting to know about Jesus. It will be especially helpful to those who already know about Jesus but don't know how all the material in the gospels come together. It will greatly benefit these readers because it will help untangle the mess of information jumbled up in their minds concerning Jesus. A parable here, a miracle there, a statement here -- but how does it all fit together? Stein's Jesus the Messiah is the perfect book to help us here. Don't miss this one. |
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Review Summary: Interesting and Swift Survey of the Life of Christ |
Date: 2007-12-10 |
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Details: I enjoyed this book. Robert Stein discusses the life of Christ in layman's terms. He makes it clear from the get go that how you feel about the possibility of the supernatural is going to determine how you approach the data in the gospels.
Stein surveys the references to Christ in the secular literature of the period. He also looks at some of the partisan, non-canonical literature as well as texts like the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas.
Stein discusses the different criteria for determining the authenticity of a saying or event in the life of Jesus. Multiple attestation, the criterion of dissimilarity and others are examples of what to look for in studying the gospels. If something is written in the Gospels that would appear to put Jesus or the Gospel message in a questionable light (Jesus calling Peter "Satan," Jesus cursing the fig tree), it most probably authentic.
There are places within the book where I wish that Stein would take more of a stand. He concludes that at this time, there is no satisfactory explanation for why Quirinius was listed as the governor at the time of Christ's birth when it seems that he wasn't appointed to that position until later. He lists many options, but is cautious about adopting anything. But judging from Luke's accuracy elsewhere, why can't we simply say that Luke probably knows more about his world than we do? Although Stein doesn't say so, perhaps he would agree. He does point out that Luke has shown elsewhere to be trustworthy in his knowledge of history (Acts 5:37).
Stein is also reluctant to adopt a position on the two differing genealogies of Jesus and he feels that there is no way at the present time that we can reconcile John and the Synoptics concerning the timing of the Last Supper. He feels that history is on the side of Matthew, Mark and Luke about the Last Supper being a Passover Meal, but he cannot explain why John sees the meal as occuring the day before the Passover. But since John has shown throughout his gospel that he is more concerned with making theological statements about Christ than chronological statements, is it possible we can assume the same here? If John can transfer the timing of the cleansing of the temple from the end of Christ's ministry to the beginning of Christ's ministry for theological emphasis, then what's the big deal about bumping the Last Supper back one day for theological emphasis?
I understand that these are delicate and debatable issues, and I do appreciate that Stein lays out all the available possibilities. But Stein seems content to say in effect that we'll understand it better by and by.
Having said this, I still think the book is really good. Stein makes a compelling case for the historicity of the crucifixion and the death of Christ, and also for the empty tomb and resurrection of Christ.
Stein is a great evangelical scholar, and his books have helped me enormously in my own readings of the Gospels. This one is very good also, but at times, it raises more questions than it answers. |
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Review Summary: Great book. Stein covers a wide scope effectively |
Date: 2007-04-10 |
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Details: This book was used in a class titled Life & Teachings of Jesus and was easy to cpmprehend and covered a wide scope of information. I recommend it to anyone who wants to study the life of Jesus in great detail. |
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Review Summary: Excellent!! |
Date: 2007-03-19 |
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Details: A very well thought out and well researched study of the synoptic gospels. I'd highly recommend this book for believers and non-believers who have questions.
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out of 7 Reviews
