Recovering Jesus: The Witness of the New Testament
Overview
Who is the real Jesus, and why does he matter? In Recovering Jesus: The Witness of the New Testament, respected New Testament scholar Thomas Yoder Neufeld offers an accessible and thorough introduction to Jesus’ life. Neufeld starts with the Jesus revealed in the Gospels. He covers Jesus’ birth, teachings, miracles, death, and resurrection. Then he builds on this account and assesses recent scholarly and popular studies, like the argument that the historical Jesus is revealed in the Gnostic gospels and other noncanonical texts. The result is a useful guide into the morass of current scholarship.
In a true teaching spirit, Neufeld provides a comprehensive approach that doesn’t overwhelm the introductory reader or student. He clearly explains the nuances of complex issues without oversimplification. Recovering Jesus is thus an invaluable text for undergraduate and seminary students and a helpful resource in nonacademic settings. In the end, readers will come to a deeper understanding of who Jesus is and why he matters.
The Logos Bible Software edition of this volume is designed to encourage and stimulate your study and understanding of Scripture. Biblical passages link directly to your English translations and original-language texts, and important theological concepts link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. In addition, you can perform powerful searches by topic and find what other authors, scholars, and theologians have to say about the Word of God.
- Discusses the life of Jesus from a pedagogical standpoint
- Works through the identity of Jesus as seen both in the Gospels and in more modern times
- Reads in a concise, accessible manner
- One Jesus or Many Jesuses?
- Development of Jesus Traditions: Digging through the Layers
- One Jesus—Four Gospels
- Jesus’s World
- Birth of Jesus
- Kingdom of God: What? Where? When?
- Announcing the Kingdom: John, Baptism, Testing, and the Twelve
- Teaching the Kingdom: Parables
- Enacting the Kingdom: Healing, Exorcism, and Food
- Living the Kingdom: Seek First the Kingdom and Its Justice!
- Death of Jesus
- Resurrection of Jesus
- Jesus—Christ and Lord
Thomas Yoder Neufeld has provided readers with ‘the raw material and some of the skill with which to jump into the fray’ of the debates about Jesus. This highly readable book has been carefully honed through years of undergraduate teaching by a scholar who often preaches and teaches in church settings. Well informed and with enviable clarity, Neufeld presents the fruit of the best critical Jesus scholarship—hospitable for students in the pluralistic context of the university classroom. Anyone interested in the Jesus we encounter in the New Testament will turn these pages with great interest and profit.
—Graham H. Twelftree, distinguished professor of New Testament, Regent University School of Divinity
Not just another Jesus book, Thomas Yoder Neufeld’s Recovering Jesus integrates sound scholarship with a profound and reflective faith. Written with a wide spectrum of contemporary college students in mind, Yoder Neufeld’s accessible and engaging prose will also attract thoughtful laypeople as well as busy church leaders. His centering the Jesus story in the ethic and theology of the kingdom of God is not only refreshingly true to the heart of our written Gospels but will be especially helpful for those who long to follow Jesus in life. Few scholars of Yoder Neufeld’s breadth and depth write with this clarity of thought and joy on discipleship.
—Mary Schertz, professor of New Testament, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary
Thomas Yoder Neufeld does a good and accessible job of clearing the decks and showing the way in this introduction to Jesus and his teaching in the context of the scholarly cacophony that surrounds Jesus. Nicely done.
—Darrell L. Bock, research professor of New Testament studies, Dallas Theological Seminary
A lucid, engaging treatment of Jesus and the Gospels, attending well to sources and methods. Yoder Neufeld laudably combines faith and scholarship. His lists of reading sources at the end of each chapter are valuable for further study. This book is well designed for introducing Jesus and current scholarship to university students, and to laypeople who want to understand how we know what we know about Jesus.
—Willard M. Swartley, emeritus professor of New Testament, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary
- Title: Recovering Jesus: The Witness of the New Testament
- Author: Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld
- Publisher: Brazos Press
- Publication Date: 2007
- Pages: 336