On short list for best introductory Christology texts:
I've read a half-dozen or so books that attempt what Fr. Rausch attempts in this book, a solid introduction to scholarship in Christology for graduate students and even the "well-read undergraduate." This one is a major success. It's judicious and fair-minded and avoids the excesses of some of the recent "historical Jesus" books. It's well-organized. Perhaps the greatest success here, though, is Rausch's writing, which is clear and avoids jargon, taking care to explain the jargon which is unavoidable. A... more info
Required Course Reading:
I purchased this book for an online course I was required to take for my teaching job. The book was very helpful in following and completing the assignments. Amazon provided the lowest cost and very quick delivery service. That was extremely important to me so I would not fall behind in the work.
decent reading:
Jesus research and study is tricky business. There are those who are far left and those who are far right. Some are dogmatic and some are lacking clear conclusions. This particular work seems to linger somewhere in the middle. It's basically a decent introduction, although it has certain biases in relation to a few areas of Jesus/new testament studies. Read with a few grains of salt, so to speak, and read in conjunction with a few other works, this book has some good insights and some good reminders of what... more info
Thomas Rausch has delivered an excellent introduction on Jesus Christ:
A renaissance is occurring in Jesus studies. In 2004 almost six hundred books came out on Jesus Christ, and over seventy dealt with Christology (the theological study of the person and deeds of Jesus). People want to know more. There are questions to answer: Was Jesus God incarnate, or was he an eschatological prophet who proclaimed the imminent end of the world (A. Schweitzer), or was he a prophet of social change (G. Theissen), or was he peasant Jewish cynic philosopher (J. D. Crossan)? People want to... more info
