A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus

by John P. Meier

Yale Univ. Press. 752p $55

This is the fourth of five volumes—an undertaking of massive proportions and impeccable scholarship. The first volume in the series, The Roots of the Problem and the Person, set Jesus within his times and cultural context, reconstructed what can be surmised about his “hidden life” and concluded with Jesus approaching adulthood. The second volume, Mentor, Message and Miracle, focused on John the Baptist, the meaning of Jesus’ message of the coming kingdom of God, and God’s kingly power already manifest in Jesus’ exorcisms, healings and miracles. The third volume, Companions and Competitors, explored the relations of Jesus with those around him and provides inspiration for those involved in the ministry of the word.   

The Rev. John P. Meier—who is William K. Warren Chair Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, and past president of the Catholic Biblical Association—continues his quest for the historical Jesus in this new volume, which deals with the Mosaic Law, parables, Jesus’ self-designation and his crucifixion. Written with the same rigor, attention to detail, thoroughness and grounded argumentation, Law and Love is written for a broad readership. Meier speaks of the enigma in Jesus’ teaching as follows:

            …his approach seems to be neither total rejection
            of the Law, nor a dialectic that embraces yet in
            effect rejects the Law, nor a total affirmation of the
            Law that simply involves legitimate though
            debatable interpretations of individual practices.
   
Over the years we made the first three volumes available to Catholic Book Club members, and we are sure you will now want to acquire the latest in the series. In a forthcoming review essay for America, Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., assures that readers who persevere “will see concretely how a learned biblical exegete constructs a series of historical arguments that shed new light on ancient texts and on the person of Jesus.” 

Purchase A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Volume 4: Law and Love width= from amazon.com.

This article appears in May 25 2009.