N. T. Wright's Jesus and the Victory of God is widely heralded as one of the most significant and brilliantly argued works in the current "third quest" of the historical Jesus. In this second volume of his multivolume investigation entitled Christian Origins and the Question of God, Wright uncovers a Jesus that most historians and believers have never met. Rooted and engaged in the soil of Israel's history, its first-century plight and its prophetic hope, Wright's portrait of Jesus has set new terms of discourse and debate. Through Wright's lens, familiar sayings and actions of Jesus have fresh meaning. But in the midst of all that is new, Wright also offers a profile of Jesus that bears striking lines of continuity with the Jesus of Christian belief and worship. This resemblance has captured the attention of confessing Christian biblical scholars and theologians. Wright's work thus far is of such consequence that it seemed timely and strategic to publish a scholarly engagement with his reconstruction of the historical Jesus. Like all works in progress, Wright's proposal is still under construction. But its cornerstone has been laid, the foundation has been formed, the pillars and walls are going up, and even if we cannot yet see how the ceiling, roof and parapets will look, there is quite enough to engage the minds of colleagues, critics and other curious onlookers. For the purposes of this book (and in keeping with IVP's own evangelical identity), editor Carey Newman invited scholars who are committed to Christian belief as it has been classically defined to engage Wright's Jesus and the Victory of God. Newman sets the stage with an introduction, and Craig Blomberg offers a critical and appreciative overview of Jesus and the Victory of God. Various facets of Wright's proposal are then investigated by contributors: Paul Eddy on Jesus as prophet, Messiah and embodiment of Yahweh Klyne Snodgrass on the parables Craig Evans on Israel under continuing exile Darrell Bock on the trial and death of Jesus Dale Allison on apocalyptic language Richard Hays on ethics Alister McGrath on the implications for evangelical theology Stephen Evans on methodological naturalism in historical biblical scholarship Luke Timothy Johnson on Wright's historiography To these essayists Wright extends his "grateful dialogue." He gives this spirited and illuminating reply to his interlocuters: "The high compliment of having a whole book devoted to the discussion of one's work is finely balanced by the probing, intelligent questions and by the occasional thud of a blunt instrument on the back of one's head. . . . Only once did I look up my lawyer's telephone number." After Wright takes his turn, his good friend and frequent partner in debate Marcus Borg offers his "appreciative disagreement." Newman then concludes the dialogue with his own reflections on moving from Wright's reconstruction of the historical Jesus to the church's Christ. A book assessing a scholar's work is usually an end-of-career event. But in this case interested readers can look forward with eager anticipation to Wright's next volume in Christian Origins and the Question of God--this one on the resurrection of Jesus.

N. T. Wright's Jesus and the Victory of God is widely heralded as one of the most significant and brilliantly argued works in the current "third quest" of the historical Jesus. In this second volume of his multivolume investigation entitled Christian Origins and the Question of God , Wright uncovers a Jesus that most historians and believers have never met. Rooted and engaged in the soil of Israel's history, its first-century plight, and its prophetic hope, this portrait of Jesus has set new terms of discourse and debate. Through Wright's lens, familiar sayings and actions of Jesus that have long been taken to mean one thing now look totally different. Yet amidst all that is new in Wright's portrait, there emerges a profile of Jesus that bears striking lines of continuity with the Jesus of Christian belief and worship. This resemblance has captured the attention of confessing Christian biblical scholars and theologians. Jesus and the Restoration of Israel is a serious attempt to offer a multifaceted and critical appreciation and assessment of Wright's work. Essays focus on Israel's continuing exile, Jesus as prophet, his Christology, apocalyptic sayings, parables, and ethics. The entire portrait of Jesus is evaluated from the standpoint of philosophy and systematic theology. Wright then responds to the essayists, and Marcus Borg, a prominent Jesus scholar and Wright's frequent dialogue partner, offers his critical appraisal of the discussion.

Second Temple Judaism exerted a profound and shaping influence upon early Christianity. TheJewish Roots of Christological Monotheism documents this influence by exploring thewaysin whichthe Christian praxisofChrist-devotion in the first two centuries of the Common Era can be understood as a manifestation of Jewish monotheism. The volumeapproaches this phenomenonalongfour distinctivelines of inquiry: (1)reexamining (and problematizing) the theological force of monotheismduring the Second Temple period; (2)retracing the historical steps of Christianity's adaptation, mutation, and/or redefinition of Jewish monotheism; (3)exploring and debating the influence of non-Jewish traditions on this process; and (4)mappinghowChristianity's unique appropriation of Jewish monotheism helps explain the intriguing relationships among emerging Christian, Jewish,andgnosticcommunities. Eighteen chapters, each from an expert in the study ofearlyJudaism and Christianity, comprise the volume.The chapters collectively demonstratehow the creationofnew mythic narratives, the revelatory power of mystical experiences, and the sociology of community formation capitalized on Jewish mediator traditionsto initiate thepraxis of Christ-devotion.

Glory formed an essential part of early Christianity's christological vocabulary. Along with "word," "image," and "wisdom," Glory ( doxa ) language worked to define the identity, status, and even uniqueness of Christian belief in Jesus. In Paul's Glory-Christology author Carey C. Newman,using methodology developed in semantics, semiotics, and literary theory, examines the origin and rhetoric of Paul's Glory-language. Newman divides the investigationinto three distinct tasks: (1) to plot the tradition-history ofGlory thatformed part of Paul's linguistic world, (2) to examine Paul's letters, in light of the reconstructed tradition-history of Glory, in order to discern the rationale ofPaul'sidentification of Christ asGlory, and (3) to map out the implications of such an identification for Paul's theological and rhetorical strategy. Newman reaches four conclusions for understanding Paul. First, Paul inherited a symbolic universe with signs already fullof signification. Second,awareness ofthe connotative range of a surface symbol aids in discerning Paul's precise contingent strategy. Third, knowing a symbol's referential power defines and contributes to the deeper structure of Paul's theological grammar. Finally, the heuristic power within the construals of the Glory tradition coalesce in Paul's Christophany and thus provide coherence at the deepestlevel of Paul's Christology.Taken together, these conclusions reveal that nothing less than Paul's declaration of Jesus as God is expressed in his designation of Jesus as Glory.