The existence of the historical Jesus cannot be doubted. But who was Jesus of Nazareth? And who is he for us today? In this controversial work Schillebeeckx offers his 'experiment' an informative and sustained hermeneutical reflection on the story of Jesus. It became a bestseller, and would become the first volume of Schillebeeckx' trilogy on Jesus Christ. He presents a Christology 'from below', rooted in the synoptic gospels, but especially in Mark and in the Q tradition. At the same time he is clearly interested in portraying 'the historical Jesus' as both Proclaimer and Proclaimed. In this major work Schillebeeckx tries to answer questions such as: Is the promise of salvation only to be found in Jesus Christ because he was a gift from God, as the Gospels tell us? What can we say about the inspiration of so many who do not attend church or adhere to any believe they find in Jesus Christ? Schillebeeckx takes us into his promising quest that leads to the ultimate question of what religious truth actually is.

Introduction: identity-- biographical, moral, religious / Hermann Hr?ing, Maureen Junker-Kenny, and Dietmar Mieth -- I. Approaches. Moral identity: how is it narrated? / Dietmar Mieth -- Personalized identity in an individualized society / Albert W. Musschenga -- Identity: suppressed, alienated, lost / Felix Wilfred -- Business identity through ethical orientation / Annette Kleinfeld -- II. Philosophical discussion. The hermeneutical anthropology of Charles Taylor / Thomas Gil -- Narrative and moral identity in Paul Ricoeur / Hille Haker -- Virtue and identity / James F. Keenan -- A critique of the identity paradigm / Luiz Carlos Susin -- III. Theological discussion. The narrative identity of Christians according to the New Testament / Agustn? del Agua -- The history of Jesus as the foundation and origin of religious identity / Hermann Hr?ing -- Identity in the feminist theology debate / Christine Firer-Hinze -- Being and becoming a self in an ethical perspective / Hans G. Ulrich.

The existence of the historical Jesus cannot be doubted. But who was Jesus of Nazareth? And who is he for us today? In this controversial work Schillebeeckx offers his 'experiment': an informative and sustained hermeneutical reflection on the story of Jesus. It became a bestseller, and would become the first volume of Schillebeeckx' trilogy on Jesus Christ. He presents a Christology 'from below', rooted in the synoptic gospels, but especially in Mark and in the Q tradition. At the same time he is clearly interested in portraying 'the historical Jesus' as both Proclaimer and Proclaimed. In this major work Schillebeeckx tries to answer questions such as: Is the promise of salvation only to be found in Jesus Christ because he was a gift from God, as the Gospels tell us? What can we say about the inspiration of so many who do not attend church or adhere to any believe they find in Jesus Christ? Schillebeeckx takes us into his promising quest that leads to the ultimate question of what religious truth actually is.