A New Perspective On Jesus

A renowned scholar calls for a change of direction for the study of Jesus in the 21st century.

Dunn brings into question the methodology and conclusions of various historical Jesus arguments. Jesus is controversial. For two millennia scholars and laity alike have discussed, debated, and fought about the life and teachings of Jesus and their relevance and impact. In this brief book, James Dunn argues that the various 'quests' for the historical Jesus have produced some odd and disparate results because they have started in the wrong place and with the wrong assumptions. Dunn suggests that future investigations of Jesus pay closer attention to the earliest Jesus traditions and what they tell us about the impact Jesus made on his first followers, about the way an oral culture might convey critical information, and about the characteristic qualities of Jesus that are pictured in a wide variety of sources. By challenging some of the basic approaches and presuppositions of Jesus studies, the author calls into question the methodology and the subsequent conclusions of scholars of all stripes.

Atonement has been described as the central doctrine of Christianity and yet, surprisingly, the church has never insisted on a particular understanding of how redemption in Christ was achieved. Instead, a miscellany of metaphors has been employed, each picturing "something" of Christ's work. Recent debate within Reformed Evangelicalism has been characterized by claims for hegemony to be granted to penal substitution versus counter-arguments for a kaleidoscopic, multi-model understanding. Notably absent in these discussions, however, are two considerations. One is any common nexus to draw atonement thought together. The other is any positive theological contribution deriving from God's preexisting relationship with Israel (the presumed role of which has rather been to provide a negative contrast of law-versus-grace and works-versus-faith, as the dark background against which the light of Christ may shine more brightly). Recent scholarship, however--particularly the "new perspective on Paul"--has comprehensively dismantled the old stereotypes concerning first-century Judaism. This book asks how differently we might think about the atonement once it is brought into conversation with the new scholarship. It concludes by proposing a "new perspective" on atonement in which Christ is central, Israel and Torah are affirmed, and the traditional metaphors continue to find their place.

From top Jesus expert Marcus Borg, a completely updated and revised version of his vision of Jesus—as charismatic healer, sage, and prophet, a man living in the power of the spirit and dedicated to radical social change. Fully revised and updated, this is Borg's major book on the historial Jesus. He shows how the Gospel portraits of Jesus, historically seen, make sense. Borg takes into account all the recent developments in historical Jesus scholarship, as well as new theories on who Jesus was and how the Gospels reflect that. The original version of this book was published well before popular fascination with the historical Jesus. Now this new version takes advantage of all the research that has gone on since the 80s. The revisions establish it as Borg's big but popular book on Jesus.

Ranks the Apostle Paul as "one of the most powerful and seminal minds of the first or any century," and argues that we can now sketch with confidence a new and more nuanced picture of Paul and the radical way in which his encounter with Jesus redefined his life, his mission and his expectations for a world made new in Christ. Reprint.

[(The New Perspective on Paul)] [By (author) James D G Dunn] published on (January, 2008) by James D G Dunn (2008).

In this compelling study, renowned author James D. G. Dunn provides a critique of the quest for the historical Jesus. Dunn claims that the quest has been misguided from the start in its attempt to separate the historical Jesus from the Christ of faith. Dunn argues that Jesus scholars have consistently failed to recognize how the early disciples' pre-Easter faith and a predominantly oral culture shaped the way the stories about Jesus were told and passed on. Dunn also examines the implications of oral transmission for our understanding of Synoptic relationships. A New Perspective on Jesus proposes a change in direction for Jesus scholarship. It will be of interest to pastors, church leaders, students, and thoughtful laypersons wanting a fresh perspective on Jesus studies.

Understanding Paul and his conversion to Christianity is imperative for a thorough knowledge of the New Testament. In Paul and the New Perspective Seyoon Kim develops his argument that the origin of Paul's gospel lies in two places his radical conversion at Damascus and his usage of the Jesus tradition in light of Damascus. This new way of looking at Paul further explains how Paul made strong distinctions between the Spirit and the flesh/law, with further implications for his doctrine of justification. A departure from the New Perspective School represented by James D. G. Dunn, Kim's Paul and the New Perspective offers a thorough and extensive argument for the foundation of the gospel that Paul spread in the first century.