Jesus after the Gospels: The Christ of the Second Century [Paperback]

Robert M. Grant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1990

This study first examines the New Testament origins of second-century thinking: the humanity of Christ in biblical Christology, including the infancy narratives and the divinity of Christ. The book then deals with Gnostic Christologies of the early second century, interprets the christological thinking of the apostolic fathers and Justin Martyr, discusses the Jewish Christian Christology of Theophilus, shows how disagreements were dealt within developing concepts of orthodoxy versus heresy, and explores how Irenaeus's Christology was worked out as a basis for molding an orthodox consensus. The book shows early attempts to synthesize diverse strands in the Gospel portraits of Jesus.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Grant offers both an important and an accessible account of biblical Christology (the study of the person and nature of Christ), asserting that the humanity and the divinity of Christ, the Christology in the Apostolic Fathers and in Justin Martyr, the Jewish Christian Christology of Theophilus, the handling of disagreements as the Church began to distinguish orthodoxy from heresy, and Irenaeus's Christology were all bases for developing orthodox consensus. Important both for the scholar and the educated lay reader, this book clarifies the process of developing doctrine from diverse revelations in the early centuries of Christianity and provides a basis for understanding a contemporary reworking of Christology.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Robert M. Grant is Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Chicago Divinity School in Chicago, Illinois. He is a renowned authority on the history of early Christianity.

Product Details

• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press (March 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0664221882
• ISBN-13: 978-0664221881
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,480,062 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Scholarly Ramblings, March 1, 2006

By 

Dr. James Gardner (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jesus After the Gospels: The Christ of the Second Century (Hardcover)

This is a difficult book to evaluate. Its author is obviously a bright scholar, and the book itself comes from an invited memorial lecture at the Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in 1989. There is lots of good material here about 2nd Century Christian beliefs, and quotations from many sources that can be hard to track down.

BUT, it is difficult to know what the author is up to. There is no apparent structure nor theme. He seems to jump from one topic to another with no segue. Each pericope is perfectly good by itself, but there is no cumulative effect. Even more problematic, the documentation is poor and the bibliography is incomplete.

This book may have made a very good lecture, but it doesn't survive as a meaningful book. Nonetheless the material herein is very valuable and the book may be of interest to scholars of early Christianity who are interested in the works of Marcion, Valentinus, Ignatius, Irenaeus, etc.