A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Vol. 2 - Mentor, Message, and Miracles [Hardcover]

John P. Meier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1994 | ISBN-10: 0385469926 | ISBN-13: 978-0385469920 | Edition: First

This book is the second volume in John Meier's  masterful trilogy on the life of Jesus. In it he  continues his quest for the answer to the greatest  puzzle of modern religious scholarship: Who was  Jesus? To answer this Meier imagines the following  scenario: "Suppose that a Catholic, a  Protestant, a Jew, and an agnostic were locked up in the  bowels of the Harvard Divinity School library... and  not allowed to emerge until they had hammered out  a consensus document on who Jesus of Nazareth was  and what he intended...". A Marginal  Jew is what Meier thinks that document  would reveal. Volume one concluded with Jesus  approaching adulthood. Now, in this volume, Meier  focuses on the Jesus of our memory and the development  of his ministry. To begin, Meier identifies  Jesus's mentor, the one person who had the greatest  single influence on him, John the Baptist. All of the  Baptist's fiery talk about the end of time had a  powerful effect on the young Jesus and the  formulation of his key symbol of the coming of the  "kingdom of God." And, finally, we are given a  full investigation of one of the most striking  manifestations of Jesus's message: Jesus's practice  of exorcisms, hearings, and other miracles. In all,  Meier brings to life the story of a man, Jesus,  who by his life and teaching gradually made himself  marginal even to the marginal society that was  first century Palestine.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This second volume of Meier's proposed trilogy follows Jesus from young adulthood into the early days of his ministry as an itinerant evangelist and wonder-worker in rural, first-century Palestine. Using historical and literary criticism, Meier reveals a Jesus who, after his encounter with the apocalyptic activities of John the Baptist, develops his own message about a coming kingdom of God and then reveals it through a variety of miracles from healings to exorcisms. The Jesus of Nazareth who emerges from this study is neither the cosmic Christ of Matthew Fox nor the sanitized Savior of the New Age. He's an eschatological preacher and miracle worker. Meier's brilliant scholarship sparkles on every page of this book. Indeed, because of its narrative power and its deep insight, Meier's trilogy is likely to become the standard against which other lives of Jesus are to be measured.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This second volume in the author's life of Jesus (Vol. 1, LJ 10/15/91) discusses his ministry, focusing on his miracles, healings, other wonder works, and teachings concerning the coming kingdom of God. Meier, a Catholic priest and teacher at Catholic University of America, stresses Jesus' great dependence on the teachings and thought of John the Baptist. Meier continues to expound his thesis that Jesus was a marginal Jew in a marginal eastern Mediterranean society during the first century. Meier's extremely long, dense text, heavily documented by many footnotes, is hard going indeed and will appeal mainly to scholars in the field. All collections owning Volume 1, however, should buy this continuation. Two other recent lives of Jesus are easier to grasp by general readers and would appeal more to the public at large: John D. Crossan's The Historical Jesus (LJ 2/1/92) and A.N. Wilson's Jesus: A Life (LJ 9/15/92).
Robert A. Silver, formerly with Shaker Heights P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1136 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; First edition (November 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385469926
• ISBN-13: 978-0385469920
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #338,874 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First Rate Scholarship, Well Worth the Reader's Effort, April 17, 2000

By 

Alan (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Vol. 2 - Mentor, Message, and Miracles (Hardcover)

With the first two volumes of "A Marginal Jew," Meier has proved himself one of the premier New Testament scholars in the English language. "A Marginal Jew" is not an easy read but rewards the reader with solid scholarship. Throughout, Meier confronts 20th century commentators (such as the Jesus Seminar) and reveals the degree to which preconceptions have colored their conclusions regarding the historicity of the four gospels. The extensive treatment of John the Baptist, the Kingdom of God, and Jesus' miracles are each worthy of publication as stand-alone texts and would be accounted among the leading works on these subjects. I eagerly await volume three.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Elijah for the End of the World, August 5, 2004

By 

[e-mail] (Edmonton, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Vol. 2 - Mentor, Message, and Miracles (Hardcover)

Of the three volumes of John Meier's study of the historical Jesus, this is probably the most difficult for the average reader. Much of it consists of complex discussions of the historicity of various bible passages, considered in extensive and exhaustive detail. It is not an easy read, but Meier's research is vital to understanding the real Jesus. As the subtitle indicates, Meier discusses John the Baptist, the basically eschatological message of the Kingdom of God, and the question of Miracles. On John the Baptist we read of how the embarassment of Jesus' baptism is effaced by the Gospel writers. We learn how Jesus accepted a baptism for the forgiveness of sins, which does not necessarily mean that he personally thought he was a sinner (many such confessions are of a communal nature). We learn about John's fundamental belief in the approaching end of the world. We learn how Mark muddled certain details of John the Baptist's execution, such as the identity of Herodias' first husband, and we find that many of the passages dealing with the Baptist likely go back to the historical Jesus. As for Jesus' message, Meier argues that Jesus did believe in a quickly approaching future kingdom. We can see this from his study of the Lord's Prayer, the Beatitudes, and such passages as Mark 6:10 and Matt 8:11-12. Meier also agrees that in some way Jesus viewed the Kingdom as already present, the first century Galilean mind not sharing the same interest in clarity and non-contradiction. Meier makes two vital points. First off, if John the Baptist believed in the near end of the world, and the early church believed in the near end, then it is likely that Jesus shared this incorrect belief. Second, if Jesus was an experienced teacher and if he "used the symbol of the Kingdom of God in a sense directly counter to the eschatological connotations with which it was often connected, he would have made his own usage clear--all the more so if he wanted to negate any or all eschatological expectations."

Meier then spends the second half of the book discussing Jesus' miracles. As a historian he claims that he cannot judge whether Jesus actually carried them out or not. This may seem like a cop-out, but it is not. Many past biographers of Jesus have wanted to split him from the miracles, but this assumes that Jesus was fundamentally rational and modern. Clearly this is not the case, and it also led to peculiar explanations of how people incorrectly thought a miracle took place. Instead, Meier notes we can examine which miracles go back to the historical Jesus and which do not. Certain kinds of miracles take place more than others, others show the redactional tendencies of the particular Evangelist. As such Meier concludes that Jesus was an exorcist, and was believed to carry out some remarkable healings. There are three accounts in the bible of Jesus raising someone from the dead. Here Meier believes there is a historical core to the events, though he is unsure whether they originally involved an actual resurrection. By contrast, nearly all of the nature miracles are creations of the Early Church. After one strips the allusions to the Eucharist and to Elijah in the Feeding of the 5,000 there may have been a remarkable, if not miraculous, meal in Jesus's life. But once one strips all the allusions and Johannine redaction in the turning of wine into water there is, as Meier clearly shows, nothing left. The walking on water, the stilling of the storm and the miraculous catch of fish are all reshifted resurrection appearances, while the cursing of the fig tree is clearly an exercise in Matthean theology.

What can we say about all this? First, this is a remarkably researched book. There are at least 380 pages of notes in this 1,049 page book. There are exhaustive discussions of linguistic questions, stylistic questions, and redactional ones. Meier is excellent on providing the wider historical context, such as the origins of the Kingdom of God, the Old Testament backgrounds to the walking on the water, and the Hebrew practice of exorcism. Meier is also acute on distinguishing between Jesus' miracles, (which emphasizes Jesus and God's free gift, are symbols of the coming end time, and [with one exception] do not hurt anyone) with contemporary magicians (who coerced deities for often petty purposes, provides no church and engaged in esoteric secrets and mysterious, often nonsensical spells). Many of his discussions, such as the raising of Lazarus, or the Miracle of Cana, are tour de forces. Naturally they are caveats with this book, as there must be in one so learned and complex. It may be true that the miracles of the Greek Apollonious and the Jewish Honi the Circle Drawer are not really contemporary with Jesus. But it is reasonable to assume that there were Greek and Jewish miraculous contemporaries, and had not Christians destroyed exactly this sort of literature once mastering the empire we would find more of them. Meier tends to concentrate on differences of technique in Jesus' healing and exorcisms, while forgetting that while we can trace the fact of exorcism and healing back to Jesus, we are less certain about his techniques. Nevertheless this is an important major work, especially so since it remembers that Jesus was a very different person from the man 21st century Christians of all denominations would like him to be.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Accessible only to non-scholars who are serious readers, January 24, 1999

By 

T. Temin ([e-mail]) (Rockville, Md.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Vol. 2 - Mentor, Message, and Miracles (Hardcover)

If you're willing to concentrate, this book, like the preceding volume, is highly worthwhile even for non-Christian readers who want to be maximally informed on an important world figure. It can be tough going because Meier is not writing primarily for lay readers, but anyone with a healthy interest in logic, history and the critical tools of historians can enjoy it. On the other hand, Meier's erudition and dry humor augment and humanize his exhaustive scholarship. I've found Meier's criteria for historicity to be useful in gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of scriptural material in general. I, too, and eagerly awaiting Volume 3.