Customer Reviews

Prophet and Teacher: An Introduction to the Historical Jesus

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A very good review of the times Jesus lived in where the author closely follows biblical texts while offering insights from a sociological perspective. The author leans on works by Paulo Friere's Pedagogy of the Oppressed Pedagogy of the Oppressed as well as works by Crossan. In this book Herzog draws a distinction between at least two (what he calls) Torah "traditions" at play in those times; the Great Tradition and the Little Tradition. The former (made up of the powerful, namely the Pharisees and the landowners) looks at culture, life, and law from the top down and used the Torah as an explanation of where they (the elite) fit in God's scheme of things. They do this to also be somewhat in conformity with the occupying force, the Romans. Peasants on the other hand who make up the largest block of people, look at these things from their perspective and try to understand their situation, their impoverishment, their plight in different terms. How does Torah apply to them when they are being taxed by the Romans, the landowners, the priests, and the Temple?

Jesus lived the little tradition and his parables can be interpreted from that perspective. Herzog takes us through many biblical passages and shows, or argues, that Jesus was a threat to the existing powers because he challenged their mis-use of Torah. He did this through teaching and prophesying. His was a call to come back to Torah and it's intended meanings. For that, he was a threat and suffered the consequences.

This is not an easily read book but not dry either. Most of it is almost like a textbook in that it repeats things from previous chapters. It's helpful to have read other works by other authors first.

From the back of the book:
Offering a unique introduction to the historical person Jesus of Nazareth, the author, a respected New Testament scholar, traces the history of discussion and scholarship of the historical Jesus, including that of the recent and very public Jesus Seminar. He does so, however, with an eye toward the theological. No other introduction is tied so closely to the biblical texts. He asks, "What difference does the historical Jesus make in the understanding of the Gospels?" and, correspondingly, "What difference should this Jesus make in lives today?" By exploring in depth Jesus' words-the parables-and Jesus' deeds-miracles, he presents a holistic picture of Jesus that will explain how Jesus' followers would have understood his miracles and his role as prophet. With its accessibility and clear connections to what the Gospels are saying, this book is an excellent introduction for general readers and students.

This is a grossly dishonest work dealing with the historical Jesus. Herzog fails to credibly deal with the relevant NT textual matter not to mention addressing and genuinely interacting with scholarship that finds much more to the historical Jesus than Herzog's unplatable academic gruel indicates. He has very little to say about very much; one can thus wade through the shallow waters of Herzog's Prophet and Teacher never getting one's feet wet.

Try the following for a good trip through the land of modern historical Jesus scholarship: Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels As Eyewitness Testimony

Dale G. "Skip" Wagner, Jr.