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A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Volume 4: Law and Love (The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library) (v. 4)
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Product Description
John Meier’s previous volumes in the acclaimed series A Marginal Jew are founded upon the notion that while solid historical information about Jesus is quite limited, people of different faiths can nevertheless arrive at a consensus on fundamental historical facts of his life. In this eagerly anticipated fourth volume in the series, Meier approaches a fresh topic—the teachings of the historical Jesus concerning Mosaic Law and morality—with the same rigor, thoroughness, accuracy, and insightfulness on display in his earlier works.
After correcting misconceptions about Mosaic Law in Jesus’ time, this volume addresses the teachings of Jesus on major legal topics like divorce, oaths, the Sabbath, purity rules, and the various love commandments in the Gospels. What emerges from Meier’s research is a profile of a complicated first-century Palestinian Jew who, far from seeking to abolish the Law, was deeply engaged in debates about its observance. Only by embracing this portrait of the historical Jesus grappling with questions of the Torah do we avoid the common mistake of constructing Christian moral theology under the guise of studying “Jesus and the Law,” the author concludes.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #22280 in Books
- Published on: 2009-05-26
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 752 pages
Editorial Reviews
Review
"John Meier is the most distinguished Roman Catholic biographer of Jesus."-Harold Bloom (Harold Bloom )
"John Meier demonstrates, through rigorous textual analysis, Jesus'' intimate and profound involvement with Halakhah. This work will profoundly affect the ways Judaism and Christianity understand each other and themselves."-Hindy Najman, Director of the Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Toronto (Hindy Najman )
"This definitive work on Jesus and the law displays mastery of the legal heritage of Judaism in clarifying critical issues. Meier''s monumental research illuminates long debated issues and resolves century of debate."-Jacob Neusner, Institute of Advanced Theology, Bard College (Jacob Neusner )
"As he turns to the complex, disputed subject of Jesus and the law, John Meier moves systematically, comprehensively, and judiciously through the relevant texts and topics, ever faithful to the criteria that have guided his entire project. All readers stand to benefit from his vast accumulation of material pertinent to the halakhic Jesus and Meier''s astonishing control of it."-James VanderKam, University of Notre Dame (James VanderKam )
"The quest for the historical Jesus requires the quest for his historical context, late Second Temple Judaism in the land of Israel. With learning both broad and deep, John Meier constructs this context and uncovers therein a prophet and healer and teacher of the Law-an historical Jesus fully incarnate within the Judaism of his time. This is a masterful study and an enduring contribution to scholarship."-Paula Fredriksen, author of From Jesus to Christ,, and Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews (Paula Fredriksen )
About the Author
John P. Meier is William K. Warren Chair Professor of Theology (New Testament), Theology Department, University of Notre Dame. He lives in South Bend, IN.
Customer Reviews
a marginal perspective
John P. Meier is a well known and respected biblical scholar and authority on Jesus. He has contributed many significant articles and essays on historical Jesus research, with is magnum opus coming in his multi-volume series, 'A Marginal Jew.' Now we have the fourth contribution to the series, subtitled: 'Law and Love,' for it is an examination of Jesus' relationship to the Mosaic Law (with his final summary of it being the command to love). One should be quick to note the depth and breadth of this work, exploring many facets of background and context in which to place a first-century Jewish Jesus. In the first volume (A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Volume I: The Roots of the Problem and the Person (The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library)) Meier establishes his methodology and intended goals for the project, and he has stuck to them throughout subsequent volumes well. But this will certainly leave many looking for more (by way of conclusion and application), which may lead to undue lack of appreciation for his contribution. But on this Meier makes a compelling point in saying, ". . . relevance is the enemy of history" (75).
The primary assertion made by Meier in this fourth volume is best summarized by the title of the introductory chapter: "The Historical Jesus is the Halakic Jesus" (1). This is present throughout the study, and is captured well in Meier's later assertion: "The historical Jewish Jesus must be seen as a Jesus immersed in the halakic discussions, debates, and actual practice of 1st-century Palestinian Jews" (267). If the historical quest is for the Jewish Jesus, then this contribution will help with much of that discussion.
Chapter 31 (the first chapter of this volume) introduces Meier's discussion of the relationship between Jesus and the Law, specifically how Jesus would have 'fit' into the first century Jewish context. From here the chapters are discussions upon specific topics from which we have Jesus' teaching and Mosaic Law intersecting - whether it be through Jesus' affirmation of the Law, his changing of the Law, or his contradicting of the Law. Specifically these topics are Divorce (ch 32); Prohibition of Oaths (ch 33); Sabbath (ch 34); and Purity Laws (ch 35). The final chapter before the conclusion then turns to the love commandments of Jesus (ch 36), with the exhortation to love one's enemies, the golden rule, and the 'double command of love' at center stage.
Throughout the work readers are presented with an engaging discussion of Jesus in relationship to the Law, even though I believe Meier fails to capture the essence of many passages. I believe that this particular approach to history is somewhat lacking in its historical imagination on certain points, dismissing passages which are not readily understandable to the author. Disappointingly, it appears as though Meier has often dismissed a passage's historicity before the discussion occurs, thus ignoring many of the competing perspectives on the text. There are times when Meier cannot see the possibility of historicity because a passage is so out-of-place for a first-century Jewish teacher, but then other times when he asserts the 'criterion of dissimilarity' as the primary reason for accepting a passage's historicity. That he does not take the time to interact case-by-case makes this a frustrating aspect of the book as a whole. (And thus demonstrates a slice of the 'lacking historical imagination.')
The primary challenge that I walk away with from this volume is that if we cannot accept anything which is out-of-step from a first-century Jewish teacher, then is there any particular reason why this rabbi made such a strong impact when other interesting, memorable and unique figures have been forgotten in history? This is perhaps the most significant fall-short of this work.
In the end, however, the research demonstrated here is strong enough to recommend to those seriously searching for Jesus - especially following the historical quest. Though I have my quibbles with some of his work, it is worthwhile to examine. And now the readers are informed that there will be a fifth volume to this increasing-series (which was supposed to be one, then three, then four . . .). Until then we will (with Morrel and Edmund) wait and hope.
How the historical Jesus relates to us
This is the 4th of a projected 5-volume series investigating who Jesus was and how he was perceived as he walked this earth some 2000 years ago. This volume provides an exhaustive evaluation of what is known currently about the Mosaic Law and Judaism in the 1st centure of the Christian era, and how well Jesus followed that law. Like the previous volumes, Fr. Meier provides exhaustive scholarship. The footnotes are as long and fact-filled as the main text. Thus, reading is not for the beginner or faint-of-heart. But for those of us who are avid students of christology, it is an invaluable source of material for understanding the historic Jesus, and the relevance of this understanding to modern problems facing us. The 5th (and last??) volume is eagerly awaited.
Insights into Jesus' life and mission
This is an excellent work of scholarship and meditative insight. It is a must read for preachers, priests, ministers, and scripture scholars. Scholar-friends recommended it to me, I now want to read the whole series.
