Jens Schröter has written an excellent book about the historical Jesus. It not only avoids a radical skepticism and uncontrolled confidence in the historical reliability of the sources, but also makes clear why both positions can be derived from our sources. It is sensitive for our modern tastes and prejudices, but rejects the idea that historians shape their image of the historical Jesus merely by their own values. Although historical Jesus research depends on our changing knowledge of the historical context of Jesus and on our modern mentality, Schröter defends both the legitimacy of a theological access to Jesus and of historical Jesus research. Jesus of Nazareth is a very balanced book.

Jens Schröter is one of the most important and innovative Jesus scholars in the world. This translation thankfully makes one of his most insightful and accessible studies of Jesus available in English. Building from detailed knowledge of the literary and archaeological remains of Jesus’ first-century contexts and a sophisticated understanding of the work of the historian, Jesus of Nazareth weaves a narrative that begins with the historical Jesus and his renewal movement for all Israel and ends with modern artistic depictions of Jesus. Students, lay readers, and scholars will all benefit greatly from this important work.

The three scholarly movements that we call the quests for the historical Jesus have all distinguished between the Jesus of history and the Jesus of faith by emphasizing the discontinuities between the two. Jens Schröter challenges this basic divide by pointing to continuities, not by a naïve understanding of historical criticism but by exploring how interpretations of the significance of Jesus arose in continuity with the historical Jesus. This is the most important statement in contemporary scholarship between the Jesus who was and the Jesus who is.

The three scholarly movements that we call the quests for the historical Jesus have all distinguished between the Jesus of history and the Jesus of faith by emphasizing the discontinuities between the two. Jens Schröter challenges this basic divide by pointing to continuities, not by a naïve understanding of historical criticism but by exploring how interpretations of the significance of Jesus arose in continuity with the historical Jesus. This is the most important statement in contemporary scholarship between the Jesus who was and the Jesus who is.