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Book Review: Jesus of Nazareth: Message and History

John P. Meier Interpretation 1998 52: 438 DOI: 10.1177/002096439805200418 The online version of this article can be found at: http://int.sagepub.com/content/52/4/438.1.citation

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the other, they are the features that make Painter's book accessible a n d engaging. Michael E. Vines, Ph.D. Candidate Union-PSCE Richmond, Virginia

Jesus of Nazareth: Message and History, by Joachim Gnilka. Translated by Siegfried S. Schatzmann. Hendrickson, Peabody, 1997. 346pp. $24.95 (cloth). ISBN 1-56563-164-1.
I T IS FITTING that Gnilka's detailed work on the Gospels, distilled in a number of excellent commentaries, should reach fruition in this sober a n d moderate book, which summarizes for a general audience what Gnilka thinks can be said about the historical Jesus. After an introduction to the problem, Gnilka sketches the political, religious, a n d social background of Jesus' ministry. Since a reliable chronological grid for the ministry is lacking, h e treats the major questions in logical a n d topical order: the Baptist, the reign of God, discipleship, the people of Israel, instruction on the Torah, Jesus' authority as expressed in his mission (a phrase Gnilka prefers to "the self-consciousness of Jesus"), Jesus' final days in Jerusalem, and his trial a n d execution. An advantage of this English translation over the original German edition (1990) is that it contains as an appendix a radio interview in which Gnilka sums u p his views in short, simple answers. A reader who goes to this work expecting sensationalistic claims la the Jesus Seminar will be sorely disappointed. Gnilka usually takes middle-of-the-road positions. This is not to say that he simply repeats the views of others. His stance is firmly grounded in his own research. O n e can, of course, always find points to debate. Like many German scholars, Gnilka relies for the most part

on the Synoptics, with J o h n largely p u t aside. Hence he opts for the Synoptic chronology of the passion narrative a n d for the Last Supper as a Passover meal. While on this point Gnilka stands in a formidable exegetical tradition, including giants like Joachim Jeremas a n d E. P. Sanders, I incline to the view that the J o h a n n i n e chronology is the historical one. Thus, even though this sober volume is a compendium of mainline scholarship, it still provides stimulus for further debate. J o h n P. Meier Catholic University of America Washington, D.C.

Text and Truth: Redefining Biblical Theology, by Francis Watson. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1997. 344 pp. $45.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-8028-3846-4.
I N THE SAME WEEK I received two books.

O n e was Walter Brueggemann's Theology of the Old Testament, from which I learned that I a m one of the four central exponents of biblical theology today. T h e other was Watson's work, in which I feature as the principal enemy of the same discipline. Watson's claim is contradicted by my articles "Biblical Theology" in Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible a n d Evangelisches Kirchenlexikon, which contain not a word of enmity towards biblical theology. In fact the latter article ended with the sentence: "The working field of biblical theology remains lively a n d promises many interesting advances in the coming years." This book contains two parts, the first on matters of narrative and hermeneutics, the second on a specifically Christian approach to Old Testament theology. A long section explains Schleiermacher, Harnack, a n d Bultmannas well as

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