The Central Message of the New Testament

by Joachim Jeremias

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0800616189
• Release Date: January 1981
• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Length: 95 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Thoughtful, involved thinking

This slim volume contains four lectures given by Professor Jeremias during a lecture-tour in the United States in 1963. Joachim Jeremias (1900-1979) was a distinguished New Testament professor at the University of Göttingen, Germany. The four lectures are: "Abba," "The Sacrificial Death," "Justification by Faith," and "The Revealing Word." Of these lectures, I found the first and the last to be very accessible to lay people, looking specifically at the implications and the use of the masculine term "father" as an address for God and then a more in-depth look at the Logos poem that begins the Gospel of John. The second lecture, "The Sacrificial Death," looks at the meaning of Jesus' death of the cross with an emphasis on interpretation of Jesus' own words concerning his death. The third lecture uses a great deal of theological terminology. Jeremias does great work of deconstructing Hebrew and New Testament Greek terms associated with "justification" and the development of theological thought around the concept. After shaking up these many elements and historical arguments from Paul and Luther to Bultmann, he asserts an interpretation of mercy within justification. Professor Jeremias lectures are excellent in weaving together history, accumulated interpretation, knowledge of language and meaning, and exegesis. While the style may be a bit bookish and academic, the beauty of Jeremias' detail in developing his positions is evident.