Кек: Кто такой Иисус? Иисус, иудаизм, христология

Leander E. Keck

Who is Jesus?

History in Perfect Tense

University of South Carolina Press 2000

Stron X+207, format: 17x23 cm

In Who is ]esus? Leander E. Keek discusses the quest for the Jewish Jesus of history' and challenges readers to think seriously not only about Jesus' historical exis­tence but also about his ongoing moral and theologi­cal significance. Rather than asking and answering questions solely about Jesus as a historical figure, Keck considers Jesus' current identity as well and, in doing so, responds to and expands upon the histori­ans' reconstruction.

Setting the context for his study, Keck clarifies the difference between the way Jesus is presented in the gospels and the way critical historians portray him. He then explores, from four perspectives, Jesus' contemporary moral and theological pertinence. Keck looks initially at Jesus as a first-century Jew, conscious of the difficulty and importance of recov­ering Jesus' particular form of Jewishness. He then considers how Jesus' mission was energized by his grasp of the kingdom of God. Taking issue with cur­rent assertions that Jesus did not expect the immi­nent arrival of God's kingdom, Keck contends that Jesus clearly expressed a conviction that God's defini­tive reign was impending and would transform the lives of those who responded affirmatively to his message.

Keck goes on to probe the meaning of the cru­cifixion of Jesus, in light of the biblical understand­ing of God's holiness, a theme largely neglected todav. Keck concludes his discussion by looking at Jesus' role in the moral life of the Christian com­munity. Noting that Jesus' influence is not limited to his teachings or deeds but includes the entirety of his being, Keck eschews the phrase "ethics of Jesus" in favor of a "Jesus ethic." He suggests that it ade­quately accounts for the centrality of the person of Jesus in the lives of his followers and for their will­ingness to suffer voluntarily for others.

Contents

 Preface

CHAPTER ONE The Presence of the Past   1

CHAPTER Two  The Permanent Particular Jesus the Jew   22

CHAPTER Three The Embodied Future Jesus the Teacher  65

CHAPTER Four  The Fractured Prism Jesus' Death and the Living God   113

CHAPTER Five  The Authorizing Judge Jesus in the Moral Life   151

Abbreviations   183

Works Cited   185

Index of Passages   195

Index of Modern Authors  205