THE LIFE OF JESUS

by Marcello Graveri ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 31, 1967

This is the English version of the author's Una Storia di Gesu, a work which has excited some debate in Italy. Craveri apparently intended in effect to up-date Ricciotti's more or less standard Life of Christin the light of advances made in biblical and auxiliary sciences during the last thirty-odd years, and his efforts will have to bear comparison with the latter's epoch-making work. Craveri, like Ricciotti, is presented as an objective scientific researcher; yet, he seems to the reader to be little more than a popularizer of the scientific research of others and, even at that level, he seems to aim at a least-common-denominator sort of presentation. Consequently, he seldom manages to present--or perhaps often to realize--the true contributions of the authors whom he cites. For example, the bibliography is, at first glance, impressive; but careful checking shows that Craveri has not made use of the best thought of leaders in the biblical field; none of the substantial advances made by the modern (post-Bultmann) Protestant and Catholic scholars of Germany are properly employed, and one looks in vain for a presentation of the nuanced positions of French scholars. On the whole, then, the book is clearly inferior to that of Ricciotti, and Craveri never achieves the scientific depth, scholarly accuracy, or synthetic comprehensiveness of the man with whom he has entered into competition. A partially saving factor, however, is the consideration that this translation reflects the pleasant, modern and convincing style of the original Italian. Perhaps the explanation lies in the fact that the author, as a professor of Romance languages, is equipped to write a pleasant, readable and popular biography; but he obviously is not equipped for a task of the scholarly dimensions inherent in a ""definitive"" biography of Christ.

Pub Date: May 31, 1967

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Grove Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1967

Categories: NONFICTION