THE PIONEER OF OUR FAITH: A New Life of Jesus

New points of view now make possible a better understanding of Jesus and justify the author in presenting such an account. These new approaches consist not only in new studies of the New Testament records but also in such interpretative aids of recent psychological and philosophical thought. The premise for this study is that Jesus was a man of faith and the title, taken from Hebrews 12:2 (which the author accredits to Paul) indicates that by his own life of faith Jesus led the way for others. The basic Christology, therefore, is adoptionist in its character. The development of the book follows the general chronology of the Synoptic tradition, and draws widely on the Gospel records, on related Old Testament materials, and on such extra-biblical sources as the Dead Sea Scrolls, depth psychology, and other illustrative parallels. The book is useful as a thorough re-integration of the diverse strands of Gospel tradition. Its scholarship appears generally sound though not very venturesome in new interpretations. Verification of who Jesus was, and of the Resurrection, is something that readers must come to through their own experience.