Customer Reviews
Radical, readable, scholarly - By: P. Younger, 03 Aug 2008 
A friend recommended I read this book. Although I was initially sceptical, as I had not always been keen on Josef Ratzinger's actions before he became Pope, I thought I'd suspend my prejudice & take my friend's advice. I am so grateful I did. Basically, this book takes the fruits of several decades of scientifically-rigorous 'historical-critical' exegesis & asks "What does all this scholarship mean for the understanding a person of faith might have of Jesus of Nazareth?". The answer is at once clearly presented & utterly radical. There are sectionsin this book - for instance the treatment of the temptation narratives - which cannot be read without bringing you face to face with the very challenges Jesus posed his contemporaries. I found myself forced to a critical self-examination many times, & absolutely 'wowed' at others. I've already recommended this book to other close friends. If you really want to be exposed to Jesus as he meant to present himself, this book is a great place to start. I do hope that the Pope delivers on his stated desirein the introduction to produce a second volume, extending the present coverage (on the public ministry of Jesus) to the infancy, passion & resurrection narratives. If this present work is anything to judge by, that future volume will be an immensely valuable contribution.
Jesus - By: Mr. A. P. Venables, 10 Jul 2008 Most books that have been written about Jesus recently seem to have been written with the intention of shocking the religious community. This is the Popes book & so it stands to reason that he's obviously going to follow the Catholic line. However evenin the early chapters he makes those other authors seem self indulgent & exposes Jeremy Bowen's dreadful BBC documentary Son of God for the lazy hatchet job that it was.
Ratzinger argues with ease that you cannot separate the historical Jesus from the religious figure because Jesus preached about God above all else. He includes enough historical detail to make the reader understand the context of Jesus said & what it meant to the Jews when he said it.
Ratzinger also clears up any misconceptions people have about Jesus' teaching. For example I never really properly understand his teaching about doing good on a Sunday until I read this book. The language Ratzinger uses isn't lofty or overly dramatic. He communicates his meaning clearly & you don't have to be a member of the clergy to get it. You really get the sense that Ratzinger is on his home turf here, he's not trying to argue his case, he doesn't need to, he's just explaining what he knows.
And so you a get clearer portrait of the Jesus that lived 2000 years ago. A figure that is more radical, life changing & shocking than perhaps any of those other authors can come up with.
Good but not brilliant - By: S. Johnston, 27 Jun 2008 
I thought this was a most enjoyable readin accessible language on the mystery of Jesus. It was not, however, wholly satisfying. To give two examples, Pope Benedict makes the point that many people ask why Jesus has not done more to reveal himselfin more recent times. It is an intriguing question. His response seems, at least to me, incomplete & says nothing more than the totality of Christ's revelation was the Cross. Quite so, but we knew that anyway, so why 'tease' the reader that he might have more to say on the subject?
A second example isin his excellent analysis of the 'Our Father'. He asks the question 'Is God also mother?': again, an intriguing question. However, once again, his answer is confined to a few lines on p140 which seem incomplete & leave one puzzling about why he asked the question if he had so little to say about it.
Notwithstanding the above, I am looking forward to Part Two when it is published.
Beautifully Written - By: Mezzofanti Due, 21 Feb 2008 This is a beautifully written book, accessible to the non-theologian yet requiring some solid concentration to take fully on board the theology. It has proved to me beyond doubt that Pope Benedict is an excellent communicator, his thoughts are lucid & he makes great effort to explain through numerous reference works the writings of the Church Fathers & other theologians through the ages on the subject of just who was Jesus of Nazareth. The particular highlights for me were the chapters on "The Lord's Prayer" & "The Message of the Parables", they were truly sublime.
I concur fully with an earlier reviewer who says that this book is one to be read & re-read again.
Ratzinger at his utter best - By: A. foley, 16 Feb 2008 This is a book to be read & re-read so that the reader can imbibe the fruits of Pope Benedict's extraordinary intelligence & palpable holiness. I will list just four reasons, although there are many more.
1. The Pope enabled me to see again the decisive radicality of Jesus of Nazareth, the new Moses, whose authority caused manyin Israel to react with alarm. I was particularly taken by his use of the work of Jacob Neusner, an american Rabbi, who has written a notable work on Jesus. What is remarkable is that Jacob Neusner sees clearly the "problem" with Jesus, a man who claims to have divine authority & who proclaims himself as the new "Torah"in the sermon on the mount. The Pope himself acknowledges his indebtedness to Jacon Neusner for enabling him to see Jesus afresh through the lense of judaism.
2. The Pope's dialogue with modern exegetes is particularly illuminatingin that he draws from their work those golden nuggets which enable one to see Jesusin his historic reality. He also dialogues with those exegetes who have lost sight of Jesus by erroneously seeing Jesusin the gospels as some sort of modern liberal rabbi & underlines how such views do not sit squarely with the gospel accounts.
3. Critically, the Pope announces that he personally trusts the gospels & rejects Bultmann's rejection of the historicity of John's gospel. He shows how John sits squarely within the ambit of the faith & feasts of Israel.
4. Above all, amidst the scholarly analysis, the Pope shows himself as a man of immense faith. At certain parts of the book, I felt myself movingly humbled by being, so to speak, at the feet of a man, who is himself a great teacher. Long may he live so that we can enjoy the fruits of his labours.
