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Summary: New perspective for a reader on historical Jesus
Review: I re-read the professional reviews, and I think they fairly present the author's approach. To these good reviews I will merely add my few minor thoughts.1) This book is not devotional reading for Christians who are mostly focused on living a godly life. It requires some thought and a genuine interest in Jesus history. 2) Bruce Chilton says he is associated with the Jesus Seminar. I've read a little from others associated with the Jesus seminar, like Crossan and Funk. This is NOTHING like the other Jesus Seminar writers. He clearly places Jesus within (the variegated) Second Temple Judaism, and credits him with thorough knowledge of Hebrew Scripture. 3) I was impressed with how carefully Chilton develops his arguments throughout the book, along the way making some very enlightening observations. 4) His book changed my understanding of the Kingdom of God, and how Jesus delivered it to those to whom he ministered. 5) I'm not good enough a reader or well trained enough in history or theology to know whether I truly agree with everything Chilton wrote, but he wrote many things in this book that I found worthy to ponder and to recommend to others. 6) I have now purchased other books of his because I liked this one so well.
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Summary: An excellent start to an excellent series
Review: This book is Volume I in an ongoing series called "Studying the Historical Jesus", edited by Bruce Chilton and Craig Evans. Chilton himself is the author of this fine analysis of what Jesus meant by the term "Kingdom of God". He maps the Kingdom along five coordinates. (1) Eschatological -- The Kingdom is near and final, to be prayed for, pointing toward the future while resisting any calendrical predictions. (2) Transcendence -- The Kingdom is all-powerful and immanent, able to touch the world as we know it and thus, in one sense, present on earth now. (3) Judgment -- The Kingdom is demanding and faultless, encompassing questions about ethics and worldly possessions. (4) Purity -- The Kingdom is pure and holy, but in a revisionist way that provides for outcasts and pariah. (5) Radiance -- The Kingdom is associated with Zion in particular, yet spreads outward to be an inclusive worldy reality. Unlike many historical-Jesus specialists these days, Chilton shies from pigeon-holing the Kingdom into a single narrow framework. Some of the finer details are debatable, but there are no one-sided agendas here. The Kingdom of God is described for what it clearly is -- an outright scandal to our modern way of thinking, "eschatological in respect of time, transendent in respect of place, perfect in respect of action, sacred in respect of purity, and all-embracing in respect of Israel and the world". Chilton then discusses Jesus' activity for the Kingdom, focusing on the last days spent in Jerusalem when he demonstrated in the temple and subsequently celebated the eucharist with his disciples. Building on his previous work, Chilton argues that at the last supper Jesus made his meals of bread and wine into a rival altar. "This is my flesh, and this is my blood", meant "this is my 'flesh' of sacrifice, and this is my 'blood' of sacrifice", meaning that bread and wine were Jesus' offerings to God, in place of the flesh and blood of animals sacrificed on the temple altar. Bread was better "flesh", and wine was better "blood", than any of the sacrifices associated with the corrupt temple regime. A book which focuses on the Kingdom of God is a great way to launch a fresh series on the historical Jesus. To date, the subsequent volumes are: "The Immerser" by Joan Taylor, "God's Final Envoy" by Marinus de Jonge, and "Jesus Outside the New Testament" by Robert Van Voorst.
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