Book
Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI. Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration. Trans. Adrian J. Walker. New York: Doubleday, 2007.
Reviewer
Gregory K. Hillis, McMaster University
Some people familiar only with Joseph Ratzinger’s role as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under John Paul II were taken aback by his election to the pontificate in 2005. There was substantial criticism of the cardinals’ decision by those seeing Ratzinger as little more than a rigid enforcer of doctrinal conformity. Less well known at the time was Ratzinger’s reputation as a renowned theologian, academic, and pastor, and it was only after the publication of Deus caritas est, his first encyclical as Pope Benedict XVI, that many discovered his theological depth. This depth is fully on display in this newly-published monograph.
Benedict’s Jesus of Nazareth is the culmination of research and writing that began prior to his pontificate. In the foreword Benedict stresses that his book is to be understood not as an exercise of the magisterium (i.e., as doctrinally authoritative) but as his personal search for the face of the Lord. This search has roots stretching back to the 1950s when, Benedict notes, a substantial gap appeared between the “Christ of faith” and the “historical Jesus.”
Widely divergent reconstructions of Jesus grew in number at the same time as historical-critical scholarship gained ascendancy, and the emerging overall impression was that the testimony of the canonical gospels could not be trusted to provide an accurate portrait of the actual Jesus because they were composed after faith in Jesus’ divinity had advanced. Benedict’s book is a direct response to this development, and its central argument is straightforward: The Jesus of the canonical gospels is “much more logical and, historically speaking, much more intelligible than the reconstructions we have been presented with in the last decades” (xxii).
On the one hand, therefore, Benedict positions this book as an academic work. On the other, the starting point for his examination of Jesus differs sharply from that of historical Jesus scholars.
Benedict unapologetically approaches the canonical gospels from a position of faith, and from the perspective that the words of scripture continually point beyond themselves to the divine. He emphasizes that the historical-critical method is essential for interpreting scripture, but its limitations must be recognized, particularly its inability to transcend the historical so as to arrive at an understanding of scripture’s unity and of its faculty to speak in the present. Each of these attributes is due to scripture’s emergence from, and continual life within, the people of God, the church.
Benedict thus advocates for a theological exegesis of scripture; exegetes are to take full advantage of the historical-critical method at the same time as they attend to the divine voice speaking through the words of scripture.
Advocates of the historical-critical method would clearly view Benedict’s hermeneutical approach as altogether incompatible with academic investigation, but the pope would not be bothered by their disapproval. Benedict is far more interested in recovering for the church the wealth of Christian hermeneutical tradition, in order to arrive at a portrayal of Jesus that makes both historical and theological sense, than in pleasing critics in their ivory towers.
The examination of Jesus is multifaceted. Benedict explores various important events in Jesus’ life; considers Jesus’ teaching on the kingdom of God; provides intricate analyses of the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord’s Prayer, and the major parables; discusses differences between the synoptic gospels and the gospel of John; and investigates the titles ascribed to Jesus. Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection are to be explored in a subsequent book. With each exploration Benedict tries to detail the historical, cultural, and/or religious context as a means of demonstrating the viability of the gospels’ portrayal of Jesus and of drawing out the theological, christological, and soteriological ramifications of Jesus’ life and teachings.
One of the most noteworthy chapters is the pope’s interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount. Here Benedict draws on Rabbi Jacob Neusner’s workto argue that Jesus’ Jewish audience would have clearly understood that he was making bold claims about his identity and authority which would have been offensive to many of his hearers.
Benedict articulates his ideas and arguments in a nuanced and subtle manner, and many interpretive treasures are found throughout Jesus of Nazareth. At every point he seeks to bring the full weight of tradition to his portrayal of Jesus, and his command of patristic and medieval literature as well as contemporary scholarship is evident in each chapter.
However, this is not a book written only for the theologically educated. Rather, it is a work of devotion to Jesus Christ that manages the difficult task of being accessible to the lay reader while providing more than enough substance for the scholar.