Recovering Jesus

“Here is a trustworthy guide through the theological thicket in which Western culture encounters Jesus. Readers wearied by the recent parade of Jesus-de-bunkers will find clarity and inspiration for new understanding. With the mind of a scholar and the heart of a believer, Yoder Neufeld surveys a wide range of perspectives in language a non-specialist can understand.”

J. Nelson Kraybill

“For too long, students of the New Testament were forced to choose between the Jesus of scholarship and the Christ of faith. In lively and accessible prose, Dr. Yoder Neufeld skillfully integrates both courses into a helpful road map for those serious about negotiating the tortuous turns on their way to rediscovering Jesus. He presents all possible historical and theological options available to his readers with competence, never shrinking back from questions that might scandalize the believer or embarrass the scholar. His greatest virtue, however, is that though he is quite clear about his personal convictions on Jesus, he never imposes his views on his readers, content with leaving them with enough directions to find their way home. This is the text I will use next time I teach a course on Jesus.”

Sze-kar Wan

“A superb guide—unmatched for clarity and accessibility—into an ‘encounter’ with the Jesus of the New Testament and other early Christian writings, offered in gentle, engaging prose by a seasoned teacher whose scholarship and faith complement each other, to the benefit of believers and inquirers/seekers alike. Thanks to its comprehensiveness, sound scholarship, and excellent organization, with subsections clearly labeled, it will also serve as a valuable reference work after the first engrossing read.”

Harold Remus

“Respected scholar, masterful teacher, man of faith—Tom Yoder Neufeld has combined these qualities to produce a solid, eminently readable, and informative study of the New Testament witness for the man, Jesus, and for the early development of christological reflection in the second century. Using the analogy of archaeology, Yoder Neufeld examines carefully the different layers of New Testament evidence, giving particular emphasis to the historical context of the world of the first century and then following the biographical framework of Jesus’s life from birth to death and resurrection. He puts at the center, as well it should be, Jesus’s proclamation of the kingdom of God, and in successive chapters he treats ‘Announcing the Kingdom,’ ‘Teaching the Kingdom,’ ‘Enacting the Kingdom,’ and ‘Living the Kingdom.’ His is a sensitive and nuanced handling of such difficult issues as the virgin birth and the challenges of understanding well the meaning of resurrection. As every good teacher does, he provides an abundant use of analogies and explanatory examples. Never have I read a more skillful presentation of the organic growth of New Testament Christology from low to high, with fine treatment of the origin and function of the various titles applied to Jesus in the New Testament and beyond. The text is unencumbered by laborious footnotes, while clearly reflective of the diverse, ongoing scholarly dialogue of which this book is part. Each chapter concludes with a summary box of ‘Key Terms and Concepts’ and suggestions for further reading. This is a superb text—one I will surely use with seminary students to their certain profit and delight.”

Barbara E. Bowe

“A lucid, engaging treatment of Jesus and the Gospels, attending well to sources and methods. Yoder Neufeld laudably combines faith and scholarship. His lists of reading sources at the end of each chapter are valuable for further study. This book is well designed for introducing Jesus and current scholarship to university students, and to laypeople who want to understand how we know what we know about Jesus.”

Willard M. Swartley