God's final envoy : early Christology and Jesus' own view of his mission /

With evidence provided by the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke and by the Epistles of the apostle Paul, de Jonge (emeritus, Univ. of Leiden) carefully presents Jesus' own view of his mission. He stresses that following the death of Jesus, his disciples continued to believe in him as God's final envoy who had brought about a decisive change in world history. In de Jonge's words, "Already during Jesus's lifetime his disciples must have believed that as a prophet, teacher, and exorcist he was the herald and inaugurator of God's reign on earth--probably because their master was convinced he was sent by God to perform that task." De Jonge contends that Jesus regarded himself as having a unique relationship to God, and that he probably considered himself the Messiah of Israel. Throughout, de Jonge's treatment of Jesus is historically informed and cautious. He consistently avoids exaggerating the historical record; he reaches conclusions backed by available evidence. Thus, he offers a needed corrective to various views of the historical Jesus offered by the North American Jesus Seminar. Highly recommended for all religion libraries; undergraduates and above. P. K. Moser; Loyola University of Chicago