Stephen Barkley
Wiley Blackwell has established itself as a reliable publisher of resources on a variety of topics. The Blackwell Companion to Jesus, part of the Wiley Blackwell Companions to Religion series, is no exception. The thirty-one essays in this book cover a wide range of Christological topics from an equally diverse selection of reputable scholars.
The Companion is divided into six parts:
- Jesus in the New Testament
- Jesus Beyond the New Testament
- Jesus in World Religions
- Philosophical and Historical Perspectives on Jesus
- Modern Manifestations of Jesus
- Jesus in Art, Fiction, and Film
Taken together, these topics cover the full gamut of contemporary Jesus scholarship.
Stand-out articles include Warren Carter’s “Constructing Images of Jesus from the Hebrew Bible,” where he uses the metaphor of “Jesus glasses” to describe how the early New Testament believers mined the Hebrew Scriptures for glimpses of Jesus. Khaled Anatolios surveys the Christological developments of the first centuries of Christianity in “The Christ of the Creeds.” He writes lucidly about the notoriously thorny theological-political-cultural church counsels. Kelly Brown Douglas with Delbert Burkett provide an excellent overview of black Christology in “The Black Christ.” In particular, they describe the theological perspectives of James Cone, James Deotis Roberts, and Albert Cleage with clarity, revealing a variety of perspectives within black theology.
Of course, not every song’s a hit. Michael Martin’s “Skeptical Perspectives on Jesus’ Resurrection” was frustratingly modernist in its perspective. I also found the gospel overview articles to be too short and ideologically pointed to be of much value.
In the end, this Blackwell Companion is a valuable collection of essays for any student exploring Christology.
Burkett, Delbert, ed. The Blackwell Companion to Jesus. Wiley Blackwell, 2014.
