1. The Search for the Historical Jesus
2. New Testament Portraits of Jesus
3. History of Christology: From Nicaea to Chalcedon
4. History of Christology: Developments After Chalcedon
5. Contemporary Christologies
- John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew:
Rethinking the Historical Jesus (New York: Doubleday, 1991-1994), 2 volumes to date,
hardcover, $35-40 per volume. This is an extraordinary achievement: the most thorough and
well-balanced study of historical Jesus in decades. It is massive (volume 2 is nearly 1000
pages). But Meier writes with great clarity, and relegates technical issues to the (very
lengthy) endnotes. Basically for more advanced students. Probably 2 more volumes will be
forthcoming.
- E.P. Sanders, The Historical Figure of
Jesus (New York: Allan Lane / Penguin Books, 1993) NEW in paperback, $13. A very good
and balanced account from a leading Protestant scholar.
- Luke Timothy
Johnson, The Real Jesus: the Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus and the Truth of
the Traditional Gospels (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1995), NEW in paperback, $12.
The Jesus Seminar (John Dominic Crossan, Marcus Borg, & Burton Mack) made headlines
last Easter in Time, Newsweek, and U.S. New & World Report with
their extravagant claims about the historical Jesus. Johnson brilliantly demolishes their
claims, and sets out an excellent mainstream response.
- John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus: the Life of a
Mediterranean Jewish Peasant (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1992). Crossan is
flamboyant, outspoken, and one of the leaders of the so-called Jesus Seminar. This is his
most thorough and careful study. Crossan thinks of Jesus as a social revolutionary. He
also tends to treat apocryphal gospels like the Gospel of Thomas or the Gospel
of Peter on par with the 4 canonical gospels. His most radical interpretations come
out most clearly in his more recent books: Jesus: A Radical Biography (San
Francisco: HarperCollins, 1994) and Who Killed Jesus? (San Francisco: Harper
Collins, 1996), in which he argues that Jesus body was never buried, but was eaten
by dogs and birds and dumped by the Romans in a trash heap. Be alert to Crossans
biases.
- Marcus J. Borg, Meeting
Jesus Again for the First Time: the Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith,
(San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1994). One of the leading figures of the Jesus Seminar.
- Marcus J. Borg, Jesus:
a New Vision: Spirit, Culture, and the Life of Discipleship (San Francisco: HarperSan
Francisco, 1991).
- Gunther Bornkamm, Jesus
of Nazareth (New York: Harper, 1960). A classic.
- James H. Charlesworth, ed., Jesus'
Jewishness: Exploring the Place of Jesus within Early Judaism (New York: Crossroad,
1991).
- James
H. Charlesworth, Jesus Within Judaism: New Light from Exciting Archeological
Discoveries, Anchor Bible Reference (New York: Doubleday, 1988).
- James H. Charlesworth, Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls, Anchor Bible
Reference (New York: Doubleday, 1992), NEW in paperback, $18.
- C.H. Dodd, The Founder of Christianity (New York: Macmillan,
1970). A classic.
- Joseph A. Fitzmyer, A Christological Catechism: New Testament Answers,
revised edition (New York: Paulist Press, 1991) paperback, $15. A brilliant, dense summary
of what contemporary scholars are saying about the historical Jesus.
- Joachim Jeremias, New Testament
Theology I: The Proclamation of Jesus (London: SCM Press, 1971). A superb, but
technical study of distinctive features of the preaching of the historical Jesus.
- Albert Nolan, Jesus Before
Christianity, rev. ed. (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1992). A fine presentation from a
South African liberation theologian. Readable.
- E.P. Sanders, Jesus and Judaism (Philadelphia: Fortress Press,
1985).
- Donald Senior, Jesus: A Gospel Portrait,
revised edition (New York: Paulist Press, 1992) paperback, $10. For beginners.
- Gerald Sloyan, Jesus in Focus: A Life in its Setting (Mystic, CN:
Twenty-Third Publications, 1983).
- Geza Vermes, The Religion of Jesus the Jew (Minneapolis: Fortress
Press, 1993).
- Geza Vermes, Jesus the Jew: a
Historian's Reading of the Gospels (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1981). A very
influential interpretation.
- N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of
God, Vol 2 of Christian Origins and the Question of God (Minneapolis: Fortress
Press, 1997). A well-argued (and often humorous) challenge to the Jesus Seminar.
- Graham N. Stanton, The Gospels and Jesus,
Oxford Bible Series (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989) NEW in paperback, $16. A
good balanced introduction to the New Testament and the historical Jesus. Good for
newcomers.
- Paula Fredriksen, From Jesus to Christ:
the Origin of the New Testament Images of Jesus (New Haven: Yale University Press,
1988) paperback, $18. A very good summary of the different christologies of the New
Testament. See especially chapter 3. She also offers a good treatment on the cultural
world of Jesus.
- Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to New Testament Christology (New York:
Paulist Press, 1994) paperback, $10.
- Raymond E. Brown, The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy
Narratives of Matthew and Luke (New York: Doubleday, 1977), paperback.
- Raymond E. Brown, The Death of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Passian
Narratives of the Four Gospels (New York: Doubleday, 1994). A masterful study.
- Oscar Cullman, The Christology of the New Testament, rev. ed.
(Philadelphia: Westminster / John Knox, 1963) paperback, $15.
- Victor Paul Furnish, Jesus According to Paul, Understanding Jesus Today
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993) paperback, $10.
- Robert M.
Grant, Jesus After the Gospels: the Christ of the Second Century (Louisville:
Westminster John Knox, 1990), hardcover, $15.
- Howard Clark Kee, Jesus in History: an Approach to the Study of
the Gospels (Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace, 1996), paperback, $12. An able survey.
- Jack Dean Kingsbury, Jesus Christ in Matthew,
Mark, and Luke, Proclamation Commentaries (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 19__).
- Jack Dean Kingsburg, The Christology of Mark's
Gospel (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1989).
- Robert A. Krieg, Story-Shaped Christology: The
Role of Narratives in Identifying Jesus Christ (New York: Paulist Press, 19__).
- John P. Meier, The Mission of Christ and His
Church: Essays on Christology and Ecclesiology (Wilmington, DL: Michael Glazier,
1990).
- John Painter, The Quest for the Messiah: the
History, Literature, and Theology of the Johannine Community (Nashville: Abingdon,
1993).
- Vernon K. Robbins, Jesus the Teacher: A
Socio-Rhetorical Interpretation of Mark (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992).
- John J. Rousseau & Rami Arav, Jesus and His
World: an Archeological and Cultural Dictionary (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995).
- Rudolph Schnackenburg, Jesus in the Gospels: a
Biblical Christology, trans. O.C. Dean, Jr. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1995).
- Leo Donald Davis, The First Seven
Ecumenical Councils (325-787): Their History and Theology (Collegeville, MN:
Liturgical Press, 1983) paperback, $18. A good place to start. It treats the politics
surrounding the councils and has good summaries of the major theological debates. Some of
his interpretations (especially on the Council of Nicaea) seem dated and would be
challenged by some recent scholars.
- R.P.C. Hanson, The Search for the
Christian Doctrine of God: the Arian Controversy, 318-381 AD (Edinburgh: T & T
Clark, 1988), hardback, $60. A massive 900-page study of Nicaea, Athanasius, and the
Cappadocians by one of the deans of patristic studies. This is the finest and the most
exhaustive treatment of the theology of the trinitarian controversy.
- John A.
McGuckin, St. Cyril of Alexandria: the Christological Controversy: Its History,
Theology and Texts, Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae XXIII (Leiden: E.J. Brill,
1994), hardcover, $150. A superb and unusually thorough analysis of the clash between
Cyril and Nestorius and the eventual resolution at the Council of Ephesus. It also
includes a valuable new translation of the key documents.
- Aloys Grillmeier, Christ in the Christian Tradition, Vol.
1: From the Apostolic Age to Chalcedon, revised ed., trans. John Bowden
(Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1975), hardcover, $50. Widely regarded as the most
comprehensive treatment of patristic christology; rather technical.
- Angelo DiBerardino
and Basil Studer, ed., History of Theology I: The Patristic Period, trans., Matthew
J. OConnell (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1996) hardcover, $100.
- Charles
Kannengiesser, Athanase d'Alexandre, Évêque et Écrivain: Une lecture des traités
Contre les Ariens, Theologie historique 70 (Paris: Beauchesne, 1983).
- Charles Kannengiesser, Arius and
Athanasius: Two Alexandrian Theologians (London: Variorum Reprints, 1991), hardcover.
- J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines, 5th edition (San
Francisco: Harper Collins, 1978) paperback, $12.
- J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds,
3rd edition (London: Longman, 1972) paperback, $18. Superb!
- Rebecca Lyman, Christology and
Cosmology: Models of Divine Activity in Origen, Eusebius, and Athanasius, Oxford
Theological Monographs (New York: Clarendon Press / Oxford U. Press, 1993), hardcover $40.
- John A. McGuckin, trans., St. Cyril of
Alexandria: On the Unity of Christ (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press,
1995) paperback, $7.
- Frederick W. Norris, Faith Gives
Fullness to Reasoning: the Five Theological Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus, trans.,
Lionel Wickham and Frederick Williams, Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae Volume XIII
(Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1991), hardcover, $130. Superb translation & commentary.
- Richard A. Norris, ed., The
Christological Controversy, Sources of Early Christian Thought (Philadelphia: Fortress
Press, 1980), paperback, $13. A fine collection of the major sources.
- Richard A. Norris, Manhood and Christ: A
Study in the Christology of Theodore of Mopsuestia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963) out
of print.
- Jaroslav Pelikan, The Emergence of the
Catholic Tradition (100-600), volume 1 of The Christian Tradition (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1971) paperback, $12. Superb, but very distilled; presumes
you know the facts.
- Alvyn Pettersen, Athanasius
(Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Publishing, 1995), paperback, $18. NEW.
- G.L. Prestige, Fathers and Heretics: Six
Studies in Dogmatic Faith (London: SPCK, 1940). A classic; dated, but excellent.
- Manlio Simonetti, La crisi ariana nel iv
secolo, Studia Ephemerides (Rome: Augustianum, 1975).
- Basil Studer, Trinity and Incarnation:
The Faith of the Early Church, ed. Andrew Louth (Collegeville: Liturgical Press,
1994), paperback, $20.
- Lionel R. Wickham, ed., Cyril of
Alexandria: Selected Letters (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983). Excellent translations
with Greek text. See the fine introduction by Wickham.
- Peter Widdicombe, The Fatherhood of God
from Origen to Athanasius, Oxford Theological Monographs (New York: Clarendon Press /
Oxford U. Press, 1994) hardcover, $55.
- Frances Young, The Making of the Creeds
(Philadelphia: Trinity Press, 1991) paperback, $14.
- Frances Young, From Nicaea to Chalcedon
(London: SCM, 1983) paperback, $14. Excellent bibliography.