Jesus the God-Man: The Unity and Diversity of the Gospel Portrayals

Bock (Jesus According to Scripture) undertakes a finely-grained reading of the four Gospels, interweaving their materials to offer a picture of Jesus as a "God-Man": human, more than ordinary, and also a divine being who assumed human flesh. Bock, a prolific writer and New Testament scholar teaching at Dallas Theological Seminary, looks closely at what all the Gospel texts show Jesus doing; his focus shifts from Jesus as a teacher who utters profound sayings to Jesus as a unique and miracle-working "Son of Man" who authoritatively proclaimed a kingdom of God. Bock knows his material, citing parallel gospel passages and key scholarly interpreters, including himself. The attention he pays to text is formidable and best appreciated by advanced students of biblical studies. New Testament scholars will gain much wisdom from Bock's sensitivity to textual detail and challenge to received distinctions between the synoptic and Johannine gospel accounts; others will ask why his portrait of Christ is so credulous. Those who want to argue with his reading of scripture as God's self-revelation will need to do their hermeneutical homework. (June)