Richard Horsley and Tom Thatcher, John, Jesus and the Renewal of Israel (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans), 2013.

The quest for the most appropriate way to read and understand the Gospels continues without any seeming hesitance. Old theories are employed and new ones are deployed and no consensus has yet been reached by the majority of researchers. Every new thesis meets a new antithesis but the synthesis has and continues to evade The Jesus of History crowd. Into the fray Thatcher and Horsley come bounding with their new book aptly titled John, Jesus, and the Renewal of Israel. And though we are frequently reminded that you cant tell a book by its cover, in this case you can. This book is about the Gospel of John and what it tells readers about the Jesus who, in the view of its authors, came to renew Israel. In four steps (the books segments are called, quite cleverly, steps rather than parts), T&H unfold their erudite argument and lead readers, or at least this reader, quite persuasively to their view. This book persuades. It doesnt simply assert and then leave readers wondering how the conclusion follows from the evidence, it actually (and this is a rarity these days) persuades. Their persuasive argument unfolds thusly: In Step One T&H discuss the historical context of the Gospels and Jesus. Step Two The Gospels as stories and sources. Step Three Johns Story in historical context. And Step Four - the historical Johannine Jesus. Each step is unfolded in two chapters; chapters which are clearly written and meticulously undergirded with more than enough evidence. The whole is framed in the Introduction where the first sentence sets the agenda: The title of this book, John, Jesus, and the Renewal of Israel, indicates both its focus and its thesis. We offer a new reading of the Gospel of John as a story of Jesus mission in the historical context of early Roman Palestine. We will argue

that the Gospel of John portrays Jesus engaged in a renewal of the people of Israel against the rulers of Israel, both the Jerusalem authorities and the Romans who placed them in power (p. 1). And then they keep their promise to do just that. In as stated above in four steps of two chapters each. First, the story of John in its historical context. Second taking the Gospels as whole stories as the sources for Jesus is reinforced by taking into account various lines of investigation into ancient communication media. Third we focus on the Gospel of John as a story about Jesus mission. And Fourth we explore the fuller portrayal of Jesus in Johns story, presenting Jesus mission as the generation of a renewal of Israel Finally, in the Epilogue will we venture to point out some of the implications of the investigation for using Johns story and portrayal of Jesus mission as a source for the historical Jesus (pp. 7-8). And they deliver. Books on the Historical Jesus are everywhere. Monographs on the subject and all of its aspects are available by the thousands. The same questions are addressed over and over again and seldom does a book move forward or take a step in a direction which sheds new light on the topic. T&Hs book does. Consider, for instance, this: The Gospel of John not only tells a historical story. It also has historical credibility in the broad sense that it fits the historical situation in which it is set as that situation can be known from other sources (p. 120). In other words, it is true to life. Theres nothing in it (aside from the miracle stories of course) which could NOT have happened (and the miracle stories are such as to require faith to be accepted). They continue: While the Gospel is by no means a critical history book, it does have considerable historical verisimilitude. We look here mainly for the general fit of Johns

narrative with the fundamental political-economic structure and dynamics, the regional differences, and the cultural divide sketched in chapters 1 and 2, along with some further particulars (p. 120) they do opine at the commencement of Chapter Six, which is titled Verisimilitude vs. Verification. I dont think that they are wrong here. I dont think they are wrong in their thesis nor do I think that they are wrong in the way they work their thesis out. Here, then, in this enjoyable book, movement forward in Historical Jesus studies takes place. I can offer no higher praise than that, because forward movement, genuine, authentic, meaningful forward movement in our field is as rare as a white unicorn. This book is that rare and beautiful creature.

Jim West Quartz Hill School of Theology