JESUS OF NAZARETH

Dale Allison's clearly written Jesus of Nazareth will enable people who have followed recent discussions to vindicate and reclaim the central religious significance of the historical Jesus. Allison makes a creative contribution to Jesus studies in several ways: He offers new suggestions for establishing the authenticity of Jesus' word — including what he calls "the index of intertextual linkage" — and for the process of framing a convincing picture of the central thrust and purpose of the activity of Jesus. Referring to fascinating cross-cultural millenarian parallels, he shows that the impetus for the pre-Easter Jesus movement was apocalyptic in nature and that the historical Jesus can best be understood as an eschatological prophet. He presents the first full-length treatment of the question of Jesus and asceticism and shows that Jesus, far from the image suggested by some today, was driven by an apocalyptic asceticism that extended to matters of sex, food, and social relations. Always evenhanded and fair, Allison's new work is nonetheless penetrating, acute, and provocative.