BOOK REVIEW

Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament

Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament

Introduction

Christopher J. H. Wright, the author of the book, “Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament” has highlighted the long and detailed history of Israel, in order to identify all the events, thinking and practices that eventually lead to the arrival of Jesus, who is known as the Messiah of Israel. Though the author has detailed the writing on Jesus in his book, yet, it is to be noted that readers of the book can only understand the complete life and personality of Jesus after going through the Old Testament. The author is of the view that the readings on Jesus in the Old Testament is such that he is always able to add new information regarding Jesus, every time he goes through the Old Testament. Moreover, it can also be said that the thinking adopted by the author in this book is a much suitable one in regard to Jesus in the Old Testament, which is also better than approaches towards the Old Testament adopted by other writers in this field. The writer presents the most effective of his thesis statement at the end of the book, when regarding the perception and the personality of Jesus, saying that the reality of Jesus will be lost without the presence of the Old Testament. The writer states the fact that Israel's history is based on the phase where Jesus was able to find his own identity, along with the goal of the mission he had. He also states the fact that if readers or believers ignore Jesus in the study of the history of Israel, they will not be able to achieve anything from the study, as without the presence of Jesus in the study of the history of Israel, the study will always be incomplete. Moreover, he also stresses on the importance of the consideration of this fact by the American Church's.

Brief Summary

The book has been organized into five chapters in a very thematic manner by the author covering the relationship between the Old Testament story, promise, identity, mission and values, along with Jesus. Moreover, it can also be said that though each chapter details new aspects and concepts related Israel's history, yet, every chapter is interrelated with the previous chapters, detailing new concepts and linking them to the previous ones in a very effective manner.

In Old Testament the themes or scenarios that are directly related to Jesus identity as Israel's Messiah prevents him from getting frustrated, confused and face the dual faced world as written in Old Testament. The writer although has done a superb job in highlighting the main aspects of the Old Testament angles related to Christ, does not cover all the facets in the book. Although, people who are most interested into a specific theme can be discussed in the concluding part of the book.

The author has a strong belief regarding his approach that it is essential to use each testament in an attempt to interpret ...