Pope Benedict: Best-Selling Author
Pope Benedict's first book written as pope was finally released in the United States on May 15, but it is already a best-seller internationally. Jesus of Nazareth, a monumental 400-page work, has sold over one million copies worldwide since its launch in April. The book is the first of two volumes (initially, the Holy Father had considered writing three) examining the life of Christ. In this volume, Pope Benedict reflects upon Jesus' life from His baptism by John the Baptist until the Transfiguration.
As in other writings and speeches that he has delivered since becoming pope, the Holy Father insists upon the historical reality of Jesus Christ. Christianity is the concrete encounter with a true Man, who was also truly God. In this regard, he draws heavily on the work of Rabbi Jacob Neusner, a Jewish scholar whose 1993 book, A Rabbi Talks With Jesus, presents a sympathetic Jewish critique of the life of Christ that does not attempt to deny the historical reality of Jesus (though, obviously, Neusner rejects Christ's claim to be the Messiah).
In a somewhat unusual move, as Francis X. Rocca of Religion News Service reports,
the pope notes that [the] contents [of Jesus of Nazareth] are not official church teaching but merely an "expression of my personal search 'for the face of the Lord.' Everyone is free, then, to contradict me."
This openness to dialogue, even on a subject as central to Christianity as the historical nature of Christ, reflects the scholarly nature of this pontificate, which is likely to shape the direction of the Church for many years after the death of Pope Benedict XVI.
- Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth
- Jacob Neusner, A Rabbi Talks With Jesus
In my opinion, the Pope’s book has not been conceived as a criticism of the “historical Jesus”, but as a biography focused on what Jesus believed and taught about himself.
Actually, Jesus’ beliefs and teaching about himself stand out as the fundamental pillars of his life.
Thus, the Pope’s book is about an historical fact: what Jesus did to explain his beliefs about him.
Being a theologist, the Pope is in a better position to understand this crucial aspect of the historical Jesus.
With respect to previous works about the historical Jesus, the Pope is more able to explore in-depth what Jesus believed and taught.
For what concerns Jesus, indeed, the historical and the theological problem coincide: what Jesus believed? why did so many people trusted him? was he right? Why did the soldier next to the Cross say: “Really, we was the son of God”?
I think this Pope is great and this is what the world needs at the moment.
This Pope is great and this is what the world needs.