Jesus aus Nazareth. Ein Leben.

"You have to tell about Jesus from Nazareth - for his sake, because he was a real human being, and for the sake of his contemporaries, so that they also see him real. To do this, you have to start below, on earth, not in heaven, in space and time , not in eternity, in Jesus' fate, in his words and deeds, in his faith, proclamations and behavior, in his suffering, death and resurrection."

This is how Heinz Zahrnt outlines the intention of his Jesus book: Not an attempt at a new Jesus biography, nor a "new Christology", but rather a combination of the two based on historical tradition: "A picture of life, formed from the various aspects of his appearance and told as vividly and vividly as the material and author made it possible."

Zahrnt divides his material into four parts: In the first - "Between the Times" - he describes the world-historical stage on which Jesus of Nazareth will appear: Palestine under Roman rule, the world of contemporary Judaism and the Roman-Hellenistic culture.

The second, most extensive part is about Jesus himself as the "beginner of faith": the appearance of the man from Nazareth, his teaching and its effect on his contemporaries, but also its significance for our time. Here the life and faith of Jesus are told, but at the same time numerous "theological" questions are asked and answered: How are the parables to be understood? Did Jesus really work miracles? Was he wrong about the end of the world? Can the Sermon on the Mount be fulfilled?

In the third part, "The Finisher of Faith", the conflict is described that led to the end and a new beginning: the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus. Here too, the theologian Zahrnt works together with the writer Zahrnt to answer the question: What do we know and what do we believe? What applies?

In the last chapter, Zahrnt describes the emergence of Christianity, how the church of Jews and Gentiles emerged from the faith and preaching of Jesus, and why it in particular prevailed over the many religions of the ancient world.

The book is supplemented by “historical-critical digressions” in which the author talks about the sources of the Jesus story.

The Jesus that the reader encounters in this book is the historical Jesus - but at the same time also the biblical Christ for our time: This book thrives on this tension and gains its special nature.