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The Way of Jesus: to Repair & Renew the World

Reviewed by Christopher Palmer.

Bruce Chilton, a renowned biblical scholar and Anglican priest, writes about seven prophetic resources employed by Jesus. Some of these resources will be familiar to those who know the Gospels, e.g. kingdom and forgiveness. Others are the results of the author’s interpretation, e.g. soul and insight. In each case, however, we find an investigation which explores the biblical tradition widely. The author, an expert in Semitic languages, also draws on rabbinic and Islamic sources as well as other prophetic traditions.

The Way of Jesus is packed with information and unexpected perspectives. Chilton’s scholarship is clear. Sometimes he states the uncertain or speculative results of research with too much confidence, but the book is easily accessible to a general audience. The book offers many contemporary illustrations which reflect the author’s pastoral role and may spark a preacher’s imagination.

Despite this, the book failed to excite me. I did not find ‘to repair and renew’ a stimulating description of Jesus’ purpose; an attempt to make the book’s themes correspond with the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer is forced. I shall return to the book for information on particular passages or topics, but not because it has provoked me to new theological thinking.