A Man Attested by God: The Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels

by J.R. Daniel Kirk

Thought-provoking alternative perspective on the full humanity of Jesus Christ In A Man Attested by God J. R. Daniel Kirk presents a comprehensive defense of the thesis that the Synoptic Gospels present Jesus not as divine but as an idealized human figure. Counterbalancing the recent trend toward early high Christology in such scholars as Richard Bauckham, Simon Gathercole, and Richard Hays, Kirk here thoroughly unpacks the humanity of Jesus as understood by Gospel writers whose language is rooted in the religious and literary context of early Judaism. Without dismissing divine Christologies out of hand, Kirk argues that idealized human Christology is the best way to read the Synoptic Gospels, and he explores Jesus as exorcist and miracle worker within the framework of his humanity. With wide-ranging exegetical and theological insight that sheds startling new light on familiar Gospel texts, A Man Attested by God offers up-to-date, provocative scholarship that will have to be reckoned with.

Genres: Religion, Christianity, Nonfiction, Theology

657 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 9, 2016

About the author

J. R. Daniel Kirk (PhD, Duke University) is assistant professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary’s Northern California campus in Menlo Park, California. He is the author of Unlocking Romans: Resurrection and the Justification of God as well as numerous articles.

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that gives an account of a neglected aspect of Christology, namely, the human side of Jesus. Unfortunately, it doesn't measure up to its own premise that exalted human Christology is sufficient to explain the Synoptics and their view of Jesus. Jesus' divinity helps to explain more passages than a mere human Christology like Jesus' ability to forgive sins and the various descriptions given to him. For more on how his view is insufficient to explain these issues, I will refer the reader to the reviews by Richard Bauckham and Elizabeth Shively. In the end, I think the book is okay and deserves to be read. It is unfortunate that the major shortcomings of the book detract from Kirk's otherwise useful book.