A long article with interesting content.
The Jewish context, and all the rich blend of history, suffering, prophecy, aspiration and expectation that it contained, is a non-negotiable element of the meaning of Jesus. Perhaps I should say that I believe it is a non-negotiable element; because part of the burden of my song today is that for many theologians it has in fact been neglected almost completely. There are two types of this neglect. First, there are those who have quite properly spent their time studying Augustine or Aquinas, Luther or Calvin, Schleiermacher or Tillich or the great Barth himself – but who seem to have little or no idea of what made first-century Jews tick and hence what meaning should be given to that collection of first-century Jewish texts we call the New Testament.
