Timothy Stoner

Jesus of Nazareth (Pope Benedict XVI)

Posted on 17. Jun, 2009 by Tim Stoner in Book Recommendations, Tim Recommends

This is the first book I’ve read written by an actual Pope, rather than by an author named Pope. It is the current Pope’s (Bendedict XVI) “personal search for the face of the Lord”. It is a book that humbled me. Time and again I was rebuked for my supercilious dismissal of Catholic (particularly papal) biblical scholarship. My education had taught me to look down my Protestant nose at such works, convincing me that Popes don’t really study the Bible, they study philosphers and read the Bible (at best) only second-hand through the cold eyes of German scholarship.

Well, Benedict proved me wrong on all counts. Every page betrays a love for and a disciplined, exhaustive study (and devotional meditation over many years) of the Word of God. It is above all the  product of a man who, like the Psalmist David, has found the Bible as sweet and as nourishing as honey.  And he has that rare knack that few intellectuals possess of making the very complex simple. Pope Benedict has written about Jesus brilliantly and insightfully. but, what won me over was His love for the Man he was writing about.

This book taught me, corrected me, inspired me and illumined the life of Jesus for me in ways I cannot recall that any other book about Jesus has. It made me love (as well as honor) Jesus more. And, it made me wonder whether perhaps I have been remiss in failing to submit to the (papal) authority this man possesses through long and unbroken apostolic succession as a unique representative of Jesus to His church.

Tags: catholic, jesus