“This book is… my personal search ‘for the face of the Lord.’” —Benedict XVI
In
this bold, momentous work, the pope—in his first book written as
Benedict XVI—seeks to salvage the person of Jesus from recent “popular”
depictions and to restore Jesus’ true identity as discovered in the
Gospels. Through his brilliance as a theologian and his personal
conviction as a believer, the pope shares a rich, compelling,
flesh-and-blood portrait of Jesus and incites us to encounter,
face-to-face, the central figure of the Christian faith.
From Jesus of Nazareth…
“the great question that will be with us throughout this entire book:
But what has Jesus really brought, then, if he has not brought world
peace, universal prosperity, and a better world? What has he brought?
The answer is very simple: God. He has brought God! He has brought the
God who once gradually unveiled his countenance first to Abraham, then
to Moses and the prophets, and then in the wisdom literature—the God who
showed his face only in Israel, even though he was also honored among
the pagans in various shadowy guises. It is this God, the God of
Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the true God, whom he has brought to
the peoples of the earth. He has brought God, and now we know his face,
now we can call upon him. Now we know the path that we human beings have
to take in this world. Jesus has brought God and with God the truth
about where we are going and where we come from: faith, hope, and love.”