Description
This work, originally published in German as Reichgottes und Menschensohn, created an even greater impression, and has had to be reckoned with in all subsequent studies of the person and work of Jesus Christ, particularly from the point of view of his “Messianic self-consciousness”. The first English translation was published in 1938 and the present volume is a reprint of the substantially revised edition of 1943.
Translated by Floyd Filson and Bertram Lee-Wolff.
About the Author
Dr Rudolf Otto (1869-1937) was a German theologian, philosopher, and historian of religion. He taught at the Universities of Göttingen and Breslau, then settled in Marburg in 1917. His theories on religion were influenced by his journeys to Africa and Asia to study non-Christian faiths and by the writings of Immanuel Kant and Friedrich Schleiermacher. In The Idea of the Holy (1917), Otto coined the term “numinous” to designate the nonrational element of religious experience – the awe, fascination, and blissful exultation inspired by the perception of the divine. His other books include Mysticism East and West (1926) and India’s Religion of Grace and Christianity (1930).
Contents
Notes to the English Editions
Book One: The Kingdom of God in Christ’s Preaching
Part I: The Antecedents of Jesus’ Preaching of the Kingdom
Part II: The Kingdom of God as Preached by Jesus
Part III: The Original Element in Jesus’ Preaching of the Kingdom Compared with the Message and Person of John the Baptist
Part IV: Detailed Consideration of the Message that the Kingdom is at Hand
Book Two: The Kingdom of God and the Son of Man
Book Three: Christ’s Last Supper as the Consecration of the Disciples for Entrance into the Kingdom of God
Book Four: The Kingdom of God and the ‘Charisma’
Book Five: Appendices
Index of Names
Reference Index
Endorsements and Reviews
… a challenging volume expressing deep religious conviction and wide sympathies, and the potential to stimulate serious personal reflection.
P. Addinall, in Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Vol 35.5
… a volume which is very readable – despite the nearly seven decade gap between the publication of the second edition and this reprint – written in both language and style that should appeal to most. Although some potential readers will not be attracted to this work due to the datedness of Otto’s hypothesis and evidence, this volume still deserves close attention because of its widespread influence upon subsequent eschatological – especially ‘realized eschatology’ popularized by C.H. Dodd – and Historical Jesus studies.
Brendon White, in The Expository Times, Vol 123 (2)