Introducing the New Testament by Mark Allan Powell is a carefully written and engaging book that introduces the reader to the New Testament. Powell’s Chapter 4 titled, THE GODDAMNED ONE(S) describes the story of the Goddamned one (Powell, 2018). Powell cleverly unfolds this chapter by narrative and offering Jesus as one who struggles and senses the world’s weight. The author asks numerous questions, which he leaves the audience to find answers. In fact, some of the questions that he asks in this chapter include, what is it about Jesus that emanates such haunting force? Why bother with Jesus? ( Powell, 2018). Powell emphasizes the claim that Jesus was a human being and a Jew for that matter. Almost 2000 years ago, the Romans killed Him on the cross. This chapter asks the audience to strip away the metaphysical assumptions, all the divine details and literal resurrection of the body of Jesus. According to Powell, when the Romans crucified Jesus, He never died nor reappeared (Powell, 2018).
This chapter has enabled me to understand the historical setting and interpretive views about the life of Jesus. According to Powell, the Jesus who emerged as Christ was only championed by the discourse of God-talk. Powell calls this figure the Goddamned one. Most biblical books are often distracted from the main objective of historical inquiry. But, Powell has not allowed this to happen. Powell’s Chapter 4 titled, THE GODDAMNED ONE(S) has achieved what it was actually meant to do. In my view, the chapter warrants further elaboration because a reader who suddenly became aware of Jesus’s historical context would need extensive help to reconstruct the main message of this chapter. However, this chapter has functioned effectively to plant me in the historical context of Jesus. In this chapter, Powell does not only pass on the history of Jesus in order to delineate information or suggest a perfect model for human beings to follow but he provides brief implications for personal devotion, contemporary theology and church practice (Powell, 2018).
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References
Powell, A. M. (2018). Introducing the New Testament: A Historical, Literary, and Theological Survey. Grand Rapids: Baker Books.
