Jesus: A Psychological Biography

Donald Capps’ study fills a void in what is fast becoming a congested and redundant field of inquiry. Combining the best of historical scholarship with new insights drawn from psychological studies, he gives us a Jesus who is more than the sum of his words and deeds, a Jesus who feels, who relates, who experiences the world he seeks to transform even as he is inevitably transformed by it. - Mark Allan Powell, Trinity Lutheran Seminary Anyone who has wrestled seriously with the question of the personal identity of Jesus of Nazareth will want to wrestle with this book. It is the most ambitious (and demanding) argument to date for the usefulness of psychological theories and concepts in Jesus research. Capps has touched on the historical reality of Jesus of Nazareth in new, sobering ways that lend coherence and powerful illumination to aspects of the gospel record that have been shrouded in mystery and that could not have been illuminated by any other means. - Wayne Rollins, Assumption College Donald Capps’ new book on Jesus is a stunning achievement. Capps proposes bold but sophisticated strategies for including psychological theories in the understanding and interpreting of Jesus. He marshals the resources of psychohistory, psychology of groups, and psychoanalytic theory to challenge our most cherished images of Jesus and invites exploration of previously neglected dimensions of Jesus’ life and work. - Lewis Rambo, San Francisco Theological Seminary