Gerhard Lohfink (1934-2024) was professor of New Testament exegesis at the University of Tübingen. His many award-winning books include Why I Believe in God, All My Springs Are in You,The Most Important Words of Jesus, Between Heaven and Earth, The Forty Parables of Jesus, No Irrelevant Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, Is This All There Is?, The Our Father, and Prayer Takes Us Home, all from Liturgical Press.

• ContentsPreface   ixAcknowledgments   xiChapter 1    On Not Taming Jesus   1Chapter 2    Jesus Revolutionizes Linear Time   20Chapter 3    How Will the Hungry Be Filled in the Reign of God?   37Chapter 4    How Did Jesus Heal?   47Chapter 5    What Does the Love Commandment Mean?   64Chapter 6    No Place for Warriors in the Name of God   75Chapter 7    Did Jesus Die for “Many” or for “All”?   86Chapter 8    How Could an Individual Redeem the Whole World?   90Chapter 9    Jesus and the Shattered People of God   105Chapter 10   The Canon and the Many Confessions   121Chapter 11   Some Irenic Thoughts on the Episcopacy and the Primacy   132Chapter 12   Must the Pope Be Conservative?   143 Chapter 13   What Constitutes the Church’s “Newness”?   147Chapter 14   The Church’s Proper Name Is “Assembly”   160Chapter 15   The Unknown Paul   175Chapter 16   How a Sacrament Works   187Chapter 17   A Catastrophe in the Life of David   207Chapter 18   On the Sense and Nonsense of Good Intentions   220Chapter 19   Has the Church Been Deprived of Fasting?   226Chapter 20   Prayer as Access to Reality   231Chapter 21   What Distinguishes Christianity from the Religions?   247Chapter 22   Where Do We Get Our “Values”?   266Chapter 23   The Magnificat: Signal for a Revolution   279Chapter 24   Faith: How Does It Work?   285Chapter 25   The Bible in My Life as an Exegete   301Notes   315Index of Biblical Citations and Other Ancient Literature   322Index of Proper Names   328

No Irrelevant Jesus is composed of short talks Lohfink has given over the years that are filled with exegetical and theological wisdom. . . . Lohfink is a German determined not to forget the terror that was Nazi Germany. This book is also relevant for the challenges facing Christians in America. His is a vision, deeply grounded in scripture, that I believe is our future.Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Divinity and Law, Duke UniversityThe Christian Century