OMG

How in the world did I miss the publication of the fourth installment of A Marginal Jew?! The first three volumes (especially vols. 2 [1994] and 3 [2001], but also vol. 1 [1991]) are well worth the read, though these are more reference works than books to read from page one 'til the indices. But eighteen years, four volumes, and over three thousand pages all conspire to wane one's interest in historical investigation on Jesus. I dare say anyone else's fourth volume [!] on Jesus would seem . . . I dunno, unnecessary, perhaps. But Meier's work is always impressive in its breadth and incessant in its pursuit of detail. Meier, like Dunn, Hengel, and a few other scholars, somehow seems to know all the relevant primary literature and to have read all the secondary literature, too. Singly, these are impressive feats; together they are Herculean. And though I disagree with Meier at a number of points (some quite significant), I stand in awe of what Meier has accomplished. Congratulations, Professor Meier.