Book excerpt: "Professor Theissen aims to construct a sociological analysis of the world of Jesus and Palestinian communities generally. This approach to Exegesis poses fruitful new questions without "explaining" the Christian movement in a reductionist way. After spelling out the methods of this sociological approach to the Gospels, the author first looks at typical social phenomena of the times: wandering charismatics and the settled communities which received them, and the role of the Son of man in these communities. He then considers the economic, ecological, political, and cultural factors of Jewish society in Palestine and their effects on earliest Christianity. Finally, he proposes a psychoanalytic interpretation of the effects of the renewal movement of Jesus on his society." -Publisher